Covid changes (business) models for fashion retailers

Sales for Aditya Birla Fashion and Shoppers Stop are down by 84% and 93%, respectively. To avoid the fate of their Western counterparts, many of which are staring down the barrel of bankruptcy, they need to change, and fast

Covid has thrown a wrench in the works; inventory has piled up as brick and mortar stores remained closed for months

Stores are finally reopening. About 80% of ABFRL stores, 75% of V-Mart’s stores, and 84% of Shoppers Stop’s department stores are now back in business

The upcoming festive season could up sales, but when everyone’s sitting at home in pyjamas, there’s only so far fashion can go

Besides, all these stores lost a whole season of sales in 2020. Would cost-cutting be enough to deal with the piling losses?

For an outsider, the fashion calendar can be a bit of a head-scratcher. Summer and Spring sales run from January, when most places are at their coldest, to June. Winter and Fall collections take over in July, while most places are still sweltering, and run until December. There’s also the Resort collection, which generally consists of summer wear, but is sold in the winter—for people looking to holiday somewhere a bit more tropical.

If that calendar sounds strange, brace yourself for the concept of fashion week. Held twice a year—once in February and then in September—you’d expect the former to be for Spring/Summer, with the latter for Winter.

AUTHOR

Prasannata Patwa

Based in Mumbai, Prasannata writes about content start-ups, consumer products, and OTT platforms. When not chasing trends she likes to travel, and binge on documentaries. She previously worked at Mint and is an ACJ Bloomberg Business Journalism graduate.

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