Some of the large retailers in the apparel sector are hopeful that the industry will bounce back to normal by April, leaving behind the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With lockdown norms easing since August, people have been coming out in large numbers to shop for Deepavali, they said.
They were participating in a webinar on the topic ‘Are consumers back with a vengeance?’, being held as part of Conversations, a series organised by The Hindu Group’s ‘Tamil Nadu Smiling’ campaign, which began on Sunday. It aims to bring together various stakeholders, including traders, retail organisations and government authorities, to find ways to emerge from the impact of the pandemic.
“COVID-19 crash-landed on all of us. But the apparel industry has been growing and it is a very positive sign. It is not possible for the industry to get back to normal immediately from the pandemic, and it cannot be expected either. However, it is an extremely positive environment now... Our growth is looking better than a lot of other industries. As a sign of recovery, the apparel industry is a great bellwether,” said Suhail Sattar, chairman, Chennai chapter, Retailers Association of India, and the co-founder and director of Hasbro Clothing.
Charath Narasimhan, managing director, Indian Terrain, said some States will bounce back faster. “Tamil Nadu is a high consumption-driven State. This year, Deepavali has come in November while it is usually in October. This will be followed by Pongal in January. Weddings that were supposed to be held earlier this year have been postponed to after Deepavali and from February. There are a series of potential triggers right through the next five months. By April, we should be able to touch pre-COVID levels,” he said.
According to Mr. Narasimhan, Tamil Nadu has rebounded a bit faster. Traditionally, Deepavali is an important festival in the State and people save for this occasion. “People are coming back and better than I initially expected,” he said, adding that e-shopping has brought in a lot of new customers.
E-commerce is here to stay, he said. Before the pandemic, almost 10% of the sales was through e-commerce. In the last six months, it has increased to 35-40%. As stores open up, it will settle down at around 20% by the end of the year, and in the next year or two, it will be a quarter of a company’s business, he said.
Jeyasree Ravi, founder of Palam Silks, said, “From April, we should be able to do well. I would say that sales have been around 50-60% of last year. This is commendable as this has happened within a very short span of time”.
