Owing to the pandemic, Government measures have forced the company showrooms to close including its manufacturing facilities from March 17 until the first week of May, when the restrictions were gradually eased. The shutdown hit operations “substantially,” Titan said last week. During the lockdown marginal sales happened through e-commerce, which were just two per cent of it total revenue. 

Pre and post Akshay Tritiya is when the company books a sizeable business, however as this auspicious day fell during lockdown, the company lost all its sales, which usually happen around that day. As a result from April 26 to May 17, they have noted a shortfall. Also summer wedding season was lost and no sales were booked during April and May, as weddings during those months have been postponed, Titan said. They have postponed the launch of two of their collections, until markets across India open.
 
Titan has reopened about 43 per cent of its stores since lockdown restrictions were lifted, with revenue from those outlets at around 50 per cent of normal. Their stores located in malls cannot open unless malls are allowed to resume work.

The company has resumed manufacturing at most of its facilities, but does not expect production to return to normal in the short term. It will adjust its operations according to current inventory levels and its estimate of market demand.

These are early days and the company is not in a position to gauge with certainty the future impact on operations, but expects normalcy to be achieved only after a quarter. Customer sentiment pointing to reduced [spending] on discretionary items might impact demand for most of the company’s products.