Superdry India is betting big on the festival season to garner strong sales, backed by positive consumer sentiment and higher demand for casual and comfort wear amid the pandemic.

The British fashion and lifestyle brand’s 50th store in India was launched at Jio World Drive in Mumbai recently. It aims to continue with the aggressive store expansion strategy with the addition of 8-10 new stores annually, and strengthen its presence in newer categories such as personal care segment.

Deal with Reliance

The brand entered India in 2012 through a long-term distribution agreement with Reliance Brands. Manu Sharma, Business Head, Superdry India, said the brand is on track to open 10 stores this financial year, despite the challenges due to the second wave of the pandemic. “We had planned for opening 10 stores this financial year. We have already added six stores and the four additional stores are in the pipeline. Our aim is to continue to add 8-10 stores annually for the next few years,” he said.

The company said new store expansion will focus on strengthening its presence in existing cities and foraying into newer regions such as State capitals and other Tier-1 and Tier-2 markets.

Also read: British apparel brand Superdry to launch India e-comm site

For the apparel segment, the festival season will be key for sustainable recovery trends. “Over the last two months, retail sales and consumer spends have bounced back in a big way. With the vaccination pace being ramped up and resurgence in consumer confidence, we believe the festival quarter could be one of the best quarters that we have seen in the past few years,” said Sharma.

WFH augurs well

Brands positioned in the premium and luxury segment are also getting benefited as consumers, who usually rely on shopping during international trips, are turning to domestic stores during the pandemic. “Also, with consumers continuing to work from home, the casual care and comfort wear segment has been witnessing strong growth trends,” Sharma added.

With accelerated adoption of online platforms, nearly 20-30 per cent of the brand’s sales are now coming from the online channel, which includes its own e-commerce site. “Digital platforms and tools have not only helped us serve our regular customer base, but also recruit new consumers. We are seeing demand not just from bigger cities but also smaller cities and towns, and we are delivering to almost 600 cities every week,” he stated.

New categories

Talking about new categories, Sharma said that brand has been strengthening its presence in various categories, including the personal care space, with products such as fragrances, body and hair washes.

With Superdry globally looking to ramp up sourcing of organic cotton as part of its sustainability initiatives, a large part of the effort is focussed on India. Sharma said the brand has stepped up its efforts to help Indian farmers to switch to organic cotton farming.

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