Footwear brand Walkaroo seeks to double turnover to Rs 1,000 crore in FY20

The five-year-old brand has drawn a marketing roadmap encompassing both physical retail and e-commerce to achieve this rowth target

Homegrown footwear brand Walkaroo from U4ic (Euphoric) International, a VKC group entity, is eyeing 100% growth in turnover from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore this fiscal.

The five-year-old brand has drawn a marketing roadmap encompassing both physical retail and e-commerce to achieve this growth target.

Currently, it operates four company-owned and franchisee stores in South India, which the company plans to increase in number to gain higher customer traction and gain access in other mass markets, including North, U4ic managing director Noushad Veluthedath told the media in Lucknow this afternoon.

The company operates multiple captive units for Walkaroo, including Delhi, he said.

Launched in 2013, the brand initially catered to the footwear space with sports sandals made in-house. Later, the brand’s portfolio was supplemented with flip-flops and shoes at affordable prices.

Recently, the brand had signed Bollywood actor Aamir Khan as its new ambassador for its soon-to-be-aired TV campaign, ‘Be Restless’, eyeing youth aged between 18 and 24.

So far, the VKC Group has tied up with more than 500 distributors and 150,000 retailers pan India, including Uttar Pradesh.

“Uttar Pradesh contributed nearly Rs 90 crore to the group's turnover last year, which shows the popularity of the brand in the state,” he told Business Standard on the sidelines.

The domestic footwear market is estimated at Rs 40,000 crore and growing in double digits. The segment has both well entrenched local and global brands, apart from a high volume unorganised sector with players having a significant presence in the respective local markets.