Organised retail sees strong growth in post-Covid India

This fiscal year has seen organised retail segment sales growing by around 18 per cent in its first 10 months when compared to the April-January FY20 results, which were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Economic Times said, quoting a report by the Retailers Association of India (RAI).

The RAI report also suggests that 75 per cent of the sales were price-led. This is unlike the historic trend where volumes are responsible for driving the bulk of sales.

The RAI had carried out a survey of the top 100 retailers of the country across segments, which has indicated that well-off consumers are the ones responsible for driving up sales.

Kumar Rajagopalan, the RAI's chief executive officer, observing this trend, said that this indicates despite inflation, cosumers are spending more, and this points at the fact that recovery after the pandemic "cannot be understated".

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Growth has been highest in the segments of sports goods, QSR, and footwear (25-30 per cent). The sectors of personal goods, wellness, furniture, and beauty grew at a lesser pace — seven to 11 per cent.

Puma India's managing director, Abhishek Ganguly, said in this regard, "Consumers, especially in smaller towns, are adopting athleisure even after the pandemic".

Last year, consumer demand for products like groceries and daily essentials had taken a hit because of inflation. rise in interest rates and product prices, and people being more calculative with their spendings.

Benetton India's managing director Ramprasad Sridharan said that consumers have faced financial constrainments during the peak of the pandemic.

The survey conducted by the RIA reveals that sales growth was 20 per cent in the eastern region when compared to the pre-pandemic levels while the western region saw sales growth of 18 per cent. Both the Northern and southern India zones saw sales growth of 10 per cent.

Fashion retailer Lifestyle International's CEO, Devarajan Iyer, said, "This year, performance has reset the base and while the growth from now on might not be the same, we still expect the industry to grow 10-15 per cent," further adding, "We have also witnessed one of the best growth this fiscal."

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With sales momentum continuing from the festive season, December 2022 has proved to be the best time period in terms of sales for shopping malls in a decade.

DLF Retail's executive director Pushpa Bector told the publication, "There is money in hand for both businesses and salaries class. All the businesses have done well and there is money to spend and retail has been the biggest beneficiary of that", further adding that the company, which mainly operates in the Delhi-NCR region, has seen 25 per cent growth.

Magicpin CEO and cofounder, Anshoo Sharma, said that while e-commerce is growing, it is still only 10 per cent of the retail industry. She further added, "Offline retail will continue to grow at a steady pace. Post Covid, we saw revenge shopping. Things have settled down now and people still want to go out for the experience."