Fashion sector registers highest growth in August 2026: RAI -Innoviti Sanket index
Domestic apparel and lifestyle consumption registered resilient momentum through Q2, FY26-27, sustained primarily by accelerating retail activity across non-metropolitan hubs. Data from the joint RAI–Innoviti Sanket quarterly index shows, the fashion sector expanded to its highest growth of 8.5 per cent Y-o-Y in August 2026 before stabilizing at 7.7 per cent in September. Discretionary apparel spending in Tier-III cities routinely surpassed Tier-1 urban centres throughout the period, posting like-for-like monthly growth peaks of 11.9 per cent in August.
Festive outlays and digital payment shifts
Regional consumption rose sharply during pre-festive windows, driven by early seasonal inventory positioning.In East India, pre-Navratri fashion and lifestyle purchases spiked by 28.3 per cent Y-o-Y, outperforming national averages.Concurrently, transaction channels reflected evolving payment infrastructure across non-metro trade nodes: Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions rose 17.6 per cent in September, while card-linked payment volumes contracted by 3.6 per cent.
Sustained volume gains in Tier-III locations confirm, structural consumption shifts, rather than metro store expansion, are anchoring apparel retail growth, stated an industry analyst tracking domestic trade flows.
Offering factual market benchmarks
Formed as an industry body alongside payment tech developer Innoviti, the RAI–Innoviti tracking platform monitors transactional metrics across 2,800 cities. Covering over 20,000 merchant networks, the initiative evaluates same-store retail performance, offering factual market benchmarks for brand operators and apparel manufacturers across India.
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