How Wacoal India is Redefining Lingerie by Creating Sustainable Products

Sustainable fashion is gaining a strong foothold in India. Consumers are consciously aware of the effect their choices can have on the global environment and are showing a strong inclination for eco-friendly fabrics and processes. There is a wide awareness of the importance of near-shoring, carbon footprints, and more conscious manufacturing processes. We can see a reflection of this change in the demand patterns for fashion products. Following the sustainable bandwagon, Wacoal’s products are built on the paradigm of sustainability and a sense of sharp responsibility towards the environment and its elements.

“The pandemic reinstated the importance of sustainability and made consumers over-conscious of the products they made their investment. Wacoal plans to contribute towards making fashion as sustainable as it can by maintaining harmony and balance,” said Pooja Merani, COO, Wacoal India.

Offline Strategy

Currently, Wacoal, a premium lingerie brand from Japan, has 25 Large Format Stores (LFS), and is expected to increase by 5 new LFS by the next financial year. It also has 21 Exclusive Brand Outlets (EBOs) and is in the initial stage of discussions to add more EBO stores, to be finalized soon.

The brand’s outlets are available across major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow, and Nagpur.

“We are prepared to expand in Tier II cities soon,” Merani stated.

Online Gaining Prominence

Wacoal products are available on online e-commerce platforms like Myntra, Nykaa, Nykaa Fashion, Ajio, Ajio Luxe, Amazon, and Tata CLiQ, apart from its own website. Currently, the brand has a customer loyalty rate of more than 60 percent in the online space.

“Our online-to-offline mix is 15 percent, which we are planning to boost to 30 percent in the next financial year. Omnichannel marketing would play a vital role in the optimum utilization of inventory across various channels. The idea is to lay a strong focus on our web, and also stay relevant at the other marketplaces to stay abreast with competition,” explained Merani.

Product Innovation

Wacoal is all about science, technology, and innovation to provide the most comfortable lingerie fit for women.

“For instance, we have the Travel Bra or the Feel Free Bra or the Sleeping Bra, which are great instances of product uniqueness,” Merani asserted.

“Our lace range for upper wear, bralettes, and autumn-winter collection are our best-performing products. The trend of comfort lingerie is here to stay and is gaining momentum as people still demand fancy pieces coupled with comfort and ease. There is a trend for logos, lacey undergarments, and embroidered lingerie that can be met by attention to detail. Furthermore, the trending and must-have colors of the season are Barbie pink, blue, and lilac,” she added.

Leveraging Social Media

The brand is planning to leverage the legacy of Wacoal in the Indian market by synergizing with a leading social media agency. The content would be focusing on the contemporary new-age woman, the many aspects of her mystic personality, and the different roles she played in curating, juggling, and multitasking her life and relationships. The idea is to create and weave a connection between lingerie and her dynamic life by showing how lingerie can seamlessly flow with her personality and daily life.

“We are looking forward to enhancing the brand imagery, increasing awareness, driving sales, growing website traffic, and promoting our products to our target audience with a data-driven clear-strategy, and loyalty-oriented approach,” noted Merani.

“To increase our customer acquisition across key platforms like Facebook and Instagram, we are adapting insights and learnings from recent trends, social listening, and engagement analysis which would enable us to develop content strategies and create assets that would set Wacoal apart from its competitors. We plan to rope in content creators and influencers, as brand ambassadors for Wacoal, who would be a key element in amplifying campaigns, increasing brand awareness, post interactions and reviews, and enhancing page engagement,” she further said.

READ MORE: Top 10 Trends in Lingerie Shopping in India

Future Outlook

The current share of Wacoal in the luxury segment is 15.2 percent. Wacoal has tripled its revenue in the last 2 years and now with the pandemic losing its grip, it is further looking at tripling these numbers in the new financial year with the launch of its brand new channel - General Trade.

“We are targeting a turnover of Rs 100 crore and looking at opening more than 100 POS this year, which will take the total count to more than 200,” Merani concluded.