A better outlook for retail consumption in the second half of 2024 has prompted some of the world’s top retail brands to keep their India debut plans intact this year. After a muted April-June period—when shopping took a back seat due to heatwaves, elections and fewer wedding days—the second half is expected to see a rebound in consumption as the festive and wedding seasons take off, retail experts and companies said. And global brands are looking to capitalise on the momentum.
According to multiple retail consultants, global apparel brands such as Bershka from Spain’s Inditex Group, best known to Indians for its Zara chain of clothing stores; American footwear retailer Foot Locker; France’s Galeries Lafayette; Chinese fast-fashion brand Shein; British fashion retailer Asos; and Australian coffee chain The Coffee Club will enter the India market in October-November.
In the first half of 2024, about 0.5 million square feet of retail space was added across tier-I cities, retail and real estate consultancy CBRE said in its latest report on retail leasing in the country, released on Tuesday. At a broader level, CBRE said retail leasing soared to a five-year high in January-June, taking 3.1 million sq ft across eight cities compared with the corresponding periods in the previous five years. Retail leasing grew 7% year-on-year in H1 2024 from 2.9 million sq ft in H1 2023.
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“We expect an increase in supply in the second half of 2024 as a few investment-grade malls are set to begin operations in cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai. These malls are projected to add 3-4 million sq ft of new retail space in the second half of 2024. This will stimulate a retail uptick in the coming quarters,” Anshuman Magazine, chairman & CEO, India, South-East Asia, Middle East (West Asia) & Africa, CBRE, said.
While most of these launches will happen in partnership with local players, domestic retailers, too, are confident of consumers resuming shopping in the second half of the year.
“There are around 50-odd auspicious wedding days in the second half. Wedding will be big and so will the festive season from a shopping perspective,” Kavindra Mishra, MD & CEO, Shoppers Stop, said in an analysts’ call last week. Shoppers Stop has introduced a number of international fragrance and beauty brands over the past few months and is expected to ramp up its launches in the second half.
“The October-December quarter is likely to be stronger due to…the festive season and…weddings. This will augur well for retailers,” Devarajan Iyer, executive director & CEO of department store chain Lifestyle International, said.
Foot Locker, which is coming to India in a tie-up with Metro Brands, will open its first store, of around 5,000 sq ft, in Delhi in October, said retail industry sources. Galeries Lafayette has a strategic partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail and has its flagship 90,000-sq ft outlet coming up in Fort, Mumbai by October. This will be closely followed by a Delhi store launch of Galeries Lafayetts, measuring 65,000 sq ft in size, at the DLF Emporio Mall. And Shein and Asos have associations with Reliance Retail, with stores slated for opening at the Jio World Centre at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), industry sources said.
In the April-June quarter, total leasing stood at 1.2 million sq ft, CBRE said. The combined share of Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi-NCR in retail space leasing stood at 54%. The leasing activity during the quarter was primarily driven by fashion and apparel with 38% share. Homeware and department stores accounted for 16% share, entertainment 15%, food & beverage 9%, and the consumer electronics sector accounted for 6% share.
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