COVID-19: Liberty Shoes expects 45 pc fall in revenues this fiscal

New Delhi, Jul 12 () Footwear firm Liberty Shoes is expecting up to 45 per cent decline in its revenues in the current fiscal due to COVID-19.

Amid coronavirus pandemic, footfall at stores has dropped significantly as customers are avoiding public places and encouraging social distancing, Liberty Shoes Executive Director (Retail) Anupam Bansal said.

"...The situation doesn't allow us to compare the business with last financial year... yet we will be 35-45 per cent down in comparison with the last financial year results. Our revenue in fiscal 2019-2020 was Rs 650 crore," he told .

Bansal, who also is one of the promoters of Liberty Shoes, said the company has "expectations that business will uplift around the festive and marriage season (the autumn and winter season)".

"Post pandemic there is a notable change in the buying pattern of the customer. The inclination towards the relevance shopping is more. The product which is need-based is getting more attention from the buyers... people are going for open sandals with washable feature more. Due to the lockdown and limited access of going out, the premium leather category is getting hit," Bansal said.

Sales in premium leather category contributes approximately 20 per cent in value for Liberty Shoes.

Bansal said it has de-grown by 75 per cent, as customer preferences have changed grossly due to the current pandemic situation, washable products are on rise.

Though its manufacturing costs have gone up, the company is not looking at any price hike in the current year, he added.

Liberty Shoes is also witnessing an increase in e-commerce sales and now accounts of about 40 per cent of its total sales, Bansal said.

At present, Liberty Shoes has approximately 500 stores out of these 70 per cent stores are functional. SVK BAL BAL