The Rs 45,000-crore ready-to-wear apparels industry in India is witnessing a higher turnaround – from six months earlier to two-three months now, thanks to changing shopping patterns that now reveal that garment shopping is increasingly moving towards organised retail, and away from the traditional markets. Higher demand is also the result of the better purchasing power of consumers, who are now prepared to spend 6-7% of their disposable income on readymade apparels.
As a result, the demand for ready-to-wear apparels at the modern retailing formats has started growing at the rate of 20% per annum. To meet the higher turnaround, retail majors like Globus, The Loot and Pantaloons are beefing up their logistics and warehousing operations, and are implementing new staff initiatives. They are also preparing for the upcoming festive season.
Jay Gupta, managing director, The Loot said, ?Since the store has 67% of repeat customers visiting the store every month, our rotating cycle for procuring apparels from the warehouse is getting reduced from four months to three months.?
The Loot is implementing a new HR initiative called ?Detailed Category Management? whereby the company will shift its central warehouse from Sewree to Bhiwandi, a much larger facility, to ensure procurement of apparels in two to three days instead of one week earlier. According to Gupta, ?Our new warehouse, with an area size of 30,000 q ft, will be operational in the first week of October. Prior to the move, we have moved to a larger store format of 2,000 sq ft, which has helped us reduce costs by 25%.?
With customers wanting to trade up between different ready-to-wear apparel retailing, Big Bazaar and Pantaloon Retail India have witnessed a 50% increase in demand for fashion apparels as customers free float between different ready-to-wear apparel retailing formats. Rajan Malhotra, chief executive officer (CEO), Big Bazaar told FE, ?Customers want to free float from Big Bazaar to Pantaloon for buying fashion apparels. As a result, the turnaround time for fashion apparels is four months at Pantaloon, whereas, in Big Bazaar it is about five months.?
BS Nagesh, managing director, Shopper?s Stop Ltd, said, ?Depending on the stores and their locations, the turnaround period varies from 3.5 times to 4.5 times for overall apparels. Footfalls at Shopper?s Stop have increased by 10% to 20%.?
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Big Bazaar and Pantaloon Retail India have witnessed a 50% increase in demand for fashion apparels
Due to rising demand, The Loot?s rotating cycle for procuring apparels has come down from four months to three months
Higher demand is the result of better purchasing power of consumers, who are now prepared to spend 6-7% of their disposable income on readymade apparels.
To meet the higher turnaround, retail majors like Globus, The Loot, Pantaloon Retail are beefing up their logistics and warehousing operations, and are implementing new staff initiatives.