Uniqlo India plans to accelerate its expansion in India, aiming to open more stores in the coming years. The company has already established a strong presence with nearly 15 stores in its first five years of operations, said a top executive at the company.
“We cannot give specific numbers because we need to find the best location with our landlord partners and it’s still under discussion for most of the projects. Looking at the last five years we have set up 15 stores. Looking at the future, we are more confident to expand at a similar pace or even faster. Our pace will be faster than that. We aim to accelerate (expansion),” Kenji Inoue, CFO & COO, Uniqlo India, during a virtual interview with Mint on Thursday.
Uniqlo is part of Japan’s Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. The company also operates other brands such as Theory and Comptoir des Cotonniers with a total of 3,595 stores worldwide. Uniqlo is the group’s flagship retail brand. It is among the top apparel retailers globally competing with the likes of H&M and Zara.
Uniqlo entered India in 2019—with its first store in New Delhi—it now has eight stores in Delhi-NCR. It operates a total of 13 stores currently. Last year it entered Mumbai; it is set to add another story in Mumbai later this week.
Demand for its comfort wear, winter clothes such as jackets apart from linen shirts has helped lift revenues at the retailer.
In fiscal 2024 Uniqlo India reported a 32% jump in income to ₹823.4 crore up from ₹624.6 crore in the previous fiscal, according to data sourced from business intelligence platform Tofler. Profit for the period was at ₹85.3 crore up 24% from ₹68.3 crore a year ago.
Temporary store closures both in 2020 and the ongoing fiscal impacted sales at the retailer known for its casual clothing.
“In the last five years we have been achieving over 50% growth year-on-year (y-o-y). Year 2023 to 2024 has been strong with more than 30% growth y-o-y. Looking at the future, we are getting more confidence especially after opening in Mumbai, which is a different market compared to North India,” he said.
India’s apparel retailers faced a challenging year as inflation-conscious consumers cut back on clothing and footwear purchases. As a result, many retailers resorted to discounting excess inventory. Inoue said the retailer’s business remained shielded from the slowdown. “Basically we don’t see the impact on our brand,” he added.
India’s apparel and footwear market is expected to touch $160 billion by 2030, up from $75 billion in 2022, per a Deloitte analysis.
While Fast Retailing operates other fashion brands globally, Inoue said that the group has no immediate plans to introduce them to the Indian market. “Our focus is how we can expand the Uniqlo brand into the market,” he added.
Uniqlo sells a range of clothing for both men and women including knit ribbed pants, cashmere, HEATTECH, Bra Tops, and lounge pants.
In FY2024, Fast Retailing’s revenue topped ¥3 trillion and operating profit surpassed ¥500 billion for the first time. The retailer has highlighted India among markets that it is set to report significant revenue and profit gains on the back of a continued expansion in global operations next fiscal.
Catch all the Business News , Corporate news , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess
Leave a Reply