Indian fashion retailers suffer due to high vegetable prices

India’s malls and high streets are experiencing a downturn in foot traffic and sales, and many retailers are offering steeper-than-usual discounts for longer-than-usual durations.

Since June, tomato prices have increased dramatically, at one point nearly tripling, while those for onions, another ingredient in Indian cuisine, have increased by 80 per cent in some places like New Delhi.

With a startling 11.5 per cent increase over June’s 4.6 per cent, food inflation for July reached a three-year high.

Concerns about the health of consumer spending, which had already been declining even before the dramatic increases in food prices, are being stoked by the pain suffered by India’s clothes and shoe retail sector, which Euromonitor International estimates would be worth $62 billion in 2022.

Numerous store managers reported that well-known Indian and foreign companies, including Asics of Japan and Skechers USA, had been extending their sale periods and providing huge discounts some as high as 70 per cent far more frequently than usual.

Retailers and business leaders are also hopeful that the impending festival season, which includes Diwali in November when people prefer to make significant purchases for both themselves and as gifts, would help to boost sales.