US Polo eyes Rs 3,000 cr revenue in India, steps up marketing investments

Having entered India in 2009, the country has become USPA's third-largest market, following the United States and West Asia-Turkey

Fashion distributor and retailer Arvind Fashions is stepping up marketing investments for its largest brand, US Polo, which would help it reach a revenue of ₹3,000 crore in the coming years, up from the present level of ₹2,000 crore.

 

“India has been our fastest-growing market over the long term and has the most long-term potential to become our biggest market as well,” J Michael Prince, president and chief executive officer, US Polo Association (USPA), told Business Standard during his ongoing visit to India.

 

Having entered India in 2009, the country has become USPA’s third-largest market, following the US and West Asia- Türkiye. USPA, which recorded revenue of $2.3 billion in 2023, owns the US Polo brand.

 

 

“Typically, at a company level, we invest a little over 3 per cent in advertising. For US Polo, this has crossed 4 per cent and is moving towards a higher number. We will leave no stone unturned when it comes to connecting with the consumer, which will further stimulate growth,” said Shailesh Chaturvedi, managing director and chief executive officer, Arvind Fashions, which operates the brand in India.

 

He added that the group expected US Polo’s business to grow at a rate of 12-15 per cent, driven by a strong omnichannel presence, taking advantage of the emerging quick commerce channel and the square-foot expansion of stores, which can eventually act as supply hubs in smaller cities.

 

Ecommerce makes up 20-25 per cent of the brand’s overall sales, with the channel becoming an important engine of growth in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Demand from these cities makes up 60 per cent of total ecommerce sales currently, up from 30 per cent in 2018.

 

“We are seeing healthy like-for-like growth, including almost double-digit full-price like-for-like growth. We are also seeing adjacent categories like kids, women, and footwear growing faster than the mother brand,” Chaturvedi said.

 

Adjacent categories make up almost 20 per cent of the brand's overall sales.

 

Talking about the sustained slowdown in the apparel market amid an overall challenging demand environment in the country, Chaturvedi said such cyclical trends do not impact “strong brands”.

 

“US Polo has a strong market leadership position in the country. We will continue to invest behind the brand and will continue to grow much faster than the market growth rate,” he said.

 

According to a February 2025 report by Deloitte India and the Retailers Association of India, households in both urban and rural areas are expected to spend more on discretionary items, largely due to a doubling of per capita income by 2030.

 

“The Indian apparel and footwear market was valued at $78 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $106 billion by 2028 at a compounded annual growth rate of 7.5–8 per cent, driven by increasing disposable incomes, rising urbanisation, growing organised retail penetration, and a large pool of young and aspirational population,” the report further observed.