Moderation in inflation is likely to provide impetus to sustain retail spend growth seen in the first seven months of the year, a body of Indian retailers has predicted.

During the April-Octoberperiod of this fiscal, there was a retail sales growth of 20 percent over the same period of2019-20, the year before the pandemic, according to a finding by the Retailers Association of India (RAI).

The RAI said the momentum may continue for the next few months if the inflation does not rise again. “There are definitely some headwinds because of the inflation. Daily consumption items have become costlier. But it (inflation)has also stabilised, which is a good thing. We have to see how the next few months go,” Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO of the RAI, said in Calcutta on Friday at the sidelines of Calcutta Retail Summit, organised by the association.

The next 2-3 months will see spends on account of weddings in the country. “If we are still able to grow at 20 per cent and above then we are overall okay,” he added.

While the inflation could be a spoiler, the retail industry is still projected to grow steadily in the medium term.

“Retailers will double their footprint in the near future,” Shashwat Goenka, sector head of retail & FMCG of RP-SG Group, said.

Harshvardhan Neotia, chairman of the Ambuja Neotia group, noted experiential buying is going to dominate and not e-commerce.