Large and medium apparel brands have fared much better than small brands in the third quarter of 2015. According to the Clothing Manufacturers’ Association of India (CMAI’s) Apparel Index for Oct-Dec 2015, the apparel industry has maintained moderate growth with an overall Index Value of 4.64 points.

Giant and large brands continued to grow although the pace slowed down compared to previous quarters. But they stayed ahead of small and mid brands. Sales turnover were higher, sell through was lower than previous quarter while inventory holding was much higher. Even though large brands managed better sell through than giant brands, the latter reported less inventory holding compared, indicating giant brands were quicker to clear off inventories through discount sales. Small and mid brands are still lagging on most accounts. Mid level brands, despite lagging behind, indicated better index values.

The Q3 Apparel Index for the period Oct-Dec 2015 clocked in 4.64 points growth. This is approximately 84 per cent higher than the index for small brands (with turnovers of Rs 10 to Rs 25 crore) which stood at 2.52 points. For mid brands (with turnovers of Rs 25 to Rs 100 crore), growth is 4.04 points. In fact, these brands have performed much better than small brands. However, it’s the large brands (with turnovers of R100 to 300 crore) with 7.92 points and giant brands (with turnovers of above Rs 300 crore) with an index value of 8.00 points that have shown real growth.

Notably, the index value for giant brands is 72 per cent higher than the overall index value. The latest Apparel Index clearly indicates that large and giant brands are doing much better compared to mid and small ones. In fact, small brands have grown the least since positive attributes like sales turnover, sell through and investments are not contributing enough and higher inventory holding is slowing down growth. The index pattern like earlier quarters continue to reflect that as the size of the brands goes up, performance improves. Mid brands may have performed better than small brands yet there is still a big gap with large and giant brands.

According to the CMAI Apparel Index, growth in sales turnover at 6.00 points for both for large and giant brands is much higher than previous quarter, while for small and mid brands, it is much less. Amongst the four groups, the giant and large brands have been growing consistently each quarter.