Apparel maintains growth tempo

CMAI?s Apparel Index for the Second Quarter (July-Sept 2015) once again confirms that the industry has maintained its growth tempo with overall index value at 6.68 points. Giant and large brands have continued their growth story much like the previous quarters and stayed ahead of the curve. They have done better with higher sales turnover and lower inventory holding.

Mid, large and giant brands are racing ahead
Q2 Apparel Index clocked in 6.68 points growth. This is approximately 56 per cent higher than the index for small brands (with turnovers of Rs 10 to 25 crore) which stood at 4.28 points. For mid brands (with turnovers of Rs 25-100 crore), growth is 7.7 points. In fact, mid brands performed much better than small brands, but it?s the large brands (with turnovers of Rs 100 to 300 crore) with 8.95 points and giant brands (with turnovers of above Rs 300 crore) with a high index value of 9.15 points that have shown real growth. This is a clear indication that mid, large and giant brands are doing much better compared to the small ones. Index pattern this quarter, much like earlier quarters, reflects that as the size of brands go up, the performance improves. Interestingly, mid brands are racing ahead to catch up with the growth momentum of large and giant brands. The gap between the growth rate of small brands and mid brands is considerably higher than previous quarters. To an extent, this quarter?s growth has got a boost from sales as the results include the EOSS period of July and August, where large brands usually offer high discounts, and the focus is on the top line, resulting in high sales turnover. On the other hand, a period of heavy discount is normally accompanied by a reduction in inventory. These factors probably explain why large and medium brands are faring much better than the small brands, which typically are under some stress during this period.

Sales turnover increases with company size
The index points out that the sales turnover also increases in the same pattern as the size of the brand. For small brands, growth in sales turnover is just 3.38 and it grows on increasing. For example, for mid brands, it is 5.19, while for large, 5.33 and giant brands, it is 5.54. This pattern follows a reverse order in case of inventory holding, clearly indicating the impact of sales turnover and inventory on the company?s performance.

As Vinod Kumar Gupta, MD, Dollar, says, ?It has been a satisfying year for us with the brand making inroads in newer territories and consolidating its position in existing hosiery markets in India and abroad. We have achieved a massive product growth of 88 per cent across India as a result of the team?s aggressive marketing and advertising strategy backed by superior product range, technology upgradation and capacity expansion.?

A close look at sell through (small-1.31, mid-1.78, large-2.36 and giant-1.27) and inventory holding (small-2.31, mid-1.48, large-0.83 and giant-0.58) reveals that the reason for small brands not growing is related to the rise in inventory holding, which is higher than the improvement in sell through, whereas in case of mid, large and giant brands, sell through improvement is much better and there is better control on inventory holding. Thus, the Index improves with the size of brands.

Hemant Gupta, CFO, Blackberrys, explains, ?In the past two quarters, there is a major decrease in footfalls at stores, which is mainly responsible for the decrease in the sales turnover and impacts sell through as well. However, our conversion ratio and basket size has increased but due to lower sales, the sell through has impacted. Increase in inventory holding also is one of the prime reasons for that. This is not with us only but with other brands as well. I am hopeful that the situation will definitely improve in 3rd and 4th quarter of 2015