After long lull, apparel retailers are seeing a revival in demand led by Tata-owned Trent, Aditya Birla Fashion and Kewal Kiran Clothing on higher contribution from private labels, discounts and recent retail expansion.

Though the demand has been impacted by the economic slowdown, consumers, especially from tier-II and -III have turned more brand conscious and wary of quality being delivered by online fashion retailers. For instance, Westside, the retail subsidiary of Trent, recorded nearly 85 per cent growth in revenue with higher contribution from substantial sales growth from stores at existing locations that has been in operation for at least one year.

Analysts have attributed the higher sales from stores in existence for over one year to company’s focus on private labels and enhancing the shopping experience. Westside derives nearly 97 per cent of its revenue by selling private brands which also delivers higher margin.

Similarly, Kewal Kiran Clothing reported 24 per cent growth in revenue from its leading brand Killer Jeans and 11 per cent from Easies by Killer. Kewalchand P Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, Kewal Kiran Clothing said, “the two brands Killer and Easies by Killer had contributed about 70 per cent of the overall sales in second quarter of this fiscal.” The brand also sustained its market share led by company’s focus on branding activities like organising various large scale Autumn Winter bookings in mega events organised in Goa and Hyderabad, he added.

Trent’s revenue in the first six months of this fiscal was up 32 per cent while that of Aditya Birla Fashion and Kewal Kiran was up 11 per cent and seven per cent. Trent's Westside has been adding stores steadily and has 158 stores across India as of March. Only V-Mart and Future Lifestyle have added stores at a similar pace.

Trent recently acquired retailer Zudio from its joint venture Trent Hypermarket and plans to increase the Zudio store count to 120 by the end of this fiscal.

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