From a paltry 5% a couple of years ago, digital accounts for about 35% of Bata’s media mix today. Its latest campaign, Every Walk is a Ramp Walk, makes a sharp detour from its earlier strategy by featuring a bevy of influencers rather than big Bollywood celebrities such as Disha Patani, Kriti Sanon and Kartik Aryan who have been the face of the brand on earlier occasions.
What gives? “The brand aims to connect deeper with its GenZ audience through the influencer collaborations as they have a wider appeal among this age cohort,” says Badri Beriwal, chief strategy & business development officer, Bata India, the largest retailer and manufacturer of footwear in India.
No prizes for guessing why Bata is gung-ho about the potential of Gen Z buyers. With over 600 million people between 18 and 35 years old, India had the largest number of millennials and Gen Zs globally, according to Statista. To attract the attention of this age cohort, the brand is collaborating with mega, micro and nano influencers pan India “as they have a wider appeal among GenZ for their authentic style, and are more relatable”.
The whole effort is not focussed on communication though. Bata has also tweaked its portfolio to connect with this buyer set. Its latest City Casual Collection features global designs and colours and are both comfortable and on-trend, says the company. “The brand is also bringing in innovation and technology at all touchpoints — from lift and learn screens at stores, to AR try-on filter on the website and 3D sneaker billboards,” adds Beriwal. The staff across its 2,100-plus stores have been trained to take every question from the discerning, style-conscious customer that walks into the store.
The footwear brand’s recent aggressiveness is in line with its strategy during fiscal 2023 when it went on an aggressive network expansion drive ending up
with over 2,100 stores in 700 cities. Franchised outlets and shop-in-shops comprise over 37% of this retail network. The company posted revenues of Rs 3,451.57 crore in year ended March 2023, its highest in the last five years. And that’s a 45% growth over its 2022 revenues of `2,387.72 crore.
The overall footwear market has seen strong growth post Covid driven by casual and confort wear. The revenue generated by the segment in 2023 is expected to touch $24.86 billion. Leather footwear is the largest segment in the market, with a projected volume of $17.28 billion in 2023. It is also noteworthy that by end-2023, 98% of the sales in the segment will be attributable to non-luxury.
That said, the footwear brand reported its first drop in profit in the April-June quarter of FY24, as its revenue growth slid to a nine-quarter low on the back of softening demand. Its consolidated profit fell to Rs 1.07 billion in that quarter, while revenue from operations increased 1.6% to Rs 9.58 billion. The company will not let that dampen its spirit.
Indeed, Bata is preparing for a spike in sales during the festive season “with Onam, Raksha Bandhan and Ganesh Chaturthi indicating a highly promising start”. “The emergence of strong discretionary power combined with a positive consumer sentiment towards higher spending during the festive season is driving a surge in demand. As people step out to celebrate with friends and family, they are more willing to spend on new footwear and accessories to be festive ready,” sums up Beriwal.
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