COVID-19 crisis has provided the Indian online apparels and textile industry with an opportunity to create global magnates. The crisis-led lockdowns have boosted online textile sales to such an extent that the sector was able to rid itself of its dependence on wholesalers, retailers and middlemen. Revenues of online retailers’ also spiked during the period.

As most shopping during the lockdown took place via the online route, customers got an opportunity to choose products at convenience. They could also easily return their products in favor of new ones with favorable returns policy on many online platforms. This trend of online textile retail is likely to persist and give birth to many online retail unicorns in future.

Demand to fuel growth in 2021

As per a DataQuest Report, India’s economic recovery in 2021 will be led by its growing e-tailers. India’s online apparel and textile industry is expected to mature on account of increased consumption in the domestic market and improved demand for exports. The government also plans to focus on the textile sector in its upcoming fiscal plans. In Budget 2021-22, the government proposed a plan to set up mega textile parks across the country. These parks will help India attract global investments and boost employment.

In all, the government plans to set up seven textile parks over three years. These parks will have integrated facilities and a quick turnaround time to reduce transportation losses. They will benefit e-retailers most by enabling them to provide an enhanced retail experience to online shoppers.

Industry to witness new development trends

Technology will also help online textile industry revive its past glory. Industry leaders will be able to explore new textile technologies across all operations, from sourcing raw materials to making finished products available to customers. The industry will also witness new development trends including an increased demand for natural fibers and a shift towards non-woven fabrics.

The second largest employment generating sector in India, the textiles industry has immense potential to contribute to its future growth and success. However, the sector’s success depends on the government’s ability to introduce development-friendly policies and curb red-tape in schemes introduced for the sector. In its latest Budget, the government has announced rationalization of duties on raw materials. However, it needs to introduce more sector specific export promotion policies. Support in the form of policies, promotions and incentives will help the online textile sector create new global leaders.

The government plans to make India’s e-commerce norms more stringent by prohibiting flash sales. Henceforth, the government will not allow e-commerce companies to display or promote misleading advertisements on their platforms or otherwise. The government will also establish adequate grievance redressal mechanism on all e-commerce platforms to address grievances from their Indian consumers. It will direct Amazon and Flipkart to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer, a Resident Grievance Officer and a nodal contact person in India. Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General, The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), termed the draft norms as a guiding stone to purify the country’s e-commerce landscape.

Myntra has launched ‘Ed-a-mamma’, Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt’s sustainable kid’s wear brand on its platform. The brand offers over 200 natural fiber-based t-shirts, tops, shirts, skirts, dresses, etc for both girls and boys. The garments are made with natural dyes and non-plastic buttons. The tags are made from responsibly harvested FSC certified paper, and the nickel free metal trims.

The brand also offers an organic T-shirt range that meets GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard). Each product is delivered to the customer along with a pouch, referred to as a ‘potli’ made from fabric scraps, in which there are seeds that children can choose to plant.

Kid’s wear is one of the highest growing segments on Myntra, registering over 2X growth from the previous year. The e-commerce platform houses over 1lakh kid’s wear styles from over 250 leading brands. The launch of ‘Toys’ last year, has further enhanced the attractiveness of the category on Myntra, making it a one-stop-shop for a variety of needs in the segment.

As a part of its wide range of clean, pastel looks, apparel brand Jovi launched ‘The Red Moon’ collection. The collection honors womanhood through sindoor, crimson chaadar, surkh mehndi, and amber kaanch bangles, highlighting the soft feminine and fierce side of women to protect their self worth and self respect.

The collection also emanates brand mulmul, a light, delicate, and breathable cotton texture that is ideal for summer, especially in India’s scorching temperatures, because it quickly absorbs moisture and keeps the body temperature cool. It takes colour well and becomes milder with each wash.

Jovi is a global platform that appreciates art, supports Indian women weavers, and enjoys style, fashion, and sustainability. Their designs are inspired by the team’s innovative instinct, and curiosity, and are handcrafted in Jaipur. Recently, Jovi Fashion celebrated three years of operations.

Increasing mobile penetration has helped India expand its ecommerce market beyond metros and Tier I cities to smaller towns and villages. As per a report by EY-IVCA Trend Book 2021, the India’s ecommerce market is expected to grow at 27 per cent CAGR from 2019-2024 to reach $99 billion by 2024. Most of this growth will be fuelled by the rise of 220 million online shoppers across India by 2025.

Ecommerce growth is also likely to be fuelled by the rise of a new group of shoppers, says a report by Your Story. Mostly in their late twenties, these shoppers have varied purchasing powers and aspirations. They earlier spent most of their time scouting local stores for daily requirements. They are a part of 60 per cent households that look at shopping as a value-oriented experience.

Leveraging technologies to predict demand

These shoppers can be encouraged to adapt to ecommerce platform by offering them good quality products at affordable prices. Ecommerce platforms can also introduce these sellers to new and lesser-known brands offering budget friendly and good quality products. Shoppers can also be introduced to regional brands and unbranded products that are of good quality and reasonably priced. Earlier, shoppers visited local bazaars for making value-oriented purchases. Nowadays, this need is being met by organized retail chains like D’Mart and Vishal Mega Mart.

The online equivalent of this is being met by the New Delhi-based e-commerce company Snapdeal. For the last four years, Snapdeal has been offering best value products at affordable prices with the convenience of home shopping for customers. The platform enhances shopping experience by offering a wide variety of products at the click of a button. The use of technology helps predict customers’ demands and offer them customized products.

Disrupting notions of quality and price

Ankur Pahwa, Partner and National Leader, Ecommerce and Consumer Internet, EY says, Snapdeal’s value-focused catalogue enables customers find products meeting price and quality requirements. The platform recently launched a new campaign tilted ‘Brand Waali Quality, Bazaar Waali Deal.’ The campaign targets seeking consumers value looking for brand-like’ quality products at ‘bazaar-like’ prices. It offers products similar to those offered by popular brands at cheaper prices.

Through this campaign, Snapdeal hopes to capitalize on the acceleration in value ecommerce. It hopes to disrupt the popular notion that value and quality can only be founded in branded and expensive products.

Amazon Fashion is set to go live its Wardrobe Refresh Sale starting today. The e-commerce company plans to retail over 1,000 fashion brands during this sale and sell over 12 lakh beauty products. The industry’s re-strategizing amid the strict lockdowns last year helped Amazon boost fashion sales by 40 per cent y-o-y. The company registered 65 per cent sales from Tier-II, III and IV cities, informs Saurabh Shrivastava, Director and Head, Amazon Fashion Head. Overall order volumes for the fashion category across marketplaces and brand websites increased 45 per cent in FY21 compared to the year-ago period, according to a recent report by Unicommerce on the online fashion market.

Srivastava says, the second COVID-19 wave has accelerated the importance of e-commerce as a convenient and safe means to shop for essential. Customers have moved from formals and party wear to comfort wear, athleisure, and sportswear in terms of fashion, Shrivastava adds. They are focusing on the feel-good factor of dressing at home while opting for breezy and comfortable fabrics for easy transitioning across work conference calls and virtual parties with friends.

Amazon Fashion’s penetration across Tier II and III regions such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kanchipuram, Gurgaon, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Lucknow, etc also increased during the period. The 9th edition of the Amazon Wardrobe Refresh Sale will host more offers such as instant discounts, credit EMIs apart from cashback and free delivery for first-time fashion shoppers.

Amazon Fashion has also added other initiatives such as brand-specific size charts, multiple-angle product imagery and videos, and technological features such as outfit builder, virtual try-on, etc for the sale.

A Goldman Sachs report says, the retail sector including e-commerce will drive Reliance Industries’ 10x growth in pre-tax profit over the next decade. Growth in the company’s retail revenue paused in FY21 after growing 5x over FY16-FY20 mainly due to COVID related macro headwinds including lower footfalls.

The oil-to-telecom conglomerate focused on building its digital capabilities during this period besides expanding physical reach.

Goldman Sachs expects Reliance’s core retail revenue to grow at a 36 per cent CAGR over the next four years to $44 billion and e-commerce revenues to grow to 35 per cent of total retail revenues in FY25.

Analyst also predicts the company’s market share in online grocery segment will grow to 50 per cent by FY25 while its share in overall e-commerce is expected to grow to 30 per cent. RIL’s core EBITDA is expected to grow by 59 per cent year-on-year in FY22E based on cyclical growth in the oil-to-chemical (O2C) business, and structural growth in the consumer businesses.

World’s leading manufacturer of zippers and fastening systems, YKK has introduced a new digital showroom to improve consumer engagement. As per Textile Focus, the online showroom is modeled after YKK’s brick-and-mortar shop in London. It has six levels, each of which is represented by a zipper in the showroom’s emblem.

Fastening goods for high-function applications such as outdoor, backpacks, water protection, and luggage; fasteners for clothes in the categories of jeans, fashion, leather, and kidswear; and corporate information are available on all floors of the showroom. One of the levels is dedicated to things peculiar to each location, which will be added later. Customers can look at items in close-up images, videos, and catalogs, as well as meet with YKK staff online.

In future, YKK aims to utilize the platform to conduct webinars and other learning opportunities. The digital showroom will also serve as an incubator for innovation and creative design, according to the business.

With over 14,000 small and medium units, Ludhiana’s hosiery industry hopes for a revival with easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Punjab and other parts of the country. Punjab’s hosiery and textile sector has been facing huge losses since the last one and half months due to pandemic-induced lockdowns. However, with the reopening of economy and return of migrant workers, manufacturers expect the remaining three months to be good, says Sudershan Jain, President, Knitwear and Apparel Manufacturers Association of Ludhiana.

Ajay Nayyar, Owner, Silver Arc Mall, says, the extension of store timing till 8 pm will boost store traffic. Amit Thapar, Vice-Chairman, Punjab Chapter, CII, adds, the sector, which suffered nearly 30 per cent losses due to the lockdown is expected to recover soon.

Footwear and apparel firm Woodland expects overall sales to recover over the next two months as online sales have grown exponentially amid the pandemic. The brand is in the process of reopening retail stores and plans to halt expansion due to the uncertainties caused by COVID-19. The brand’s Q1FY22 sales reached 20-30 per cent of pre-COVID levels while online sales increased 15-20 per cent, informs Harkirat Singh, Managing Director, Aero Club, owner of Woodland. The brand’s online sales are increasing as most of its stores remain closed due to the pandemic.

Woodland entered the Indian market in 1992 and currently has over 600 company-owned stores and 5,000 multi-retail outlets across the country. The company plans to achieve sales of Rs 2,500 crore by FY 2025.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) has acquired an additional 7.69 per cent stake in Finesee, a company involved in managing the business of brand Shantanu & Nikhil. ABFRL earlier owned 51 per cent stake in the ethnic wear company.

Its recent acquisition has increased total stake in Finesse to 58.69 per cent. Incorporated in 2007, Finesse International Design runs bespoke ethnic wear business selling occasion and ceremonial contemporary apparel for men and women under the brand name "Shantanu & Nikhil" and "SN by Shantanu & Nikhil" through a cluster of eight stores. It is an unlisted private company located in Delhi.

Its authorized share capital is Rs 1.50 crore and the total paid-up capital is Rs 1.24 crore.

ABFRL is a part of the Aditya Birla Group, a $ 48.3 billion Indian multinational, in the league of Fortune 500. Anchored by an extraordinary force of over 120,000 employees, belonging to 42 nationalities, the Aditya Birla Group operates in 34 countries across the globe.

For Q4 FY20-21 ended March 31, 2021 Khadim India posted net profit of Rs 11.52 crore as against a net loss of Rs 4.43 crore posted in Q3 ended December 31, 2020. As per Equity Bulls, the company reported total income of Rs.273.47 crore during the period ended March 31, 2021 as compared to Rs.178.02 crores during the period ended December 31, 2020. Its EPS grew to Rs.6.42 for the period ended March 31, 2021 as compared to Rs.2.47 for the period ended December 31, 2020.

For the period ended March 31, 2021, Khadim India posted net profit of Rs 11.52 crore as against a net loss of Rs 19.87 crore posted during the period ended March 31, 2020. It reported total income of Rs.273.47 crore during the period ended March 31, 2021 as compared to Rs.159.75 crore during the period ended March 31, 2020. Its EPS declined to Rs.6.42 for the period ended March 31, 2021 as compared to Rs.(11.06) for the period ended March 31, 2020.