Footwear industry doubles to Rs 20,000 crore in 5 years as Indians go on a shopping spree

Bangalore/Kolkata: Madhu Malhotra could not believe her luck when she chanced upon a pink and white pair of heels that had an uncanny resemblance to her pinkembroidered white kurta at DB Mall in Bhopal last Thursday. The missionary school teacher also scooped up a pair of maroon flats that day to go with her jeans on weekends, increasing her shoe count to 35 pairs. "People have a tendency to buy only on Diwali, but I buy through the year," the 58-year-old giggles, having bought a pair of gladiator flats on a recent holiday to Mumbai. She is not an exception. Many Indian consumers now spend as much on footwear as on apparel and change their shoes for different occasions, helping expand footwear range from formals, casuals and home wear to weddings, monsoons, clubwear, sportswear, adventure, beachwear and lounge wear. They have also helped the footwear industry almost double in the past five years to an estimated Rs 20,000 crore and prompted retailers to widen their footprint with some urgency. Here is an industry where everybody is in a rush and nobody talks slowdown, which is being felt in most areas of the economy. Harkirat Singh, managing director of the Rs 600-crore Woodland, says the industry is not feeling any impact of slowdown due to a number of external triggers that include more women joining the workforce, an increasing desire to look good and rise in consumers' aspiration levels. "All these are pushing shoe retailing to newer heights," says Singh. Big retailers such as Bata, Liberty and Reliance Footprint are adding nearly two stores a week and opening large-format outlets in smaller cities. Footwear Shopping Has Increased The country's largest shoe retailer Bata India's group MD Rajeev Gopalakrishnan says increasing competition is forcing the companies to refresh their collection at a faster rate than before. Industry insiders say the frequency of footwear shopping has increased dramatically. While men buy a pair of shoes every quarter, women do it faster, every two months. "With fast-changing fashion, customers prefer to update shoes and accessories whenever they update their wardrobe with new apparel," says Kabir Lumba, MD of department store chain Lifestyle International, which has reported 50% year-onyear growth in the footwear segment since 2008. While women may labour over design, colour and heel sizes ranging from ballerina flats to kitten heels, wedges and stilettos, men sweat over anti-skid, biodegradable and waterproof materials. And a lot of customers are now more concerned about the looks than comfort and durability, says Jacob John, brand head of apparel brand Louis Philippe, which entered the footwear market last year. Footwear accounts for 10% of Louis Philippe's revenues. The fashion brand owned by Madura Fashion & Lifestyle recently opened a pure play men's footwear store in Pune. Anupam Bansal, MD of Liberty Retail Revolutions, says Indians now spend 8-10% of their income on footwear and accessories. Shailen Amin, CEO of multi-brand shoe portal Be Stylish, says young professionals crossing over from the unorganised segment to branded footwear are driving the growth. Luxury On Foot The organised footwear market is estimated at Rs 17,500-20,000 crore, growing at 10-15% a year, although top companies independently claim to be growing at 25-30%. The men's segment accounts for nearly 60% of the market, with leather products dominating. But women and children's segments are growing faster, making many retailers step into this market. Demand is growing in smaller cities such as Sangli, Dehradun, Bathinda and Patiala. The luxury segment too is growing rapidly. Luxury brand Jimmy Choo, popular for its Swarovski-encrusted heels retailing at over Rs 1 lakh, grew 30% year-onyear in 2010-11 and has opened five stores in the past three years. "Earlier, new, aspirational consumers entered the designer segment through handbags. But in many cases, shoes are becoming an entry point today," says Deepika Gehani, creative head of Genesis Luxury, which has brought Jimmy Choo to India. Anand Ramanathan, associate director at management consultancy KPMG, says that although it's driven by fashion trends, the footwear industry is comparatively less risky than the apparel business. "Not only is the ticket size of footwear much higher per sq ft but the exposure to market changes is also lower because the product does not expire as fast," he says. While Reliance Footprint and Liberty say sports and casual wear are the fastest growing, a loyal franchise for men's office wear brand Hush Puppies has prompted Bata to open 11 standalone outlets for the brand. Retailers are highly sensitive to regional preferences too. "If twoinch heels click in Kolkata, women in Bangalore prefer three-inch heels," says Rafique Malik, MD of Metro Shoes, which also owns the brand Mochi. "While vibrant colours must be stocked in Punjab, Tamil Nadu is the only market where white men's shoes sell through the year," he says.