Wedding season set to boost demand for apparel, jewellery

The wedding season has boosted sales growth for categories like apparel, jewellery, large packs of staples and edible oil by up to 30% in the last fortnight with the industry expecting a record number of marriages planned till February that will aid faster recovery in overall demand, industry executives said. Absolute sales are much more than pre-Covid levels in 2019.

Executives said categories like refrigerators, washing machines and televisions have also seen a jump in enquiries and marginal improvement in demand since December, which they said, will pick up pace from January onwards when the number of auspicious days are much more.

“Sales of suits for men and lehenga or ethnic wear indicates that wedding season is stronger even compared to 2019 levels, boosting our average selling price as these are higher ticket items,” said departmental chain Lifestyle International chief executive Devarajan Iyer. Rajendra Kalkar, president (malls) at Phoenix Mills, which operates nine malls in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai, said there has been around 30-40% year-on-year growth in sales in categories like apparel, jewellery and even luxury brands, driven by the wedding demand.

The recovery in wedding demand has come after two years of Covid when celebrations were either muted or postponed. This has created an additional boost for the industry, when demand plummeted after Diwali with a delayed winter in several parts of the country.

Sunil Kataria, CEO of lifestyle business at fabric and apparel manufacturer Raymond, said the country is expected to have over 30 lakh weddings this season and most of them are not a one-day event but last for 4-5 days. “While the opportunity was lost in the last two years, demand for both ethnic wear and western attire such as suits is strong now. We have seen a strong start to the season and expect this to continue into next quarter also,” said Kataria.