In the fourth quarter of the financial year gone by (FY23), volume-led growth is expected to return in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector with the gradual improvement in rural demand.

According to Kumar Rajagopalan, the Chief Executive Officer at the Retailers Association of India, the country's retail industry is expected to recover in growth, led by the garment sector and footwear.

“The growth that we expect will hopefully be in the garment sector. Footwear is growing very well and that should continue as we go ahead. QSR should continue its growth path,” he said.

He believes online and offline stores will do well.

“Customers are back in the stores. They are wanting to buy online and offline, both is happening. Both the channels will grow,” he mentioned.

He highlighted that athleisure has done exceptionally well in the past year.

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According to Prabhudas Lilladher, the demand is expected to be mixed in the consumption space while margins will improve in quarter four.

While expressing his concern about the lack of a broad-based uptick in rural India, Amnish Aggarwal, the Head of Research at Prabhudas Lilladher said, “Our understanding suggests that there is no full-fledged rural recovery which is playing out as of now.”

“In rural India, it is not a broad-based uptick or greenshoots which are visible because of the inflation which has been there,” he added.

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He believes, paints, selective staples and selective QSRs should do well.

In terms of margins, there would be reasonably good quantum of companies which will show margin expansion.

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First Published:Apr 19, 2023 3:49 PM IST