At a webinar on, ‘Are consumers back with a vengeance?’, being held as part of Conversations, a series organized by The Hindu Group’s ‘Tamil Nadu Smiling’ campaign, large retailers hoped the industry to bounce back to normal by April.

Apparel growth is looking better than a lot of other industries. As a sign of recovery, the apparel industry is a great bellwether, said SuhailSattar, chairman, Chennai chapter, Retailers Association of India, and the Co-founder and Director, Hasbro Clothing.

CharathNarasimhan, Managing Director, Indian Terrain, opined, states like Tamil Nadu will bounce back faster as there are a series of potential triggers right through the next five months. By April, apparel exportswill touch pre-COVID levels as e-commerce has brought in a lot of new customers, he added.

Before the pandemic, almost 10 per cent of the sales was through e-commerce. In the last six months, it has increased to 35-40 per cent. As stores open up, it will settle down at around 20 per cent by the end of the year, and in the next year or two, it will be a quarter of a company’s business, he said.

Jeyasree Ravi, Founder,Palam Silks, added, since sales have been around 50-60 per cent of last year, exporters would do well from April onwards.