26 September 2022, Mumbai:
Clothing and lifestyle retailers as well as malls are seeing record growth in sales in the past few weeks.
They expect demand at a decadal high during the festive season starting with Navratri. A host of factors, including positive consumer sentiment and fresh merchandise, are driving sales. They expect festive season sales to be a bumper one this year with strong double-digit growth despite no discounting.
The apparel and discretionary segments were hit badly during the pandemic and were the slowest to recover in the consumer space. However, retailers across apparel, lifestyle products, and restaurants posted double-digit revenue growth year-on-year for the March quarter despite a slow start due to the Omicron wave.
The massive wardrobe refresh after the reopening of the office and social gatherings helped. This is the first normal festive period after two years of Covid stress. Retail businesses across India reported a growth of 15 percent in sales in August 2022 compared with August 2019.
Dussehra and Diwali have historically been an occasion for selling full-priced merchandise and most brands refrain from offering discounts on newer collections and products.
There has been a strong run-up right from Onam to Durga Puja. Demand for full-priced merchandise has remained robust. Urban consumers are buying discretionary products though there has been a slight slowdown in value or mass-priced products in non-metros and rural.
