Retail business in India grew 10% in February this year from the level of sales in the same month last year, indicating the sector is slowly moving towards normality, the Retailers Association of India (RAI) said on Monday.
According to the industry association’s latest business survey, the increase over the past month represents growth of 6% compared to February 2020.
Retailers across all regions had signaled growth in February 2022, with West Indies sales up 16% from the same month last year, RAI said in a statement.
East India posted growth of 4% YoY, while North India grew 17% YoY compared to February last year.
Similarly, southern India also posted 4% growth from February last year, it added.
Commenting on the results, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO of RAI said: “While the data shows that retail businesses are slowly getting closer to normality, we have to consider that the growth shown is not adjusted for inflation and there is a possibility that some categories are still are not again quantitative growth”.
RAI said most categories now show growth in business generated in February 2022 compared to the previous two years.
Categories like consumer discretionary & electronics, groceries & groceries, and QSR showed rapid year-over-year growth of 28%, 19%, and 16%, respectively, she added.
The apparel and footwear categories had also posted double-digit growth with a steady decline in COVID-19 case numbers.
“With most states now having lifted restrictions on store hours and retail operations, expect some sense of normalcy to return. However, inflation and the war situation in Ukraine will have some impact on the positive business development,” RAI said.
