Arvind looks beyond tie-ups for growth

Company is looking at leveraging its manufacturing capabilities to cement its relationship with consumers

Aiming to end the year with revenue of about $1 billion, Arvind Ltd says it is working hard to embrace alternative streams such as the digital and technical clothing segments. Currently, the group’s business is fuelled through tie-ups with major international retailers.

“We feel digital is going to completely change the landscape and as a company that controls 30-35 brands, has about 1,000 shops of its own and even more shops-in-shops, this whole area of seamless retail is very exciting,” says Kulin Lalbhai, executive director of the company and a fourth-generation member of the Lalbhai family, which runs the business.

“As a retailer that wants to dominate the space of ‘brick’, it is crucial for us to embrace ‘click’ (online) and provide a seamless experience,” he says. “We will leverage the physical aspect of our business and add a digital leg to that to create a new model. We will do things a little differently,” says Lalbhai, an advocate of disruptive business models and the online space.

The company, which comprises a textiles and garments division, besides its well-known brands and retail division, is considering leveraging its manufacturing capabilities. “We’re thinking about the concept of co-creation. Imagine a world where you can sit at home, open an iPad, make clothes, visualise them, get measurements through interesting technologies and there is a factory at your fingertips that makes the garment and sends it to you,” Lalbhai says.

Arvind also has plans to expand its offerings to global markets. The company is boosting its manufacturing capabilities in India to service global market players and aims to make the concept of custom-made “so powerful that it gets global appeal”.

“Now, Arvind is of a scale where India is not always the endgame. Today, you can send anything, anywhere in a day. So, why will India alone matter? Everyone undermines what India is capable of,” he says.