'Apparel producers have no choice but to hike retail prices' – MD, Shoppers Stop
Mr Govind Shrikhande, MD - Shoppers Stop
“Apparel prices have a direct correlation to the cotton price. As cotton prices have zoomed abnormally, apparel producers have no choice but to increase retail prices”, said, Mr Govind Shrikhande, Managing Director of Shoppers Stop.
This was informed in an exclusive interview to fibre2fashion just a few days before the Finance Minister choked branded clothing by levying 10 percent excise duty. Now the retailers have been hit by a double whammy.
Raw material prices, mainly of cotton have doubled from a year ago. This has induced clothing retailers to hike their prices. The second blow came from the budget, in which branded apparels have been now been subjected to an excise duty of 10 percent.
Apparel brands will now have no option, but to increase their retail prices or face reduced margins. Mr Shrikhande believes the effective price hike would be in the region of 10-15 percent.
However Mr Shrikhande is optimistic that consumers will accept the price rise as this kind of price rise has happened after a long time and as consumer income is also rising at the same time, consumers would take this in their stride.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India