Diwali sales brings respite to some segments of retail : RAI

Festive season came as a ray of hope for the Indian retail industry. Diwali retail sales inputs gathered by the Retailers Association of India (RAI) indicate that certain categories have started to show growth as compared to same period last year.

Commenting on retail sales during Diwali, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI), said, “The seasonal shopping trends have been greatly influenced by the pandemic situation this year. The Diwali shopping season has boosted retail sales of certain categories, however the overall festive spike has been lacking last year’s level. Occasions wear has witnessed an uptick in sales as weddings that were hitherto postponed are happening now. However, lack of inbound travel of Non Resident Indians during the winter has had a negative impact on sales. Furthermore, segments such as Work-from-Home, CDIT and value retail continue to do better and have started to show growth.”

Festive-induced shopping has added some impetus to the Garments sector. However, growth is seen only in the occasion wear and leisure wear segments. Likewise, Luxury brands and occasion wear brands have also indicated double digit growth. However, formal office wear segment and services-led retail like salons are still at about 35% short of last year’s sales during the Diwali shopping period. While, athletic wear including shoes have indicated good growth of about 20% as compared to last year’s Diwali shopping period.

All items relating to Work-From-Home (WFH) continue to show faster recovery, especially electronics and consumer durables with some segments under WFH registering double digit growth of about 15% to 18% as compared to last year’s Diwali shopping period. Whereas, Home items have now seen a slight dip of about 10% over last year.

Value segment of retail has seemingly done well, indicating about 10% sales growth over last year same period. Pharmacy and daily needs markets have done well too. However, some food retailers are still recovering slowly, observing a degrowth of 10% over last year Diwali shopping period.

Tier II and Tier III markets have achieved same level of sales as the Diwali shopping period last year, and in some cases a slight growth in sales has been indicated. Markets in Southern and Eastern India seemed to have performed better during this period than the Western and the Northern India when compared to last year Diwali shopping period.

While the festive season did help retail pick up the momentum it had been missing for months, various restrictions continue to slow down many categories. It remains to be seen how restrictions and regulations open up post the festive season, ahead of the end of the year.