Apparel Online India Magazine November 1st Issue 2018 | Page 46

DOMESTIC UPDATE APPAREL RESOURCES NEWSLETTERS FACEBOOK FRIENDS To subscribe, send us an email at [email protected] Join more than 10,000 people who are already fans of Apparel Resources on facebook. Search for Apparel Resources at https://www.facebook.com/apparelresources/ its products to customers. Housing brands such as Chicco, Farlin, Lovelap, Avent, Toonz tries to adhere to its strong policy of being quality certified. “Wherever we find an issue or a complaint about a brand’s quality coming from the customer, we see to it that the brand’s assortments are changed. There are certain regulations which keep coming from the Government’s side, especially in the feeding area, which we ensure that we follow and not promote products that violate these laws,” Sharad added. The brand provides 450 options per season divided into the core and fashion ranges. The core range has a higher quantity owing to demand and is replenished fortnightly, whilst the fashion range has a lower quantity with no replenishment. As Sharad explained, “Our entire replenishment happens on two bases, for example we change seasons and after that every month we introduce fresh looking merchandise into our stores. Spring/Summer has two parts to it – one is Spring, which has larger quantities and options – may be 70% options, and the other Summer, which comes with 30% options, thereby refreshing the store again. Certain products are replenished depending upon their performance.” The mix is not very varied between young girls’ and young boys’ apparel but in the girls’ category, business is more complicated owing to more choices. For example in the boys’ category, one can make shirts for Summer and be done with it, but the girls’ section requires more variety – a successful mix would include skirts, dresses, shorts and within that various options, such as sleeves, lengths, details, etc.  “High-fashion garments for girls sell very well. Girls are not in for basics. You make something nice for them – they will buy it. For the boys, it’s all about basics – from the design point of view, make something funny for them and they will be happy,” Sharad quipped. The brand follows 5 sizes – in the 0-6 bracket, 6-12, 12-24, 24-36; and in the Mothers come to the store, they select and then they sit. The kid will like something, which might be the most unfit garment for the kid but you know what’s going to get billed? The same garment that is in the kid’s hand. Buying online is an effort if you don’t know the sizing of the brand in question. If you get it wrong, you have to go through the entire hassle of exchanging and returning – people want to be first time right! 3-12 bracket, it does 7 sizes, namely, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, and 11-12. Earlier people used to be very dependent on the sizing that was mentioned by individual brands but nowadays it is vital to look at sizes physically and then make a purchase. In the entire kidswear segment, sizes vary considerably and there are a lot of overlaps. From 5-6 to 11-12, many sizes serve multiple age groups/body shapes owing to height and other differences. This isn’t a problem in offline retailing, but in terms of online business, it becomes a challenge. PRICING The challenge with kids is that they outgrow clothes in the blink of an eye. It is important for brands and retailers to introduce prices that are sharp. With the GDP steadily increasing, Indian consumers nowadays don’t mind shelling out Rs. 5,000 on a garment, but the purchase is not value for money considering the actual number of times the garment will be worn. “We realised that some garments have to be very smartly priced so we introduced price distinguishing – the casual range is available at a certain price point and for the expensive garments, it is imperative for the look to be a certain way and justifiable too,” Sharad elucidated. 46 Apparel Online India |NOVEMBER 1-15, 2018 | www.apparelresources.com Consumer’s expectations today are changing faster than what is being manufactured. Earlier it used to take some time for one style to be in trend in one market before it passed onto another market, but with the advent of science and technology, social media, and especially Instagram, everything has changed. Kids today have an active part to play in purchasing decisions – deeming them to be the primary consumers. “The user is the child; he/she is defining their own look. Earlier mothers used to be casual about their looks, but nowadays they also like dressing up their kids in accordance with the occasion,” Sharad added. REGIONAL DIVERSITY “India, while you may call it one country, there are multiple countries within a state as well. The seasonality factor has to be kept in mind, so what goes to Pune does not go to Rajasthan and what goes to Mahalangur does not go to Telangana – these are the basics of our business,” Sharad stated, explaining the regional diversity of Toonz’s assortments. The brand creates around 65 per cent of the mix as a universal range which goes to all the stores, with the remainder 35 per cent being very selective. They make shorts and half sleeve T-shirts and shirts during winters but