The food and grocery retail market that is dominated by MSME-in India is leading to a recovery of retail sales past the pre-pandemic levels in October. Hence the sales growth for the food and grocery segment stood at a striking 31 percent from October to November 2019.
The Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) segment increased by 29% from October 2019 levels. Among the nine sub-sectors in the overall retail sector in India, the food and grocery and restaurant segments recorded the highest growth levels in comparison to the pre-pandemic levels.
While overall retail sales showed 14 per cent growth in October from pre-Covid levels and 34 per cent growth from October 2020 levels after nearing a 100 per cent recovery in September this year, the furniture and furnishing, beauty/wellness & personal care, and footwear segments were yet to achieve full recovery. The three industries fell short of pre-pandemic growth levels by 4%, 7%, and 2%, respectively, in October sales.
In order to understand the complete impact of the festival season on retail sales, it is essential to see the figures for October and November combined. We would await the results for the month of November to draw definitive conclusions. However, all the signs indicate a positive trend.
The recovery in key sectors was also likely contributed by the ongoing festive season, particularly Diwali, as people thronged markets for festive purchases such as jewelry and apparel, while restaurants were also able to leverage the recovery along with the high rate of vaccination. According to RAI, as the country achieves the inoculation of more than one billion citizens, the retail industry is hopeful of setting a steady pace of recovery during the ongoing festive quarter.