Cantabil eyes 25 to 30 percent growth this fiscal

Aiming for 25 to 30 percent growth in FY2015-16, Cantabil International achieved a turnover of Rs 118 crores in the fiscal year 2013-14. While the company has its own online platform, it does not retail the same merchandise online. Speaking about the reason behind this, Deepak Bansal, Director, Cantabil International says, “Offering lower discounts online vis-à-vis brick and mortar model is difficult, therefore, we have introduced a new brand ‘Kingswood’. This is an online label offering lower prices to meet online demand.”

Cantabil is admired by its target audience for high quality of formal and casual apparels. It has distinctive Italian flair in design and style and offers a perfect fit, comfort and value.

Increasing store count on the agenda

The brand is present in over 140 EBOs including 56 EBOs in the Delhi NCR belt. Cantabil also retails on its own shopping portal as well as through other online fashion platforms such as Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong and Amazon.in, among others.

“We are expanding our stores with an average two new stores every month. Cantabil is well-received in around 80 cities across India, where it has a store presence and we are looking at expanding in the same clusters. The market is saturated and it is difficult to find good locations,” says Bansal.

Cantabil’s product basket is varied. For men it offers formal shirts, formal trousers, suits, casual shirts, T-shirts, denims, trousers, accessories and innerwear. For women, it has formal shirts, trousers, suits, casual shirts, T-shirts, denims and tunics. Elaborating on the new Spring/Summer collection, Bansal says, “We have introduced new shades of green, tomato red and aqua for the season. We have also introduced fine Giza cotton blends and yarn dyed cotton linen fabrics for better colour depth.”

Casual shirts, Bansal feels, is the most promising segment. “The segment will be growing in future since corporates have welcomed semi-formals or smart casuals. Our casual category has moved from 30 percent to 50 percent to cater to the rise in demand. New brands foraying into this segment are making the business highly competitive,” Bansal opines.