Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: A survey of 100 wedding clothing manufacturers in the country revealed that a whopping 83 per cent of respondents recorded ‘no growth’ during this year’s wedding season as compared to the previous season in 2022. The survey recently conducted by the apparel manufacturers’ representative body Clothing Manufacturing Association of India (CMAI) on Wednesday noted that 77 per cent of the wedding clothing manufacturers indicated their sales to be average to poor during the wedding seasons this year.
About 60 per cent of the respondents stated that the economic slowdown was the primary reason behind the poor sales, while 14 per cent thought that the high prices of wedding clothes were the reason. Around 13 per cent of the participants also stated that a lesser number of auspicious days in comparison to the previous season led to the decline.
Moreover, about 40 per cent of the manufacturers reported a 10-25 per cent decline in their year-on-year sales. Further, 85 per cent of the respondents said that economically priced products performed better than more expensive products.
“Women’s segment constituted about 70 per cent of the overall decline, while 30 per cent was in the men’s wear category. A good winter wedding season (December to February) may have set the bar of expectations higher for the producers due to which they felt the decline in sales,” Rahul Mehta, Chief Mentor, Clothing Manufacturing Association of India told FEAspire.
In a survey conducted by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in 2022, about 32 lakh weddings took place in the period of 14th November to 14th December last year. The total expenditure during this brief period alone was about Rs 3.75 lakh crores.
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India is home to the largest young population in the world with an average age of 28.2, as per the data of the World Population Prospects, the wedding market assumes significance. Moreover, as per the investor update of Matrimony.com, as cited in a CNBCTV18 report in November 2021, India had 50 crore unmarried people.
Moreover, according to the statistics portal Statista, Indians spent 32 per cent of their total spending on apparel on ethnic clothing. Also, according to CRISIL Research, the Indian wedding and celebration wear apparel market was estimated to be approximately Rs 1,020 billion in FY20.