Fashion shows, designer clothing and glitzy glamour, is changing the way India dresses. It’s not just the LOOK GOOD – FEEL GOOD attitude that fashion retailing is eyeing but the huge potential of the untouched Indian markets.
The dynamic world of fashion keeps changing every three months. New colors, fabrics, cuts and various other elements contribute to mark the newer and exclusive trends. International brands are no longer limited to the high couture range but are poplar and easily affordable. Fashion, which was seen as the expression of an individual’s personality and the times he/she lives in has taken the shape of brand game.
Fashion retailing is a tough business with growing competition among the retailers. Brands in apparel, textiles, jewelry, accessories, footwear, cosmetics and salons have growing business shares in India. Indian Retail industry is experience a boom as the Indian market offers a massive consumer class with the population of over one billion. Fashion covers nearly 60% of the total sales of the retail sector. Growing concept of stores and malls in India is making shopping an experience, even in the non metro cities. Mergers and acquisitions are enabling expansions which allow the huge brands to participate in the local market. International brands entering into the Indian markets, have to compete with the local brands and act according to their price strategies, making consumers the winners.
Indian designers and traditional art, are getting recognized in the International markets. India is the massive exporter of its raw materials. World over, India is the third largest producer of cotton, the second largest producer of silk and the fifth largest producer of man-made fibers. But this is not enough to make India smile, as India is becoming the sight of fierce competition. Newer and ever changing innovative techniques are the need of the markets.
Studying the market and consumer habits, offering value added products rather than cash discount, having uniform sizing throughout the country, providing personalized services, creating exclusive store with latest trends in an organized format and having the feedback from the consumer on “what they want?” are some business strategies which the big brands adopt to stay in business even in midst of heavy competition. But to become the leading brand some technical and innovative ideas have to be adopted like creating online websites which offers the fashion savvy shoppers information of a fashion magazine, shows the brands products, discounted apparels and other fashion accessories that will also attract the buyers thus making the brand distinguished and successful in the market for fashion clothing and other accessories. This makes shopping, an easier task as styles of apparels are ready and available for buying.
3D Body scanning technology is new and accurate. An individual stands in the scanners view, while it captures his body image and produces 3D images within seconds. Images are captured in 360 degrees with exact body measurements. This data is used by the manufacturer, who employs his creativeness and creates the garment in a very short time with the exact measurements that matches the consumer.
Virtual try —on software provides the customer with the virtual image of how he or she will look in a particular garment. This way the consumer can buy garments without physically trying them on and yet judge its fitting criteria. Paying online through the credit cards saves hassle of standing in the queue and waiting for your turn. All such measures can make costumers at ease while shopping thus increasing their interest in buying .Tie ups with different local brands also add to the variety of the mother brand.
With India’s GDP growing at 8% annually, there is no shortage of wealthy, well-traveled and foreign brand lovers, who are willing to buy high-end global brands. Thus it’s time to loosen the pockets of Indian customers and help the Indian retail industry grow.