BCCL forays into eyewear space!
BCCL forays into eyewear space!

What is the rationale behind launching Femina FLAUNT? Also, how do you see the market for premium eyewear market is growing in India?

Our strategy with Femina was to create a model that was sustainable, monetisable and extractable. And thus, we decided to create a separate retail identity for Femina – FLAUNT which allowed us to leverage the legacy of Femina, and yet not be limited by its brand DNA. We launched the Femina FLAUNT core fashion range comprising apparel, footwear, and handbags with Shoppers Stop in 2015. The Femina FLAUNT fashion range is today available in 50 Shoppers Stop stores, and continues to be one of the fastest growing exclusive brands at Shoppers Stop. Having built the core range, the time was now right to get into categories that would complement the core range further, eyewear being one of them. The organized part of the eyewear market in India has seen an exciting growth of 15% CAGR over the last 5-7 years. Given the changing lifestyle and growing aspirations, we expect that trend to continue.

Kindly shed light on the current distribution of  Femina FLAUNT in the online and offline space? Going forward what would the strategies to scale up the distribution? Would you be opening the exclusive stores of  Femina FLAUNT? if yes, kindly provide the details?

As of today, Femina FLAUNT’s core fashion range is available in over 50 Shoppers Stop stores and is available online on amazon India as well as shoppersstop.com. The eyewear range would be available across all formats – modern retail, speciality chains, online as well as general trade. The strategy at the distribution level is to take the range across key retail touch points in the top 50 cities in the country, over the next 6 months.

According to you what are the challenges for the eyewear retailing in India?

I think the biggest challenges are –

1) penetration level…still a long way to go if we look at per capita usage

2) predominantly an unorganised market therefore highly fragmented…even though the organised part is growing well at 15% CAGR

3) education about the importance of the right eyewear – across both sunglasses as well as optical-wear

Kindly shed light on your pricing strategy and current target group?

Femina FLAUNT is for today’s young progressive woman, who wants to step out in style. She leads an active social life and wants the latest trends that suit her comfort and sensibilities. The range is priced between INR 1700 – 4000/- as we feel that’s a sweet spot in the Indian eye-wear market today. In this price point, we’re confident of the Femina FLAUNT range driving high perceived ‘value’ leading to the desire to own multiple pairs.

Going forward what are the plans to expand the brand in tier 2 market?

We’re right now focusing on the top 50 cities, which would include a few tier-II cities as well. We see a great potential in the tier-II cities, given the under-penetration there.

Who do you see as your competition within the same space?

INR 2000-4000 is a wide space, with fewer brands that can promise the latest trends with the assurance of a great quality and comfort. Just as the Femina FLAUNT core fashion range has established its own loyalists in a short span of time, we’re confident of the eye-wear range moving in the same direction.

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