It will be an extended New Year party for the Rs 10,000 crore winter fashion segment in India as freezing winters in the Western and Northern markets led to a spurt in sales volumes of woollen garments in the past two weeks.
Rajan Malhotra, CEO, Big Bazaar told FE, ?In the western markets, we have attained over 50% more sales of woollen garments this winter, as compared to previous winter. Due to acute winter, we have already achieved our sales target of Rs 40 crore and are looking forward for an additional business of Rs 10 to Rs 20 crore.?
Since the orders are placed months before the onset of the season, a source said that the companies will now either be looking at sourcing woollen clothing from other regional centers or may also look at old stuff with the suppliers.
Malhotra added, ?We have started placing more orders for woollen garments to our regional distribution centres to meet the growing demand.?
The order booking for woollen clothes for the November-January season was done in last April. Around 120 days go into the order delivery and the suppliers are given September end as the deadline to make sure that the stores have stuff in place before the offset of the season.
Competitor, Shopper?s Stop too witnessed a 30 to 40% spurt in volume sales of woollen clothes in Western markets without running any discounts. According to Govind Shrikhande, vice president (sales and marketing), Shopper?s Stop, ?During winters, we run bumper discounts of upto 40% off on woollen clothes in Northern markets and witness 30% sales growth year-on-year. This year, due to acute freezing winters both in Northern and Western markets, the demand for woollen clothes has been phenomenal. Consumers have not even been bothered about asking for discounts.?
There are certain stores that start discounts on woollen garments and may also look at cutting down discount on woollen clothing from 50 to 60% to say around 30%.
Cotton County has been offering varieties of winter fashion apparels with 70% discounts, as compared to the limited varieties, which used be on offer during the previous winter. According to officials from Cotton County, ?We have achieved our 30% sales target this winter.? Competitor, Proline Knitwear too has spurred volumes of woollen clothes this winter with its new product launches.