BRAND RETAIL

Uniqlo plans highway format in India

Uniqlo is opening a highway store in India. This will be in Punjab. The highway store format – which is a standalone store located alongside a highway – is new for Uniqlo in India and further accelerates the company’s expansion in the country. The store, spread across one floor and having a total sales floor area of 10,965 sq ft, is the largest Uniqlo sales area on a single floor in India. It will open in April 2023. This roadside-type store is popular in Japan. The highway format has played a crucial role in Uniqlo’s growth throughout Japan, and the model has also been very successful outside Japan, including in Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. The highway store format is aimed at bringing convenience to the community and serving as a perfect onestop destination and is carefully designed to ensure enough space and accessibility for all. Further, this launch also supports Uniqlo’s underlying commitment to the Indian market and to make highly functional, quality apparel accessible to more customers. With this highway store Uniqlo, a Japanese retailer, will have ten stores in India. Uniqlo has more than 12,000 products online and services 17,000 pincodes in India. Just about everything that is launched in Japan finds its way to the Indian market.

up franchise stores in future and also plans to expand to marquee large-format retail brands.

Given its initial success in the Indian online market, the brand is confident of doing well on the Indian offline side.Apart from this, the brand will be taking its products via the online route to North America, Europe, and the Middle East. At present, the brand’s D2C website contributes 65 percent of the total revenue and the remaining 35 percent comes from marketplaces. It is expected that in the next fiscal offline will contribute around 25 percent of the overall business, ten percent will come from international markets and online will continue to dominate with the rest 65 percent.

Zouk is a brand that does bags, wallets, and footwear.

Retail activity gains momentum

Clovia hits 50 store mark, aims 50 more

Tier II and III towns account for 60 per cent of the lingerie and innerwear brand’s business. Clovia started operations about eleven years ago. Bras account for some 65 per cent of its sales while its activewear category accounts for over ten per cent of its revenue in addition to the nightwear category, which accounts for over 15 per cent of the total revenue.

Zouk aims at 100 touch points

Fashion and apparel retailers have continued to expand their footprint in India. So says CBRE.

Other prominent categories that continue to drive leasing activity include food and beverage along with hypermarket. The entertainment category, which was impacted the most during the pandemic, has also emerged as one of the top demand drivers.

Clovia has opened a store in Chandigarh. The new Chandigarh store measures 550 sqft and has a bright, youthful interior. The store which offers a differentiated retail experience to customers retails Clovia’s full range of lingerie, sleepwear, lounge wear, and accessories.

Clovia’s personal care brand Skivia is also available in the new store.This is the lingerie and clothing brand’s second store in Chandigarh, the eleventh in Punjab and the fiftieth overall.

By the end of the 2023 financial year, Clovia aims at having a total of 100 exclusive brand outlets across India. Clovia has also launched a Valentine’s Day collection, which features a range of heart printed sleepwear and lounge wear as well as lace underwear and accessories. Clovia works at introducing the best of styles and products and exceeding expectations every time customers visit the store or shop online.

Zouk plans to reach 100 touchpoints in the next few quarters. Exclusive brand outlets will be opened in key malls of metro cities. All these will be company owned and operated. The average size of a store will be around 300 sqft to 1000 sq ft.

As of now the online fashion accessory brand is available in around 30 retail touchpoints. Based on these learnings, the brand will expand further and consider opening

Uniqlo opened its first store in Chandigarh, Tim Hortons entered Ludhiana, and Starbucks, Biba, and Shoppers Stop opened in Dehradun. During the second half of 2022, the American home furnishings shop chain Pottery Barn forayed in Delhi-NCR, opening two stores in rapid succession. Adidas opened an experience store in Delhi-NCR, and Zara, Nike and Azorte are among the other companies that have launched experience/ flagship stores with a wide range of tech and other services in the city. Over 60% international retail brands expanded operations in Jul-Dec ’22.

The Indian retail sector is recovering, says CBRE, and this is anticipated to gain momentum through 2023. Even amid difficult global economic conditions, international brands are expanding not only in Tier I cities but also penetrating TierII and III cities as they see India as a potential market. Shoppers have returned to physical retail. Strong footfalls have led to expansionary space take-up by domestic and international retailers.

Retail leasing activity surged by five per cent in July 2022 to December 2022.

Akshay Kumar launches athleisure brand

Akshay Kumar has launched an athleisure brand called Force IX. This is something he had wanted to do for the last seven years. The number nine is the actor’s lucky number and is also his birthdate.

The collection consists of durable, economical and functional fashion staples inspired by the popular actor’s iconic sense of style. The unisex brand offers T-shirts, shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, jackets, polo T-shirts, denim, chinos, joggers, shorts and nightwear. Accessories like caps, belts, travel accessories, shoes and watches will come in the coming months. The actor is very much involved in the entire process, right from ensuring all the products are of the highest quality, to each and everydetailing being perfect. There is a lot of attention to detail in the collection, right from the logo to the buttons, and the stitching. The target audience ranges from the sporty teenager to the dapperman.

Force IX is on Myntra, which has a proven track record of accelerating the growth of celebrity-led brands. A lot of Bollywood actors are venturing into the fashion segment. Myntra has onboarded 25 international fashion labels and 50 foreign beauty brands in the past 12 months. Nearly 40 per cent of the demand for international fashion labels is driven by shoppers in Tier II cities and beyond.

Puma signs on Harmanpreet Kaur

brand’s footwear, apparel and accessories. The brand had posted a cryptic teaser video of a player taking position at the stumps and quizzed the audience to guess its next brand ambassador. According to the 5,000 responses collected over 36 hours, 80 per cent of the consumers assumed the brand ambassador to be a male cricketer.

Ranbir Kapoor promotes fashion on Myntra

Ranbir Kapoor is brand ambassador for Myntra. He will endorse men’s fashion wear on the platform.

With this association, Myntra aims to tap into the actor’s popularity and national appeal across metro and non-metro audiences. Myntra sees the actor as embodying the spirit of Myntra and as a creative force shaping the world of fashion. The collaboration is aimed at enabling the best of everyday and branded fashion to be made accessible to consumers. Ranbir Kapoor had earlier been a part of some of Myntra’s brand films.

E-commerce major Myntra is engaging with top influencers from across India to create exciting and relevant content to connect with consumers including in non-metros. Myntra has witnessed strong growth over the years through its association with actors like Kiara Advani, Tamannaah Bhatia, and Vijay Deverakonda as its brand ambassadors.

Myntra has a range of 7,00,00 beauty and personal care styles from over 1,400 international, domestic and D2C brands. Myntra is one of the leading fashion destinations of the country. The platform has also come up with tech innovations to provide its customers with a better shopping experience. These include a skin analyzer, product finder, beauty profile, and virtual try-on. Myntra is facing orders for international brands from shoppers in Tier II cities and beyond. Nearly 40 per cent of the demand for international fashion labels is driven by shoppers in Tier II cities and beyond.

Puma has signed on Harmanpreet Kaur as brand ambassador. Puma’s thinking was that her way of playing — bold and fierce cricket –was the perfect fit for the brand which embodies the same qualities and ethos.

Since Harmanpreet is a sporting icon, Puma hopes with this partnership to inspire younger generations and help Indian women’s cricket reach greater heights. She will endorse the

As a brand, Puma has always stayed ahead of the times and is committed to support, celebrate and empower women in sports. This association is a massive step in that direction. Puma has witnessed strong growth in India and gone on to become the number one sports brand in terms of sales over the last few years through its association with actors, singers, and sportspersons. India is a strategic market for Puma. A combination of global strength and local execution has accelerated the brand’s momentum in the country.