Brands Sweeping Garment Retail Market
The Indian garment retail market is becoming branded, and with availability of easy finance and rising incomes of the middle class, size of this market is estimated to reach Rs 2,50,000 crore by the year 2005. Organised retailing would be in the range of Rs 5,000 crore.
According to a joint study by IMAGES Panorama, a fashion magazine and National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) focusing garment retail, the Indian retail market is expected to zoom to a middle class population of 250 million, by the year 2005.
Premium brands like Levi's plan to expand from the present 88 to 110 stores, Lacoste from 33 to 50 stores, Rockport from 10 to 25 stores by December 2000. The summer of 2000 would witness 350 stores of Newport as against the present 225, 100 of Zodiac from present 75 and 350 outlets from Excalibur as against the present 150. By December 2001 Benetton would grow to 100 stores from 87, Colorplus to 100 from 70 at present.
By the year-end an exponential rise in the number of exclusive outlets for Pepe Jeans, Cotstyle, TNG and Trigger is expected.
The run-of-the-mill success of these new-generation retailers has infused a new life into retail considerations of the country's `old kids' - the textile giants, some having their own brands as well.
Bombay Dyeing is giving a face-lift to its existing 550 outlets besides adding 100 more. Birla VXL will add another 27 to its existing fleet of 73 while S Kumars plans to have 194 new outlets by 2003.
Indian consumers can indeed look forward to shop in international style. With the decks almost cleared for 100 per cent FDI in retailing, international giants like the British store chain Marks & Spencer and the $7.71 billion LVMH are expected to further hot up the Indian retail environment very soon.
"The retailers will have to define their retail mix, technology and service levels keeping the `Indian' consumer in mind," the study suggests.
All the hype, initiatives and possibilities apart, certain practical problems lying in the way of healthy and desirable growth of retail market are real estate cost structures, efficient mall managers, skilled manpower for retail servicing in its new dimensions, better and sustainable margins and affordable retail software packages.