Apparel Online India Magazine October 1st Issue 2018 | Page 43

DOMESTIC UPDATE
For kidswear, focus is
on the wearer instead
of pleasing the parents.
Our merchandise
conforms to kids to
provide optimum
comfort. Even for
festive, we utilise fancy
fabrics while avoiding
uncomfortable
materials like mesh and
sequins. Our clothes
are not ‘just cute’.
(L to R) Kiran Lakhani, Jay Lakhani and Sailesh Lakhani
a little late to India before, as it took
about a year or so for a trend to
reach India, but now, it is completely
different, it simply takes as less as
a day or maximum a week. We use
the Indian colours, with a Western
twist – so our products are mixture
of both.”
Due credit is given to the history
of collaborations they have had
with international brands such as
designing for Benetton, managing
production to distribution for
Levi’s and Puma, etc. “They
entered the Indian market through
us. Through Levi’s, we increased
our knowledge, we got their
license and our factory became
International Standards compliant.
Our measurement and sizing became
very good. All these collabs gave us a
lot of knowledge,” says Sailesh.
Conforming to the economic changes
such as demonetization and GST,
Minimal embellished details for kids’ comfort
Digital marketing and
discounts definitely
boost online sales.
But brands who
give too much
discounts lose their
hold; they should
have the power to
sell products at
prices they want.
Just because it is
tempting, it shouldn’t
be a regular practice.
the company had to undergo
several changes. By reducing their
warehouses from 15 to 2, they
slashed their overall prices by about
10 per cent, a step that was also
undertaken by their competitors such
as UCB and USPA kids, despite their
international roots.
THE ERA IS ONLINE
AND DIGITAL
In the previous years, a whopping
increase of about 300 per cent in
their online sales was seen despite
the fact that no extra measures or
campaigns were held to promote the
same. They give the entire credit
to the convenience provided by
e-commerce as Jay Lakhani, the
Executive Director of the company
states that, “Online shopping is very
convenient. We feel digital marketing
can boost these sales further. We sell
through all the major online players
like Jabong, Amazon, Firstcry,
Flipkart and Myntra, but not that
much from our site.”
They point out that this boost did
not affect their offline sales as they
sell previous seasons’ stock online
at a certain discount. Calling it an
‘enticing’ endeavour, they did state
their reluctance to expand online at
the cost of giving heavy discounts
to customers by the seller websites.
“The approach is wrong for the brand.
Brands who give too much discounts
lose their hold – they should have
the power to sell products at price
they want. That is how brands grow.
Just because it’s tempting – we can’t
discount too much. E-commerce has a
10 per cent share in our overall sales,”
adds Sailesh to the argument.
CUSTOMER IS EVERYTHING
With an extensive system of
Visual Merchandising in place,
Upcoming prints in trend for the Girls’ collection
www.apparelresources.com | OCTOBER 1-15, 2018 | Apparel Online India
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