Retail

Retail sales in India may begin recovering in May: report

06 Apr '20

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

Indian retailers will endure a severe short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but retail sales recovery period is likely to begin from the first week of May if the lockdown is not extended further, according to a report by Singapore-based Capillary Technologies, which offers solutions for omni-channel customer engagement, e-commerce and related services.

“The most resilient retailers surviving this epidemic are the omni-channel retailers. Brands who invested in enabling a personalised omni-channel shopping experience are experiencing the fruits of their labour," it said.

Until March 16, consumer retail sales and walk-ins did not see much dip compared to last year and this could be due to festive shopping, the report said.

"However, the India consumer retail witnessed a big drop in sales by 46 per cent and 55 per cent fall in the number of customers per store from March 17 to 25, which is expected to drop further in the coming weeks due to the ongoing nation-wide lockdown," it said.

The study was conducted on the impact of COVID-19 in the retail ecosystems of India, the Middle East, China and Singapore. Data of over 10,000 stores were analysed in these regions before and during lockdowns.

"This is a very trying period for retailers across the globe. Reports suggest that it will take 5 or 6 months for the world to recover completely from the impact of this pandemic...In India, we are still in the critical phase of a national lockdown," company chief executive officer Aneesh Reddy was quoted as saying by a news agency.

While the Indian government is doing everything in its power to battle the virus from their end, retailers can also look up to their peers in China and Singapore to save their businesses and chart a quick road to recovery, he added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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