Retailers hopeful of achieving 85% pre-pandemic business by June 2021 : RAI
By Retail4Growth Team | December 29, 2020
Retail Business Survey by the Retailers Association of India (RAI) indicates a steady month-on-month recovery for retail businesses across India with sales in November 2020 being 13% short of last year’s sales on a Y-o-Y comparison.
Festive shopping brought in some respite to the retail industry in India. The 10th edition of the Retail Business Survey by the Retailers Association of India (RAI) indicates a steady month-on-month recovery for retail businesses across India with sales in November 2020 being 13% short of last year’s sales on a Y-o-Y comparison.
In November 2020, Consumer Durables & Electronics category continued to recover with sales at 12% (Y-o-Y) and Food & Grocery category has started to indicate sales growth at 5% (Y-o-Y), while the apparel & clothing segment is still reeling under pressure with around -12% (Y-o-Y) behind pre-pandemic sales.
Speaking on the current state of the retail industry, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI), said, “While the festive and the muted wedding season aided some recovery for certain segments, the lack of inbound travel of Non-Resident Indians during the winter has had a negative impact on sales. Retail businesses may get further impacted by international travel restrictions being imposed due to the new strain of the virus. Furthermore, with local level restrictions coming back into play, retailers are moving towards 2021 with cautious optimism. However, the industry is hopeful of achieving about 85% of pre-pandemic levels of business in the next six months.”
Levels of recovery differ across regions as restrictions begin to ease in a capricious manner across states. Western and Eastern India are indicating a slower recovery with sales at -18% and -17% respectively (Y-o-Y), while Northern and Southern regions are both progressing at -9%, on a Y-o-Y comparison.
Recovery will need unconventional solutions and government support. At this juncture, all efforts are required to boost the local economy and help revive retail, saving millions of jobs. Retail in India which is sized around USD 854 bn continues to be one of the country’s largest industry that makes up for over 10% of the GDP.
