Will $1 trillion be enough to ignite an explosion of growth in India’s retail market?
That’s the question being asked as overseas brands and domestic companies digest projections that the country’s retail industry will hit that sales level in 2020. The forecast comes as the industry saw growth in only the single digits earlier this year, although sales picked up a bit in October.
India is already among the world’s top-five retail markets, with growth in the high-double digits over the last decade. The increases have been fueled by the nation’s increasingly aspirational 1.3 billion people and GDP growth that has been hovering between 6 and 7 percent, while many other economies are flagging.
While India has long been touted as a market of the future, the question of timing has come up often — is it too late to enter? In addition — given high-profile flops, such as U.K. department store chain Debenhams and French retailer Carrefour — the seemingly endless legal complexities and regulations; an overall population that remains relatively poor and price sensitive; a sector that continues to be dominated by small mom-and-pop stores, and brands that linked with the wrong partners, is the market simply too complex for overseas
More related articles: Farfetch’s Next Move, Nuuly, and the Apparel Rental Market, Joann Pailey Head of Content and Marketing with Altuzarra
MadeTrends is a fashion trend forecasting agency based in NYC. For your industry-specific 2020 forecast, please contact us.