Eyeing a makeover, footwear brand Bata India is looking to metamorphose into a modern-day shoe store.
The company has launched a store refurbishment drive across 1,000 selected stores. As a pilot drive, one first such refurbished store was opened at Infiniti mall in Malad, Mumbai.
"The company has been witnessing increase in footfalls despite the overall slowdown. The company aims to refurbish 1,000 stores, making it one-stop shop for all footwear and footcare solutions giving services such as medicated pedicure, 3D Footscanning, customised insoles and shoe spa", Sandeep Kataria, Wholetime Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bata India said at a recent retail event.
At present, Bata's footwear range comprises formals, casuals, smart casuals, students and ladies.
In the school segment, Bata India holds a large market share whereas the largest number of pairs are sold in the men's segment. It also boasts of a retail network spanning 1,400 stores.
Way ahead
Looking at store refurbishment as a transition point in company history, Bata India also looks at reaching out to less sold product categories like women's footwear.
Here it faces direct competition from fashion brands like Madame, Mochi, and other such brands since women are more conscious of variety and fashion statements in their footwear that requires to continuously innovate in design.
After successful Advertisement campaigns in premium categories like the Red Label collection and footfalls have been growing, said Kataria.
He plans to better connect with customers through in-store customer satisfaction strategies. For this, the company has already remodeled 400 stores, and another 1,000 stores are yet to be done.
He also said that e-commerce is a new Avenue to grow sales for topline.
In February, Bata India had reported a 14.75 percent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 118.26 crore for the quarter ended December 2019 compared to Rs 103.05 crore in the year-ago period.
Consolidated revenue from operations of the company stood at Rs 830.82 crore for the quarter under consideration against Rs 779.79 crore for the same period year ago.
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