Since its inception in 2016, homegrown sportswear brand Alcis Sports has strived to become the trendy alternative to international brands, appealing to the price-conscious Indian consumer. Roshan Baid of Alcis Sports speaks to Shinmin Bali about the company’s growth strategy, distribution network, the tier II-III potential, and more. Edited excerpts:

What is the kind of sales recorded from the different channels the brand is present in?
Alcis Sports is present in almost 750 MBOs (multi-brand outlets) and 12 EBOs (exclusive brand outlets), apart from large format stores and e-commerce platforms. Our major focus has been on distribution and MBOs. Almost 30-35% of our business comes from MBOs, 25% from online, another 20-25% from large-format stores such as Central and Shoppers Stop, and about 10% from EBOs.

We want to increase our EBO presence and up the sales from these outlets from 10% to 15-20% by the end of 2019. In terms of revenue, last year we closed at Rs 24 crore, and will close at Rs 60 crore this year. For FY20, we are expecting revenue to reach Rs 100-110 crore.

How do you plan to pitch Alcis against popular international brands?
We are creating quality products as per Indian requirements, using technology that’s relevant to the market. We are able to control our complete value chain and since we don’t have high marketing spends, we are able to pass on the cost benefit to our consumers. They get great quality products that are almost 40-50% cheaper than any international brand.

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Apart from the lower prices, what makes your brand tick in tier II and III markets?
In these cities, we are present through distributor channels and the web, including Flipkart, which has a huge base in tier II and III cities — we sell the most on Flipkart. In these cities, fashion or style is not the aspiration. This audience is looking for good quality products, irrespective of the brand being Indian or international. So, small town is a market waiting to be captured.

Also, our supply chain is very flexible. We are able to replenish products much faster than an international brand — even within a week.

What is your marketing strategy?
We cannot spend as much as an international brand; so instead, we focus on low-cost marketing efforts though which we can reach a larger base of our target audience. For example, associations with sporting leagues such as Pro Kabaddi League ensure good awareness in places like Nashik and Aurangabad, where the sport is popular. We have also tied up with Rajasthan Royals. Having cricketer Shikhar Dhawan as our brand ambassador has helped us build brand association and brand recall. In FY19, we are spending Rs 3.5 crore for advertising and marketing, while in FY20, our spends will be Rs 6-6.5 crore. We have aggressive sales targets for FY20 and we expect that our marketing efforts — like the Family Run in Gurugram, in which 4,000 people will be participating and the upcoming association with Lakme Fashion Week — will help customers understand what Alcis Sports is about.

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Wonder Tee is made from recycled plastic. Other brands too have created similar products in the past, but this usually ends up being gimmicky…
We wanted to create an environment-friendly product while providing technological benefits such as moisture management, anti-odour and anti-static features across our portfolio. Wonder Tee, weighing 80 gm, is our lightest product and is made of eight PET bottles. The bottle’s material is converted into yarn, which is then turned into a t-shirt. We are currently selling about 20,000 of these every month. We want to make a sustainable product under normal wear rather than slot it under premium wear. We are not looking at creating premium collections out of recycled polyester. We want to create a range which is mass marketed, and hence have consciously kept the price at Rs 499. We are not treating the product as a gimmick.

What ancillary categories will Alcis Sports expand into?
We have already launched our caps and socks collection, and want to complete our sportswear collection by adding shoes and backpacks. To start with, we will roll them out through our own EBOs and then through other channels. We are launching the shoes on January 27 at the Family Run in Gurugram and the backpacks will be launched by the end of February, 2019.