The biggest wedding of the year may be over, but retailers including Shoppers Stop, Reliance Retail, Lifestyle and VMart bet on a flurry of nuptial celebrations in the second half of this fiscal to reverse their tepid sales growth and boost demand.
There will be about 47 auspicious wedding dates in the second half, three times more than 14 in the first half, they reason. “We are looking at a very strong festive campaign, and weddings will be very, very big as we have somewhere around 50-odd (auspicious) days,” Kavindra Mishra, managing director of Shoppers Stop, said during its first quarter earnings call on Friday. “We believe we have got the right kind of merchandise to be a wedding destination,” he said.
In FY24, year-on-year retail sales growth rate declined every month, reflecting weak consumer sentiment across segments such as apparel, footwear, and quick service restaurants (QSR).
Last year’s comparatively slower 4-7% growth rate has sustained this year as well.
Treading with Caution on Inventory
May and June saw 3% and 5% rise in sales growth, respectively, Retailers Association of India (RAI) said based on a survey of top 100 retailers. “April and May were tough, but we have started seeing some recovery in June onwards,” said Devarajan Iyer, chief executive of department store chain Lifestyle International.
“Consumers are back and there are signs of recovery in the July-September quarter. Q3FY25 is expected to be stronger due to the advancement of the festive season and a number of weddings. We are seeing growth at the store level and overall double-digit growth (in July),” he told ET on Saturday.
Vedant Fashions, which owns men’s ethnic wear brand Manyavar, after declaring its results for the last quarter, said this is the first time it has seen a weak wedding season for five quarters in a row. It noted that a lower base will make for better sales numbers upon recovery. While companies are bullish on demand recovery, they are still cautious on orders. “We are not going overboard both in terms of expansion and having extra inventory,” said Mayank Mohan, owner of ethnic menswear brand Mohanlal Sons. “Q1FY25 was probably the worst quarter and though there were some signs of recovery from June 20 things have slowed down again. We are very careful of what we keep in the store and controlling the expenses as well,” he said. As Covid-19 eased, pent-up demand led to booming sales across athleisure wear, apparel and lifestyle products.
Consumers upgraded wardrobes after offices reopened, and eating out and socialising picked up. This led to 13-24% growth every month throughout FY23. However, after a surge in spending across a gamut of segments — from clothes to cars — in the post-pandemic period, triggered by revenge shopping, India’s retail sales expansion slowed down.
“There were some wedding days in July, which will reflect in the sale of this quarter and in the next quarter, we will have wedding days and festive season together…so overall sentiments look positive,” said Lalit Agarwal, chairman of V-Mart.
