Footwear major Bata India’s premium category brands like Marie Claire and Red Label gained market shares at retail level during last fiscal as fashion categories witnessed a revival in demands.
“During the year under review, as consumers returned to a more balanced lifestyle, with work from office, celebrations and socialising back on the agenda, your company presented an equally varied footwear assortment for the season. Red Label & Marie Claire styles gained market share at retail level, as fashion categories witnessed revival in demand, with the boom for fitness and outdoor wear normalising that emerged during the pandemic,” the company said in its annual report for financial year 2022-23.
The company said sneakers continued to be the dominant category for the company. “Futuristic, innovative and more premium iterations of Power Brand provided newness, while lifestyle inspired North Star looks remained the key,” it said, adding FY23 was a full year with encouraging trends from the beginning.
Despite normalization of demand for footwear, after an initial surge, the company kept continuous focus on “refreshing product portfolio” with the strategy of casualization and premiumization. “This ensured that we maintained growth in revenue and profitability due to targeted higher ASP and expansion in market share of our premium category brands like Hush Puppies, Marie Claire, Red Label, etc,” said chairman Ashwani Windlass.
Windlass said in spite of the rise in raw material prices, Bata maintained a profitable growth trajectory in the last financial year over the previous years, with a strong trend setting product portfolio, offered through the largest retail footwear presence in India. The first quarter of the last fiscal year also saw significant momentum across all sales channels and registering highest-ever quarterly sales. The momentum continued to reflect in key metrics for the rest of the year.
“Your company also made a leap forward in its retail footprint, crossing the 2,000+ milestone for the 1st time,” he informed.