Lifestyle International, part of the $3.2-billion Dubai-based Landmark Group, is in an expansion mode for its Lifestyle stores in India and also other brands. Vishakha Talreja spoke to Kabir Lumba, managing director of Lifestyle International, about its plans, its India sales crossing the Rs 1,000-crore mark and competition in the market, which is not exactly cluttered but has a slew of strong players. Excerpts:
What are Lifestyle International?s expansion plans in India?
Currently, there are 22 Lifestyle stores, 11 Home Centre stores by Lifestyle (home d?cor and furnishing store) and six Splash (its apparel and accessories brand) stores across Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Jalandhar, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mangalore, Mumbai and Pune. We have just opened our 22nd Lifestyle store in Delhi. We are looking at opening seven-eight more stores by the end of this fiscal. We will be expanding to tier-II cities such as Ludhiana, Coimbatore and Nagpur this fiscal, besides other metro cities. We are also looking at opening one more Home Centre, taking the number to 12. As far as other brands are concerned, we will continue expanding Bossini (Hong Kong-based leisurewear brand) through shop-in-shop format and also stand-alone. We will be housing around six-eight Bossini shops in Shoppers Stop outlets by this Diwali. For Kappa (Italian sports brand), which is mainly available through shop-in-shop format right now, we will look at other distribution channels. Lifestyle International has exclusive rights for Kappa and Bossini in India.
This fiscal we clocked a turnover of Rs 1,070 crore (for Lifestyle and Home Centre). We are looking at 50-60% growth in turnover this year. Since we are a private company we can?t reveal profit numbers, but yes, we are in the black. We have healthy internal accruals. We are looking at an investment of Rs 200 crore this year across brands?Lifestyle, Bossini and Splash. We are not over-leveraged and have a healthy debt.
What about sourcing for your brands; is it mostly domestic?
Well, 95% of the furniture is imported. Importing furniture gives us an edge, as we can make the world?s best products available at competitive prices. However, other products are 80-85% domestic.
How has the response been to your private labels?
The response has been good. The ethnic wear private label is growing faster than other brands. A store needs private labels to complement the entire portfolio, not to compete with other brands. The price-sensitive consumer often looks at private labels.
How do you see homegrown competition in face of strong brands such as Shoppers Stop and Pantaloons?
Competition is good. We might not be a homegrown player, but we adapt and are sensitive to consumer needs. Since we have a strong presence in other countries, we get inspiration from what?s happening globally.
But there is a lot to learn from the local players as well. The fact that ethnic wear is our fastest growing segment is a classic example of being ?glocal? or global plus local.
Most retailers located in malls in India complain of lower conversion rates, even though footfalls are very high.
The conversion rate for Lifestyle is around 30-35% and is increasing. This rate is on a par with global norms. So it?s not that it?s peculiar to India. But yes, in our standalone stores, the conversion rate is higher as compared to stores in malls.
How difficult is it to get the staff for your stores?
To get manpower in India is not difficult but to lose them is very easy. The attrition rate is very high, to the tune of 50%, at lower levels or customer care representatives. At senior levels the attrition rate is insignificant. We are continuously using retention tools to retain talent.
We now see so many big brand discounts in India. Is the trend of discount sales only set to increase?
Actually, the amount of discounting has reduced. Now all brands stick to two sales per year. But yes promotions have increased. Promotion content in India is less as compared to the US, but definitely more than Europe.
Talking about marketing and promotions, our customer loyalty programme, ?inner circle?, pampers consumers. We have 1.5 million inner circle members across the country and we are looking at upping that number. It should touch two million by the end of this fiscal. Besides discounts based on points, the consumers also enjoy exclusive preview of our stores and other privileges.
