August retail sales show continued recovery, fashion growth expected: RAI

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Sep 16, 2021

As festive demand began to take effect in August, India’s retail sales neared pre-pandemic levels in North and South India, but clothing and accessories sales are still in the process of recovering, according to the Retail Association of India.

Although North and South India’s retail sales are nearing full recovery, the East and West of the country is lagging behind, ET Bureau reported. Eastern markets’ retail sales were at 81% in August 2021 compared to August 2019 and western markets were at 76%, according to the RAI.
 
“Retail businesses in the North and the South of India have indicated sales nearing recovery in August 2021 with sales at 98% and 97% respectively, of the pre-pandemic levels (August 2019), as against 78% (North India) and 82% (South India) sales in July 2021,” said the RAI in a statement, the Press Trust of India reported.

The trend towards recovery from July continued with retail sales higher on a month-on-month basis, according to the organisation. However, although the groceries segment has even reached higher sales than pre-pandemic levels, the beauty and wellness segment has not yet caught up to pre-pandemic levels. This segment, which includes accessories, clothing, and jewellery, expects its overall performance to improve when clothing sales pick back up. 
 
With the festive season approaching, a traditional time to purchase apparel and an important sale season, apparel retailers are expecting sales growth in the coming months.

“Though recovery at the moment looks encouraging across categories, retailers continue to maintain cautious optimism due to the possibility of a third wave of the pandemic,” said the RAI.