Bombay Dyeing plans to treble retail turnover by 2020

To introduce 3-4 products every year, spend Rs 100 crore on brand strengthening

The Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company Ltd (BDMCL), market leader in home textiles business, plans to treble its turnover from retail segment in four years by strengthening its entire value chain and entering into e-commerce by March 2017.

BDMCL posted Rs 1,845.7 crore turnover to which retail or textiles segment contributed to nearly 17 per cent or Rs 305.7 crore for FY16. It currently aims to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore by 2020.

“We are investing in technology, talent and brands immensely to achieve this growth. Until recently, we were banking largely on brand loyalty with the quality products on offer to retain our customer base. But now, we have changed our strategy and restrategised our approach for appealing to new and young customers with around Rs 100-crore investment on brand improvement for four years,” said Nagesh Rajanna, chief executive officer, Bombay Dyeing Retail.

In the process, the company has shut all its manufacturing plants for the past two years and shifted sourcing of its products on franchise model. It has hired 10 critical and fairly large manufacturing companies on franchise basis that contribute around 90 per cent of its output requirements. Also, the company has engaged a number of small manufacturers to meet its annual requirement.
 

To achieve its goal, Bombay Dyeing plans to appoint at least one franchise stores in small cities with over 100,000 population. It plans to open 500 such franchise stores in four years.

Apart from that, according to Rajanna, the firm plans to introduce at least two-three products every year to strengthen its presence in home textiles business.

When asked about how to maintain the quality at every levels of the product chain from sourcing of cotton to spinning, yarn manufacturing to textiles, Rajanna said: “Our quality inspection team will monitor product quality at every stage with no room for compromise. This will be in addition to the well-defined quality norms which all franchisees need to adhere to.” The company has set up its own design studio for research and development in product designs. Bombay Dyeing plans to launch e-commerce platform by March 2017.