Lacoste to expand in non-metros; aims 10% sales from online channels

The Indian unit of French clothing firm Lacoste hopes as much as 10% of its sales to come through ecommerce channels, including its own recently launched portal, in the next 18-24 months.

The company, which currently doesn't sell its products on any third-party online platforms in India, is also in talks with ecommerce firms as part of its strategy to tap the online opportunity, Lacoste India Chief Executive Rajesh Jain said.

It is in advanced talks with at least two major e-tailers to open exclusive Lacoste stores on their platforms. Jain declined to name these companies, citing confidentiality agreements.

He said Lacoste would start selling its products on only those marketplaces that can offer it a premium, no discounting environment.

He expects Lacoste India to start selling on the marketplaces in the next two months.

According to Jain, the French company expects 3-5% of sales coming from the Lacoste official website and 5-7% from the e-tailers with which it would tie up.

Sports & Leisure Apparel, the licensee company of Lacoste in India, manufactures 95% of apparel at its Noida facility. The remaining 5% is imported.

The sports-inspired brand is looking to expand through franchise network.

Lacoste India has 49 brick-and-mortar stores. About 10 of these are franchised outlets and the rest are company-owned.

Lacoste, which entered India in 1993, started opening franchise stores just one-and-half year ago and it is now betting big on this strategy. In the past financial year, Lacoste opened seven stores out of which four were set up partners. In this financial year, all the six stores it plans to open would be through the franchise route. It also wants to expand beyond the metro cities.

"We wanted to leverage our presence now. So far we were expanding only in metros. But we saw some good retail real estate development in some tier I cities as well. So we thought of expanding into those markets. It makes sense for us to ideally have a local partner in these cities who understands the local customer needs and tastes," said Jain.

From now onwards, the company will focus more on opening franchise stores in non-metros, where the store size is small. It will open company-owned stores at important locations in metro cities, where it may not make commercial sense for the franchisee because of the huge investment required, he said.

Across the globe, Lacoste sells products in eight categories and, in India, apparel is the largest selling category for the brand with an about 89% share, followed by footwear at about 8%.

Skechers to double its store count in India

American footwear major Skechers is looking to double the number of stores in the country to 100, a top company official said.

The company said it is also planning to launch its apparel and accessories collection next year.

"This year we plan to add 50 stores, taking our count to 100," Skechers India CEO Rahul Vira told PTI.

"We plan to have a healthy mix of 50:50 own stores and franchise-owned and going forward, the franchise business would be slightly on the higher side because in a country like India it makes more sense to go through the franchise route because that really drives the business in the markets where we don't have our infrastructure," he added.

He added that typically a 100-150 sqft store entails an investment of Rs 1.5 crore.

The company entered India in 2012 through a JV with Kishore Biyani-led Future Group and now has presence across 700 multi-brand outlets in the country.

Skechers is growing at a fast clip of 70 per cent year on year in India and plans to expand its consumer base.

"We still are not present in a lot of markets. So our focus would be to enter those markets and build our consumer base. There is a huge potential for us to grow in the Indian market.

"In tier I and mini metros, we still are not present in the manner that we should be. Also, we will look at tier II and tier III cities but getting the right real estate is important for us," he said.

It plans to set up its manufacturing unit in the country in the next three to five years.

"We would be looking at setting up our manufacturing and that would be our mid to long term plan. So as the market evolves and we start gaining grounds in the market, it would (take) three to five years," he said.

Skechers sells its footwear in the country and plans to launch its apparel and accessories next year.

"We are evaluating apparel and accessories and hopefully we should be able to bring those product lines soon for our consumers, probably next year," he added.

The company, which received the FIPB approval for single-brand retail in India last month, plans to hawk its products through its website skechers.inlive by third or fourth quarter of this calendar year.

Swiss Military to launch 171 stores in India by 2016-end

Premium lifestyle products brand Swiss Military plans to open 171 stores in India by the end of next year, of which 11 will be company owned and 160 under the franchise model.

"We plan to open 171 stores across the country by 2016 end. Out of which 11 will be company owned stores while 160 would be franchise stores," Swiss Military Worldwide Managing Director Anuj Sawhney said.

The company-owned stores will be in locations such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, he added.

"The franchise stores will be in tier I and tier II cities across the country. Apart from these, we will also be adding over 4,000 multi-brand outlets during the period," Sawhney said.

The investment on the expansion would be around Rs 200 crore, he added.

When asked how the company plans to fund the expansion, Sawhney said: "As a company we are debt free and the expansion will be done through internal accruals, from our global resources and some of it will also come from the franchisees."

The franchise stores will be self-financed and for multi brand outlets also there is no investment done by the company, he added.

Saying that the company is also looking to add to number of its products in the country, Sawhney said: "In India, we currently sell 300 products under 5 product lines -- baggage, leather, electronics, pens and accessories and will be launching 60 products every month."

The brand entered in the Indian market 5 years ago with corporate gifting space in the first phase. 

Then it moved into in-flight sales partnering with Jet Airways, Indigo and Air India. 

The company's products will also be available on online portals such as Flipkart and Amazon.

The company entered into retail market in the country in April 2014 and is now present in 57 towns in 23 states across the country. 

Swiss Military products are available in 550 multi-brand outlets.

Globally, the brand has around 1,800 models of products in segments such as sun glasses, footwear, household appliances, leather wallets, electronics, cosmetics and electronics, and outdoors such as tents and sleeping bags, Sawhney said.

The company currently has 600 stores worldwide, out of which 11 are company owned full stores with most of them being in Switzerland, France and Germany.

Hidesign to open standalone shoe stores

Leather bags and accessories brand, Hidesign has plans to open standalone stores for its shoes vertical by 2016. Hidesign is operational since 1978 and started franchising in 2002. The company, which is entering into the footwear category with limited products in February 2015, will initially sell in 30 select existing stores in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

Currently, the brand has 76 Hidesign stores in the country and is planning to open another 12-14 stores next year. The brand may consider franchising as an option to expand by next year. The brand also sells its products through e-commerce channels including Amazon and Jabong. Hidesign’s turnover was approximately Rs.150 crore in the last fiscal.

Hidesign always looks to expand into newer markets. The kind of franchisee that Hidesign would consider to invest in would have to hold similar brand values and an understanding of the product and the consumer. Franchisees provide them with an in depth understanding of their geography and expertise of customer handling that is appropriate to the market.