Brand Building: Arvind Ltd looks ahead at good growth

Even in a weak quarter, Arvind Limited, one of India’s largest integrated textile players, managed to grow by 27 per cent. In a recent interview with ET Now, Sanjay Lalbhai, Chairman and MD, Arvind Ltd is optimistic about the coming festive season. He has reasons to believe that things are changing given that the GST Bill has been passed and the government has implemented the Seventh Pay Commission. This means that there will be money in the hands of the consumers to spend.

Bouquet of global brands help to grow

In the last few years, Arvind has managed to get some coveted international and domestic brands in its portfolio. Also, most recently, it has brought in the most interesting formats like Sephora, Aeropostale, Children’s Place and Gap in its retail portfolio. Despite all the apprehensions, the company has grown at 16 per cent in the last quarter. This, as Lalbhai points out, will drive growth dramatically. Also, in textiles, Arvind is in a unique position where it is the only company that has an asset light model.

Slew of initiatives

Arvind is looking at growing big time and so is developing a whole vendor network. This will ensure that they will be the partners in supplying the fabrics to them, the salvage will carry the name Arvind. All that the company will be doing is investing in the brand and designing. Without investing in assets – a major shift that Arvind is making – the company will invest in innovating the fabrics. The other initiative is providing an omni-channel experience to the customers so that they are able to buy all their products both offline and online. All stores of Arvind are being digitised so that whenever a customer walks into one of them and doesn’t find a particular product, he needs to let the store know. It will be shipped to him from the nearest store. The company has a live inventory of all their 1,200 EBOs. Also, the company will be launching its ready-to-wear labels soon. This too shall help in growth .

As Lalbhai points out, by building Arvind as a brand and introducing newer categories like vested suitings and linen, will all add to the top line. They don’t need to invest in assets to grow. He is optimistic about GST and believes that it will be revolutionary for their industry.

Presently, Arvind’s brand revenue is Rs3,000 crore. Lalbhai’s strategy is not to look at an asset play, rather at a brand play here. And he is confident of bettering the 14-15 per cent CAGR. He is in the process of building brand Arvind and that’s a big task.