Festive demand boosts August sales to 88% of pre-pandemic levels
17th September 2021, Mumbai:
Festive demand pushed up India’s retail sales to 88 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in August this year. As per a survey by the Retailers Association of India, retail sales had reached 72 per cent of the pre-pandemic levels in July this year. Retail businesses in North and South India indicated 98 per cent and 97 per cent sales recovery to pre-pandemic levels in August 2021 as against 78 per cent and 82 per cent sales in July 2021," it said.
Sales in Western and Eastern markets reached 76 per cent and 81 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in August 2021 against 57 per cent and 69 per cent, respectively, in July 2021.
Sales in the Quick Service Restaurants category grew by 12 per cent compared to August 2019, while 'food and groceries' category clocked a growth of 4 per cent. However, beauty & wellness, which includes salons, apparel, footwear and jewlery are yet to catch up to pre-pandemic sales levels the report says.
Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI hopes, festive shopping will drive growth for most retailers this year, with the possibility of some retailers doing better sales than the pre-pandemic levels.
