A Step In The Right Direction: Customer Centricity Leads To Successful Footwear Retailing

A quick search on any marketplace e-commerce portals and the category of footwear and you will see a new brand every few days. And not just on the internet, even on high streets and in malls, you see not only EBOs of brands like BATA, Metro, Mochi, Clarks etc. but also a plethora of new brands. Footwear retailing has witnessed a dynamic revolution in the past few years. IMAGES Retail Bureau speaks with some prominent footwear players to understand what has led to this transformation and what the future holds…

- Zainab S Kazi

When UK based brands Clarks was launched in India in 2005, many industry experts weren’t too optimistic of its survival in the country. The reason was simple – the brand’s the price points. There were veterans from the industry who strongly felt that the Indian market wasn’t ready to welcome such a high-end footwear brand and rightly so. Around 15 years ago, the brand did face many challenges to establish itself in India. From fighting it out to convincing people on the price points to getting their attention on the salient features of the brand, there was tremendous pressure being faced by them back then.

Today, 14 years down the line, the brand is well accepted by Indian shoppers and besides having a strong online presence, is available at all prominent malls across the country. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Clarks led the way for many international high end brands to enter India. Currently, there is a healthy competition between national and international brands, most of which are housed adjacent to each other in malls and on high streets.

Growing Demand