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Tata International, the global trading and distribution company of the Tata group, is planning to set up exclusive branded outlets for four new footwear brands. The company will launch these for the domestic market by September this year.
N Mohan, Tata International’s business head (footwear-global business), told Business Standard that in the past eight months, the company had tested one of the four brands, Aerosoles (a women’s footwear brand) in western parts of India, adding an average 100 pairs were sold.
The company plans to sell the brand through 120 outlets, including multi-brand retail outlets such as Metro Shoes, Regal Shoes, Rocia, Inc.5, Westside and Lifestyle, across the country. It also plans to set up four-five Aerosoles experience stores across the country through the next two years.
Aerosoles, for which Tata International owns the licence in Europe, is also available across the US, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand and Israel, among other countries.
The brand will serve as a launch pad for the company in the domestic footwear market, estimated at about Rs 25,000 crore. Three other brands, Aristos, S C T and Arin, as well as a children’s footwear collection, would also be launched, Mohan said. The company would primarily target the Rs 1,800-2,500 a pair segment, though some products would cost as high as Rs 5,000, he added.
“Besides launching our own brands, we are also talking to a few global brands to bring those to India,” he said. These brands, he added, would eventually need exclusive branded outlets.
Tata International had set a target of selling 500,000 pairs of shoes in the domestic market through the next three years, of which 60 per cent would be Aerosoles, said Mohan. Overall, the company aims to record an annual turnover of Rs 100 crore in the Indian market.
Exports
In 2013-14, Tata International recorded Rs 740 crore of exports; for this financial year, it has set a target of Rs 860 crore from the footwear segment alone. The company plans to increase exports to Rs 1,500 crore in three years — Rs 1,400 crore from footwear and Rs 100 crore from leather garments.
Of the company’s exports, about 90 per cent are to Europe, while the rest are accounted for by the US. Mohan said in three years, the target was to ensure Europe accounted for 60 per cent, the US 30 per cent and Africa, Australia and West Asia 10 per cent.
The company plans to expand production capacity in Tamil Nadu to eight million pairs a year from the current 5.5 million. In Indore, it plans to increase capacity from a million pairs to 2.5 million pairs a year.
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The company is planning to set up exclusive outlets for four new footwear brands- Aerosoles, Aristos, S C T and Arin
