Victorinox eyes hill stations, online retail to boost sales

Victorinox AG, known for its Swiss Army Knife, is embarking on a trek to scale hill destinations in India and boost online sales to multiply sales by nearly four times to Rs 200 crore within five years.
The firm is targetting places such as Shimla, Manali, Nainital, Mussoorie in North; and Ooty and Kodaikanal in South India to expand presence through 'Basecamp' chain of stores, which primarily retails the company's products.
"Last year, we have done a retail business of around Rs 50 crore. We are looking for a minimum 20 per cent growth this year. In the next five years, we expect this company to be between Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore," Victorinox India MD Anish Goel told PTI.

The company does not operate any exclusive store for its products and only deals with various trade outlets. Victorinox India sells products into - knife, luggage, watches, fragrances and fashion & apparels - categories.
Besides, Victorinox India sells its product at 12 Basecamp stores, he said, adding another touch point would soon be added at T3 terminal at the Delhi's International Airport.
"Our other priority would be looking in smaller places at hill holidays destinations like Shimla, Manali, Nainital, Mussoorie. In South we are looking at Ooty and Kodaikanal," Goel said.

At present, Victorinox knives are available at 800 shops across India, while watches are at 70 outlets.

Another area of focus for the company is online retail, through which it clocked a sales of Rs 1 crore last year via channels partners like flipkart, jabong etc.
Bullish on online sales picking up fast, Goel said: "It will increase up to Rs 8 to 10 crore by 2018. It would increase not directly but through our channel partners."
The company had introduced its Swiss-made watches ranging from Rs 16,000 up to Rs 1 lakh in the Indian market five years ago and has 25 to 30 per cent annual growth. Sales of luggage section has been witnessing a 30 per cent annual growth.

"Volumes are good and we are pretty comfortable with that. We see a good growth in these watches and luggages. The market has grown for us and it is growing further," he said.