How Will Indian Fashion & Lifestyle Retail Emerge Post COVID 19?
India has immense scope for expansion in the retail sector. With an increasing income bracket, infrastructural development, and movements such as digital India, the country was climbing the ladder up in retail attracting many foreign direct investments. 2019 itself saw opening up of many luxury brands such as Scentido (luxury perfumes) in the Indian subcontinent. As the internet is becoming more and more prevalent, brick and mortar stores also chose to have a presence online to expand their sales and brand themselves amongst a wider audience, reaching not just the metropolitans but also the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. An alarming percentage of 31 is shared by online sales in retail in India. The increasing user base expected to reach 600 million by 2021 is sure to give a hike to the same. The retail industry alone is responsible for creating about 8% of employment in the Indian economy along with contributing to about 10% in the country's GDP. In 2019, India was ranked no. 2 in