Bata Bets Big On Youth Appeal To Achieve Double Digit Growth

As a brand, Bata has continuously evolved over the years and has shown strong growth. It has come a long way since its foray into India and has today, grown into one of the largest footwear retailers with approximately 1,400 outlets across the country…

- Charu Lamba

Bata began operations in India in 1932 with small-scale organisations in Konnagar, near Kolkata. During the 70s and 80s, the brand emphasised range, comfort and durability making it a one-stop-trusted family footwear shop for decades. As a brand, Bata has continuously evolved over the years in India and has shown strong growth. It has come a long way since its foray into India and has today, grown into one of the largest footwear retailers with approximately 1,400 outlets across the country.

“Bata has always been a popular brand. However, despite being a dependable and value-for-money brand, consumers started call us boring. To bring back excitement and lure youth, we have been revamping the stores and collections for the last four to five years now,” says Sandeep Kataria, Country Manager, Bata India.

“Now, our stores look brighter, vibrant, customer friendly and our designs look more contemporary than ever. For us, as we re-write our strategy, the biggest and most important pillar of success is our product. We are offering best quality products to the consumers at different price ranges,” he adds.

The footwear major is trying to re-design its stores to a contemporize them, improve store decor to strengthen its popularity among Millennials.

“As a part of this strategy, Bata has rolled out the ‘Red Angela’ store concept with a red and white colour format that is aimed at standardizing the Bata brand identity,” says Kataria.

The Bollywood Factor

To reach out to youngsters, Bata has appointed Bollywood actor Kriti Sanon as brand ambassador. She has been promoting Bata’s newly launched ‘Bata Red Label’ fashion collection along with their other ranges.