Small town India will spur organized retail growth

Value fashion and lifestyle products retailer V-Mart Retail recently opened four new stores, three in Uttar Pradesh and one in Jharkhand. As part of its expansion plans, the retail brand continues to target the under-served tier-2 and 3 markets and plans to scale up its outlets in the next fiscal. In a special interaction with VM&RD, Vineet Jain, COO, V-Mart Retail Ltd, shares his views on why retailers are flocking to tier II, III towns, on the key game changers for Indian retail this year, and more.

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As we begin a new year after a long tough year, what are your thoughts with respect to the retail industry? Any key takeaways from 2020 for the retail business as a whole?

In the six months since Unlock 1.0 in June, the retail sector revival followed a wave pattern, largely following the pandemic trajectory. During June-August Unlock phases, sales picked up whenever the pandemic subsided temporarily and movement restrictions were lifted. Approaching the festive season, sales showed a tepid build-up, but gathered strong momentum by October-end. As a value fashion retailer focusing on tier 2 and 3 towns in North and East India V-Mart has seen strong demand revival during October-December, buoyed by festive shopping, early arrival of winters, and a significant backlog of marriages happening, that were canceled during Summer 2020. For the retail sector overall, the six-month trend since Unlock 1.0 has been on an upswing, but bouncing back to pre-Covid levels is a question that is still up in the air.