Festivals, weddings and other events, including sports such as FIFA World Cup, together pushed the retail sales up in the month of November this year. according to the Retailers Association of India's (RAI) retail business survey, retail sales in November 2022 grew 6 percent as compared to the year-ago period and 15 percent as against the sales in November, 2019 --the pre-Covid period.
The 34th edition of the RAI survey showed that the eastern as well as western regions of India witnessed a 17 percent growth in November this year, whereas the north and south regions witnessed a growth of 13 percent. The retail sales were led by the sports, footwear and jewellery industry. Electronics and fast moving consumer goods also witnessed substantial growth.
“October and November witnessed a 17 percent growth, which is welcome but can’t be termed as spectacular. Inflation-led worries have dampened the ability of some customers to purchase discretionary products. However, with the wedding season ringing in, we have seen an increase in purchases in jewellery, footwear, and garments,” said Kumar Rajagopalan, the CEO of RAI.
Meanwhile, compared to November 2021, the retail sales grew 8 percent in the west, 6 percent in the south, 5 percent in the east and 4 percent in the North.
Given the wedding season, the jewellery industry witnessed a spike in sales of 23 percent in November, compared to the same month in 2019.
Whereas, the footwear industry saw the largest growth of 29 percent compared to November 2019.
The sports industry witnessed a 24 percent rise in purchases as well compared to the pre-pandemic level. The RAI said there are two reasons for the same — the FIFA World Cup saw Indians buy merchandise to support their teams and with the marathon season approaching, both amateur and professional runners would be buying necessary equipment. "It could also be the reason why the footwear industry has seen a jump as well," the RAI said in a statement.
The electronics and consumer durables industry witnessed a 14 percent increase in 2022 compared to the previous year, and a 4 percent rise compared to 2019, mainly due to new launches.
"The rise in all likelihood is due to the release of leading brands launching the latest versions of their mobile phones and other gadgets during this period," said a RAI statement.
(Edited by : CH Unnikrishnan)
