18 November 2022, Mumbai:
Retailers are opening stores at a brisk pace. Shoppers are thronging malls and stores, returning to normal patterns of behaviour. Retailers, struck by Covid in the early part of the pandemic, hit a pause on expansion plans as demand remained suspended for months due to intermittent lockdowns. However, things have started to pick up this year.
Retail activity in the second half of the current fiscal is expected to be strong, especially in categories such as food and beverages and sportswear and family entertainment centres. Mall supply is also expected to increase in the coming quarters.In tier II and tier III cities, large, organized retailers are coming up with 10,000 sqft to 20,000 sqft stores.Those kinds of stores have not been seen in such cities.
In 2023, their expansion could be faster than in 2022. Retailers of home appliances are set to open more stores in 2023.Sales across categories are showing a steady increase with sports goods indicating a strong performance followed by lifestyle, footwear, QSR and jewelry performing better than other categories. In August 2022, the growth in sales compared to pre-pandemic timeswas noticeable across regions too. There has been a significant uptake in occasionwear and bridalwear, besides workwear.
