As per a new McKinsey survey, Indian consumers’ newfound optimism would result in increased spending across categories in the months to come. The survey found most consumers have been trading down or buying less expensive goods while they go for a shopping. Also, the brand loyalty has gone for a toss.

However, the intent to spend has increased by 30 per cent, says the report. About 58 per cent of Indians reported being optimistic about economic recovery in the next two to three months; about 32 per cent think it would take about 6 to 12 months while 10 per cent reported being pessimistic about the recovery.

As per the survey, only Chinese consumers are as optimistic as Indian ones 58 per cent consumers being optimistic, 38 per cent being unsure and 4 per cent being pessimistic.

In a recent media interview with exchange4media.com, Charan Narsimhan, Managing Director, Indian Terrain has said, he expects the retail industry to improve slowly and with the festive season, sales are expected to increase to a good extent. Even though footfalls in stores has been low, there is reasonable demand and conversions in with the unlocking.

With Work From Home being the new normal and online classes, preference for T-shirts, shorts, joggers and ringer t-shirts has increased. Indian Terrain launched the Marvel and Winter collection in the kids and boys segment this festive season. It is also running several offers and discounts in stores and online.

Indian Terrain is currently focusing on small town India with the launch of 20 new retail stores in Tier II and III markets in FY 20-21. It has also re-launched its website with enhanced user interface and omni-channel experience order fulfillment being implemented from stores.

The brand has also introduced multiple consumer-centric initiatives for seamless engagement digitally. It has launched a “Store to Door” service whereby a curated virtual catalogue is sent to the customer via WhatsApp and product is delivered at the customer’s doorstep.

Politics is a set of activities associated with the governance of a country or an area. It involves making decisions that apply to group of members. I would have realized that technology is an accessible field at a younger age. I really got interested in technology when I took a role on President Obama’s Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform transition team in 2008 to make recommendations.

In January this year, the Kerala government introduced a ‘fat tax,’ on certain food types not suitable for consumption. The tax aims to curb consumption of unhealthy foods in India. In fashion, especially couture, the tax refers to the practice of charging extra for clothes in bigger sizes.

Fat tax helps designers, who have to forgo their profit margins to provide larger sizes, connect with customers who have to pay extra to clothe themselves suitably. Designer aggregator stores in India like Fuel, Pernia’s Pop Up Shop, and Aza usually stock extra-large pieces for three months without guarantying sale, which makes it difficult for designers to send them multiple pieces in a variety of sizes. Luxury women’s wear brand Papa Don’t Preach doesn’t make plus-sized clothing if not demanded by a customer at its store. The brand does not stock more than two to three pieces of a particular design at any given time, since it’s made to measure.

Additional raw material costs hinder production of plus sizes

One reason designers shy away from producing large size clothes in India is because they require more rawRequired An urgent resizing of Indian sizing materials which increases their production costs. Shubhika Sharma, Founder and Creative Director of Papa don’t Preach, believes this cost needs to be borne by designers as the actual additional costs aren’t that steep. However, in India luxury designers try to control their production costs by using cheaper raw materials, says local fashion watchdog Diet Sabya.

As a lot of the embroidery work being done today on garments is machine-based and the fabrics are procured from China at throwaway prices, designers’ justification for charging extra for more fabric, embroidery, etc does not stand, points out Neelakshi Singh, Professor, National Institute of Fashion Technology and Pearl Academy. Sharma adds, designers do not make a loss making an XL size for a paying customer. Though the cost of embroidery does increase marginally it can be accommodated in the original price. Sharma advises designers to learn from growing sustainable fashion movement and apply it to plus-size production.

Resizing can help write off fat tax

For emerging designers, staying in business, means catering to the average, the middle — the S through L sizes. However, these sizes don’t generally fit Indian bodies, points out Sharma. For them, tops and bottoms have different sizes and an L size garment made for Indian body type won’t fit any other customer. This is because in India, plus size individuals actually belong to the mid-sizes that are more affordable for customers and more profitable for designers. Hence, if the current measurements are resized according to Indian bodies, it could help to write off fat tax completely.

Such an initiative has been introduced by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in partnership with the Indian Ministry of Textiles. Together, these two bodies are carrying out a National Sizing Survey that will measure 25,000 men and women across six major cities in the country, in the age group 15-65 years. The survey aims to make the ready-to-wear fashion industry more aware of Indian sizes. Though some industry leaders including Vishakha Bhaskar, Co-founder, Angrakha are skeptical of these efforts, it’s not too late for the Indian fashion industry to revolutionize the concept of plus size in India.

Politics is a set of activities associated with the governance of a country or an area. It involves making decisions that apply to group of members. I would have realized that technology is an accessible field at a younger age. I really got interested in technology when I took a role on President Obama’s Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform transition team in 2008 to make recommendations.

As per a report by Payoneer, Indian e-commerce sector ranks on the 9th position globally in cross border growth.

The sector saw a massive growth in recent times as more Indians shopped online rather than venturing outside, says Economic Times. The sector also attracted huge investments from global players such as Facebook investing in Reliance Jio. Google announced its first investment in Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio Platforms, joining Facebook, etc. The deal was followed by Reliance Retail buying out Future group to increase the Ambani group’s presence in e-commerce space.

According to the report, as the world moved to full or partial lockdown, online shopping cemented into a new reality. The year 2020 has seen a decade of growth within just a few months with China topping the charts followed by the US, Hong Kong, South Korea, UK, Ukraine and Vietnam. India on the ninth position is followed by Japan which emerges on the tenth position.

Online platforms are witnessing an increase of up to 40 percent year-on-year (YoY) in demand for winter wear. IS.U (pronounced as Is You), a homegrown apparel brand which also has its own online platform, has seen 35 to 40 per cent growth in lounge wear category which includes sweatshirts and pants this winter.

Similarly, Amazon India is seeing 20 per cent growth in the sales of women’s jackets and sweatshirts this year. In the last two months, kid’s winter wear category grew at 28 per cent.

During its recent Big Billion Days sale, Flipkart witnessed a 70 per cent growth in winter wear for both men and women compared to last year. While sports jackets and sweatshirts were the top performing verticals in the men's category, denim jackets, pullovers, and shawls were top choices for women, said Nishit Garg, Vice President, Flipkart Fashion.

Work from home culture has changed purchasing behavior. Women, who earlier invested more in long jackets or coats, knee length cardigan dresses, are now interested in buying comfortable clothing like turtle neck tops, sweatshirts, among others, said Rashi Menda, Founder & CEO, IS.U.

The ongoing festival season is further expected to increase the winter wear sales. The winter wear market in India accounts for five percent of overall Indian apparel market.

Politics is a set of activities associated with the governance of a country or an area. It involves making decisions that apply to group of members. I would have realized that technology is an accessible field at a younger age. I really got interested in technology when I took a role on President Obama’s Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform transition team in 2008 to make recommendations.

For the Indian apparel industry, Diwali was not a fun affair as it used to be till last year. As per Apparel Resources, around 40 to 45 per cent factories of North India didn’t give any bonus or ‘considerable’ gift to their professionals, while many factories gave almost half amount compared to last year. Already facing major challenges like less business, high costing, the apparel industry witnessed a major cost-cutting this year be it giving gifts to their staff, bonus or even celebrations at the factory/office premises.

Many companies did not give gift to their employees or workers. The mid-level staff of the export houses was impacted more by this. A few export houses managed to give bonus not only to workers but also mid-level professionals. The amount or ratio was different from company to company while many factories gave half amount to their professionals compared to what they used to get previously.

Market sentiments too were quite low this time as everyone from the raw material suppliers to job workers did not exchange gifts unlike the past years.

Politics is a set of activities associated with the governance of a country or an area. It involves making decisions that apply to group of members. I would have realized that technology is an accessible field at a younger age. I really got interested in technology when I took a role on President Obama’s Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform transition team in 2008 to make recommendations.