With steady month-on-month recovery continuing in November and festive purchasing bringing some respite to the retail business, retailers are searching forward to 2021 with cautious optimism, according to RAI.
Retailers Association of India (RAI) in its 10th ‘Retail Business Survey’ mentioned sales in November 2020 had been 13 per cent quick on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis.
Last month, customer durables and electronics category continued to recover with a 12 per cent improve in sales more than the identical month final year, although meals and grocery category has indicated development at 5 per cent, it added.
Apparel and clothes segment is nevertheless reeling below stress with a decline of 12 per cent against the pre-pandemic sales, RAI mentioned.
Commenting on the findings, RAI CEO Kumar Rajagopalan mentioned, “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 firms may perhaps get additional impacted by international travel restrictions becoming imposed due to the new strain of the virus. Furthermore, with nearby level restrictions coming back into play, retailers are moving towards 2021 with cautious optimism, he added.
“However, the industry is hopeful of achieving about 85 per cent of pre-pandemic levels of business in the next six months,” Rajagopalan mentioned.
Retailers are searching at 2021 with cautious optimism, RAI mentioned.
The association mentioned the levels of recovery differ across regions as restrictions start to ease in a capricious manner across states.
Western and eastern India are indicating a slower recovery with sales at -18 per cent and -17 per cent, respectively, as compared to the identical month final year.
Northern and southern regions are progressing at -9 per cent, it added.
RAI mentioned recovery will need to have “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,” it noted.