Dollar Industries growing from strength to strength

Dollar Industries has registered a four-fold rise in turnover in the past six years. The company clocked in a turnover of Rs 830 crores in FY15-16. “People are looking for comfort and style like never before. And markets are forced to respond. There has been sudden brand awareness. Three or four years back, the unorganised market was huge. But now it’s shrinking. Brands are eating into its share. And demonetisation will accelerate this trend. Cash transactions will fall and digital payments will be the norm. Today, it’s about 60:40 ratio between unorganised and organised sector which will change to 70:30 between organised and unorganised. MBOs and small businesses will have to follow suit, with digital wallets, or they will suffer,” says Bidyut Nath, DGM & Head of Brand & Corp Comm, Dollar Industries.

Gauging consumer trends

Nath feels, people buying vests for Rs 30 have started buying them for Rs 80. They feel it’s worth paying for something that’s durable. So, sales have risen. New fabrics and fibres are being introduced like Suprima and micro modal. “We will also see Egyptian cotton. We are using new designs from the US,” he informs.

Talking about MNCs, he says, “Global companies are coming in and doing good business in India. Jockey is a case study. They have gone into remotest towns. However, foreign players will have a tough time balancing their brand name, price and quality. They have to factor in import fees and license fees. This is where Indian brands have an edge. Since we don’t have such expenses, we can pass on the benefit to consumers. Marks & Spencer’s micro modal trunk costs Rs 700. We use the same micro modal and it costs Rs 200. Both brands will have a market. They cater to the upper classes and we cater to the mid section. We launched a premium brand Force Next in 2015-16 which received a great response. We offer the same look and quality that global brands do at an affordable price.”

Dollar has two brands – Big Boss and Force Next. Big Boss has vests made from premium Egyptian cotton. The company will launch these in summer. There are new trunks and briefs. These are distinct in terms of colours and the cotton. Force Next has denim trunks. The company will introduce more colours and designs, along with incorporating a rugged and macho look. Missey has a women’s range of undergarments. In this segment, the company is introducing leggings in 75 colours. The company has products for children under the brand Champion. It also has a license to sell Chhota Bheem branded clothing.

Disruptive marketing strategy

The company believes in doing disruptive campaigns. Akshay Kumar will be the brand ambassador for another two years. Last year, they had a martial art TVC garnering more than four million views on Youtube. Force Next will also have a TVC minus a brand ambassador. More than 80 lakh retailers are associated with Dollar across the country. Half of these will have our women’s and children’s products too and 30 per cent of these have Force Next products. The company has 900 distributors. It is associated with Brand Factory as well and online tie-up with Amazon and Flipkart apart from selling through its own website. Nearly, 80 percent comes from MBOs. E-commerce and large formats contribute 4-5 per cent and the rest is exports.