Demand may fall in next financial year: Shopper's Stop

Fashion and lifestyle chain Shopper’s Stop expects demand to fall starting April 2009 as the impact of the global economic slowdown becomes more pronounced. Still, the company will go ahead with its planned expansion.

“Consumption demand in the first three quarters of the next financial year will look tough,” said Shopper’s Stop Managing Director B S Nagesh. The company opened its 25th store at Vashi, a satellite city of Mumbai, yesterday.

The company says it deals with the top 10 per cent of the customers who have not yet been affected by the slowdown, but may feel the pinch starting the next financial year as economic conditions deteriorate.

“Need-based items may not see a drop in sales to a large extent, but sales of discretionary items would get affected,” he said.

Indian retailers are opening more outlets as sales through stores are estimated to rise eight-fold to $97 billion by 2012, according to Technopak Advisors. Shopper’s Stop plans to add 4.4 million square feet of retail space in the next three years to sell clothing and home décor.

Overall, in terms of personal consumption as a percentage of the gross domestic production (GDP), India is second only to Vietnam in Asia, and a close fourth globally.