In March 2022, the apparel sales grew by 26 per cent compared to what it was during the same period last year, while overall retail sales grew by 28 per cent in the same period – all thanks to the removal of pandemic-related restrictions driving all-round growth of retail businesses across the country.
Retailers Association of India (RAI) said that according to the latest Retail Business Survey (region-wise), the west showed a growth of 37 per cent, while the north clocked a 28 per cent increase.
Similarly, the east saw a growth of 26 per cent and the south registered a 21 per cent increase in overall retail sales in March 2022.
The overall retail sales last month grew by 12 per cent as compared to the pre-pandemic levels of March 2019.
The consumer durables and electronics clocked the highest growth at 45 per cent.
Retailers are hopeful that quantitative growth will be restored and business will be back on a steady growth trajectory in FY 2022.
“The removal of pandemic-related restrictions has resulted in all-round growth of retail businesses across regions and categories including categories that were hitherto showing weak sales like garments and footwear,” RAI’s CEO Kumar Rajagopalan said.
He, however, added “When looking at the performance, one needs to factor in the inbuilt inflation in most products like garments, electronics and some FMCG products.”
