Stores now preferred choice over online shopping: Raymond's Singhania

Raymond's sales rise 15% in September quarter versus pre-Covid period

Higher consumer spending has helped Raymond, a real estate-to-consumer products company, to report a 15 per cent rise in its consolidated sales when compared to pre-Covid levels and three times rise in the real estate segment alone, its Chairman Gautam Singhania said here on Tuesday.

“We have witnessed a sharp turnaround in our sales due to higher consumer spending in the September quarter and with the record wedding season planned in the next few months, I am optimistic that this trend will continue,” Singhania said in an interview. Higher sales were also due to price increases taken by the company, he said.

While online sales did pick up during the pandemic, Singhania said consumers are back in stores and post-Covid, an average consumer is now spending more time and money in stores. “Our stores are now getting far better footfalls when compared to previous years. Consumers are also preferring to buy from stores than online,” Singhania said.

As a result, the company’s revenue was up 38 per cent in the September quarter to Rs 2,191 crore versus the same quarter last year. The revenue rise is 15 per cent as compared to the corresponding pre-Covid quarter (Q2 FY20).

Sales of the real estate division, which will be demerged soon, has shown a 205 per cent increase to Rs 247 crore. “Customers have realised the value of additional space during the Covid isolation and they are buying bigger apartments,” Singhania said. The company is developing 20 acres in Thane near Mumbai with 10 towers with 2.8 million square feet of saleable area.

While domestic sales are rising, Singhania said the company also benefited from overseas retail chains like JCPenney sourcing more garments from Indian suppliers as their supply chain was disrupted from China. “India is benefiting from the China plus one strategy of most companies. Despite all the disruptions like the Ukraine war and rising interest rates, our export order book is full for the next six months,” he said.

The company is also ramping up sales in the ethnic garments segment as demand from North Indian states such as Punjab, Rajasthan and Delhi is rising fast. After two years of Covid, we are going to have bumper sales due to the wedding season. This is good news for all the other industries, including hospitality, catering and, of course, for our sales,” said Amit Agarwal, Group CFO, Raymond.