Apparel and footwear companies said they are closely monitoring inflationary trends with some even looking at rolling back price hikes on existing range or upcoming season offerings, especially at the mass-end. Players also said they have begun witnessing strong demand for winter season-related products.

This comes at a time when there has been some softening in raw material costs in recent weeks.

Speaking at the sidelines of an event organised by the Retailers Association of India, Lalit Agarwal, Managing Director, V-Mart Retail told businessline, “ We are in the process of rolling back prices by 6-7 per cent for the winter season products and also on the products for the upcoming spring-summer season. We believe consumers have not been able to accommodate price hikes and it has impacted consumption volumetrically and that’s why we are adopting this strategy to ensure products remain affordable while continuing to innovate.”

Costs down, but a little

Agarwal said that consumers continue to cope with inflationary challenges with nearly 60 per cent of the consumer basket being impacted. “While raw material costs for the industry have come down to some extent, but they still remain almost 40 per cent higher than the base,” he added.

Sources said some other brands have also begun considering roll back in price hikes for products positioned at the entry level to boost volumes. 

Anupam Bansal, Director, Liberty Shoes, said while there are no changes being made to MRPs of existing products, there could be softening of prices for products launched in the upcoming season.

Others said they are monitoring the inflationary trends closely. Gunjan Shah, MD & CEO, Bata India said, “We have managed to navigate inflationary pressures reasonably well till now. But we are continuously monitoring the situation and wherever possible, we are trying to ensure that we remain competitive while also maintaining margins.”

Winter season demand

With the onset of winter season in the northern region, retailers said they are witnessing an uptick in winter-related products and the initial trends are encouraging.

Harkirat Singh, MD, Aero Club, known for brand Woodland and Woods, said, “We are seeing good demand for our winter products. We expect 20 per cent growth this winter as compared with the last season.”

Agarwal of V-Mart Retail, too, said the company is witnessing an uptick in sales due to winter and wedding season.

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