The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Subdued demand hurts retail sales growth in Q1
RETAIL SALES growth slowed down in the April- June quarter due to tightening of discretionary spending by consumers, prolonged heatwave, fewer wedding days, and volatility in gold prices. Retailers across categories -- from apparel, lifestyle and jewellery to grocery -- and recent quarterly updates of companies such as Avenue
Supermarts, Nykaa and Titan point to such a downturn.
Both Avenue Supermarts and Titan closed flat on Wednesday at Rs 4,839.40 apiece and Rs 3,223.95 a share on the BSE in a weak market. FSN E- Commerce Ventures, which runs Nykaa, was down 0.31 per cent in Wednesday’s trade on the BSE. While shares of Vedant Fashions were down 0.14 per cent at Rs 1,050.20 apiece at close of trade on Wednesday on the BSE.
“The April- June period this year has been difficult,” says Manish Kapoor, MD & CEO, Pepe Jeans India. Beauty retailer Nykaa flagged a “muted” demand environment in Q1, saying that elections as well as heatwave had hurt sales growth in its physical retail business. Avenue Supermarts, which operates Dmart stores in India, said its Q1 sales growth would come in at 18 per cent, lower than the 20 per cent topline growth reported in Q4, on the back of a slowdown in discretionary spending. Titan is grappling with a surge in gold prices which is hurting jewellery sales.
The long election season and the severe heatwave prevented people from stepping out to shop, Kapoor said.
“At a broader level, I believe there is intense competition for the share of wallet of the consumer today. There are multiple avenues available to people to spend their discretionary income. This is hurting retail sales,” Kapoor says. FE