The Clothing Manufacturers Association Of India (CMAI) which has been the pioneer and most representative Association of the Indian apparel industry for over five decades, representing over 5,000 members, serving more than 35,000 retailers nationwide in its annual member survey has indicated muted expectations for the upcoming festive season on the back of not so strong consumer confidence.
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Another big piece is 63 percent of respondents sense in the foreseeable future flat or contracting sales/softening demand in a head-to-head comparison to the previous year, on the other hand, 25 percent anticipate sale volumes to be as low as 75 percent of 2023 levels which doesn't augur well ahead of the peak festive season.
Fashion Guru
Deterrents; Primary factors driving this not-so-optimistic forecast stem from shifting consumer spending trends, changing lifestyles, and a structural trendline toward lifestyle purchases/traditional buying habits, cited by 35 percent, and coupled with growing concerns over the slowdown economy is witnessing, also what is a deep-rooted issue is geopolitics where commentary is disturbing and, biting inflation (even though it has come off in recent months) spelled by 24 percent of respondents.
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Hits and misses; Men's wear has taken a serious hit, while in comparison women’s and kids' wear are expected to fare better.
Interestingly, a majority of 75 per cent of respondents are of the view that mid-priced brands is a sweet spot outperforming, reflecting how well consumers are evolving and getting increasingly mature.
Again, what is leapfrogging is the growing sanguine demand for Indian wear/traditional wear, and casual wear is anticipated to keep growing, while formal wear is a laggard currently.
Separating signals from the noise
No-brainer e-commerce business is on the roll, interestingly 75.5 percent still prefer offline/physical shopping as consumer is much more nuanced today, demonstrating the consistent strength and positioning of physical retail.
But here it has to be stated while current trends aren't surprising given recent economic conditions, optimism remains for a demand surge during the wedding season where as per one report India will have more than 48 marriages this season and there are more marriage days this winter and expected good winter season is keeping the hopes alive.