When women’s apparel brand TCNS Clothing opened their first store — W — in 2002 at Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi, the promoter thought it would be a huge success, given the size (3,000 sq ft) of the store. However, it backfired when customers perceived the store as ‘expensive’.
They then decided to reduce the size of the store to 1,000 sq ft, with clothes falling in the price range of Rs 999 to Rs 2,999.
TCNS today rides high on their sales figure as they have crossed the target of Rs 1,000 crore. Anant Daga, managing director, TCNS, said, “With 45 per cent year-on-year growth on MRP, the brand posted sales figures of Rs 1,150 Crores. The group is looking for a 30 per cent growth in the next financial year.”
Though demonetisation didn’t impact the business numbers of the brand, it was harsh on the sales, but for a very brief period.
Currently, the company has three brands under its umbrella — W, Wishful and Aurelia. Wishful is a premium offering, while W is fusion and Aurelia is more ethnic. W accounts for nearly 60 per cent of TCNS’ sales while Aurelia and Wishful garner 30 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.
Talking about how the goods and services tax may impact the brand, Daga said, “Currently, nothing is clear. But, of course, the tax rate will determine how the economics work.”
“There will be a short-term pain, and because the initiative is at such a scale, it’s impossible to say whether this will go on very smoothly,” he added.
All markets are equal
TCNS doesn’t categorise their sales into metro or non-metro cities. Daga believes wherever there is a growth opportunity, there is a market, though the contributing ratio of metro to non-metro is 70:30.
The brand is getting a positive response from cities such as Indore, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Ranchi and Jamshedpur.
The company is bullish about its online sales but not ready to comprise via discounts. On an average, the online channel accounts for 10-12 per cent of the sale. It is content with selling the old season stock on discounted rates but not for the current merchandise.
“Even if we have to lose out, that’s fine. I am not going to give a bad habit of discount to my customers. You can’t buy regular W stuff on discount,” Daga said.
Road Ahead
The women’s clothing line is planning to add 100 more stores every year across India. The key focus area for TCNS is to establish more stores of Aurelia and expand their international presence. After having their presence felt in Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Nepal, the brand is planning to add eight more stores in the international market and UAE is one of them.
Daga stresses on the fact that earlier there were no Indian brands at the global level but in last few years that segment has also evolved. Now, Indian brands are standing in the same queue and competing with international brands. Indian brands are good in terms of design, pricing and product quality.
Apart from expansion, the brand will focus on Wishful business and in line to create its separate brand entity, with investment in stores and supply chain.
TCNS is not looking to enter into the men’s clothing line as Daga finds women’s clothing line more appealing. But sharing an interesting insight about W’s airport stores, the Daga highlighted that in their airport stores, almost 30 per cent of the shoppers are men, mostly because men do the last-minute shopping for their partners.
The company has plans to launch some more exclusive brands in coming three years.
BW Reporters
The author is a journalist with BW Businessworld. He primarily covers Retail, Media & Entertainment and Travel & Tourism sectors
