Growth in focus, Raymond expands footprint abroad

Raymond has expanded its footprint through the acquisition of a garment unit in the south, land in Ethiopia and office spaces in many countries to attract the Indian community abroad. During a recent media interaction, Gautam Hari Singhania, Chairman & MD, Raymond Group, highlighted, out of the 55 countries across five continents where they supply products, the US accounts for 30 per cent of the total supply, while Europe and Japan account for 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. Exports account for 15 per cent of the overall revenue. The company now wants to move from an 'export-only’ model to an approach focusing on developing the market and increasing business by establishing a face to the name in select regions. In doing so, it has shortlisted a few markets where it would like to be present and invest in building deeper relationships and strategic partnerships with fashion brands and top retailers across the US, Europe, UK, Middle East, South Asia and Japan.

Growing network beyond India

The company recently set up an office in Dubai for customers in the Gulf region, South and Central Asia and East Africa. Its existing London office caters to the UK and Europe. It is also in the process of opening an office in New York primarily to focus on customers in North America. Going strongly with ‘Make in India’ initiative, the company is planning capacity expansion in Kolhapur and Yawatmal units. Additionally, it is also setting up a greenfield textile project in Amaravati. The idea behind setting up a garments unit in Ethiopia, the fastest growing and stable economy in the African continent, is to mitigate export risks. Ethiopia has duty free access to the US and European markets, making its products competitive for global markets. With over 2 million jackets per year, Ethiopia will be among the largest single-location suit manufacturing facility in the world. Ethiopian unit will entail a capex of Rs 150 crores in Phase-1.

Growing from strength to strength

Raymond is a strong player in the fabric segment and commands nearly 80 percent market share. Over the past three years, the company has aggressively invested in manufacturing shirts in the B2C branded fabric portfolio and has emerged as a dominant market leader in this segment too. Apparels are another strategic business for Raymond with four power brands: Raymond, Park Avenue, Parx and Color Plus. They are among the three biggest apparel brand players in India. Talking about positioning, Singhania says, their focus is to sharpen the brand's positioning by leveraging each brand to its full potential, hence capturing the ‘full wallet’ of customers. The company recently introduced the 'Raymond Whites' series, coupled with other world-class launches, including light-weight jackets and top-end sweaters in the domestic market. It also plans to expand retail footprint through exclusive brand stores and multi-brand stores. Besides expansion, the company is also renovating and digitising existing stores to enhance shopping experience in retail.

Capturing youth’s fancy

Raymond caters to over 20 million unique users across demographics and age groups. The company has over four million customers on loyalty platform. Each brand has a sharp role assigned in the context of brand positioning and product offering. Parx for examples is a sharp youth-oriented brand targeting customers between 18 to 24 years. Parx is the fastest growing casual brand in the country offering value based pricing. Whereas, Park Avenue has been a preferred choice for the 'alpha male' over the years with a strong focus on fashion formal offerings for the young generation.