MUMBAI: For value retail players such as Tata Group’s Zudio, Reliance Trends and Vishal Mega Mart, the festive season just got bigger.With apparel and footwear priced up to Rs 2,500 now being moved to the 5% slab, lower and mid-income shoppers can splurge more on fashion. “We will see a big improvement in demand coming our way for products such as t-shirts, casual shirts, trousers and denims priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500,” said Amit Agarwal, group CFO at Raymond.The move is expected to boost festive sales, drive growth across offline and online channels, and provide momentum to the apparel sector, said Akhil Jain, CEO & MD at Madame.E-tailer Flipkart is timing its annual festive sales with the onset of Navratri (September 23 with early access for members from September 22), which otherwise used to start before that, seller sources indicated. Arch-rival Amazon is likely to follow suit.“Once the GST reforms are in place, the industry expects at least a 15%-20% surge in festive e-commerce sales, especially for electronics and quick commerce categories,” said Paresh Parekh, partner and national leader for tax, consumer products and retail sector, EY India. Paragon Footwear said the middle class can now better afford quality products.The industry has however, insisted that taxing products that cost above Rs 2,500 at 18% will impact categories such as wedding apparel and winter wear.
