Focus is on exclusive stores

The home furnishing market, which currently stands at more than $2 billion, is expanding aggressively as customers frequency of changing the look of the home has grown. With players aplenty the retailers are now moving out of multi brand outlets to tap the market with a larger product range catering to various walks of life. Recently one such brand, Portico opened two exclusive branded outlets in Gurgaon and Lucknow to showcase its brand strength. Earlier, it was present in multi-brand outlet in metropolitan cities. Arun Bhawsingka, CEO, Portico shares his retail plans from here on.

Deepanshu Taumar(DT):What are reasons behind opening EBOs (exclusive brand outlet)? 

Arun Bhawasingka(AB): An EBO is very essential to any brand. DNA of the brand can only be communicated through an EBO format which is not possible in MBO (Multi-Brand Outlet) or in a large format store. Also, it is possible to share much more with customers in terms of product portfolio, colour schemes and entire range. Without EBO, brand cannot stand in the market. Secondly, home textile market is very big and it is estimated that the bed and bath market is worth two billion dollars that is primarily dominated by unorganised players. But now consumers are looking for branded products, and as a brand it is our responsibility to be able to reach and serve them. Hence, we strategically decided to open EBO stores so that people could connect more to the brand. A step forward will also open concept home furnishing stores in future.

DT: How has the consumer evolved in past few years for home furnishing?

AB: Indian consumer is now spending more than ever on home furnishing in order to make their home look pretty. Bedding is the cheapest way of making your room look pretty than other costly affairs like changing your furniture or a painting.  At present, people are willing to buy from our designer collections as well. Also the average life of bed and bath textile products has decreased. So, people are willing to spend more money on home textiles and due to which their ticket size is increasing.

DT:Portico exports its products to various countries, what are the new markets you are planning to tap?  

AB: We majorly export to United States as a manufacturer, but we are also focusing to export to Middle-east Asia and South East Asia. We are also planning enter MBOs stores to these countries to sell our product. We are in advance stage of tie-ups with our respective partners to sell our product and once we reach to particular mass market then we would look for possible opportunities of joint-venture.

DT: After opening an EBO format, what would be your first-steps strategy? 

AB: The biggest shift in the strategy is that we have increased our product portfolio. Earlier, this was not possible in a MBO format. In EBO format store we have entire range of products catering to every stage of life cycle such as childhood, adulthood, family, luxury and health .Secondly, we have tied-up with designers like Manish Arora, Neeta Lulla and Nishta Lulla to design these range of products to deliver value products to our customers. 

DT: What are the criteria behind selecting franchisee partners? What kind of support will Portico provide to them?

AB: We carefully evaluate and select our partners. We look for those who have clear understanding and good knowledge of bed and bath industry. Also who can connect with consumers and make them aware about our brand. We also evaluate in terms of location as what kind of location the respective partner is bringing to the board. These partners are our family members and we educate and train them to make them aware of every aspect of the brand.  

DT: Kindly throw some light on your EBO expansion plans?

AB: We are strongly present in Delhi & Mumbai through MBOs. So we are looking at the cities that are on our board. We are planning to open EBOs in cities like Dehradun, Calicut, Patna, Srinagar, Kolkata, Chennai,Cochin, Hyderabad and Goa.