Harley Davidson bets on merchandise

The legendary US motorcycle brand, Harley Davidson,

is enthusiastic about the way the retail industry is growing in India. And has identified India as a fabulous opportunity in terms of the Harley Davidson merchandise, expecting its product line extension to contribute much more than 5 per cent of its revenues, which is the global standard for the brand. Anoop Prakash, Managing Director of Harley Davidson, India feels, the size of the Indian retail industry is huge, and it offers strong demand for merchandising and branded products. He sees a huge opportunity for their riding gears and fashion merchandise.

The merchandise includes: leather jackets, caps, gloves, boots, T-shirts, tops, key chains and mugs. The T-shirts start at Rs 1,500 while riding jackets are in the Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 range. Harley Davidson is more than a motorbike. It’s a cult that has spread all over the world, to the extent that every country where Harley Davidson motorbikes are sold has its own HOG, or the Harley Owners Group. Fiercely loyal, it is the HOG that really made the Harley riding gear and fashion merchandise such an attitude statement. Nowadays, even those who don’t own a Harley have no problems flaunting their Harley gear.

In 2009, following the economic downturn 2008, Harley Davidson’s global general merchandise revenue slid to $282.2 million, down by 10.1 per cent compared to 2008. Licensing of the Harley Davidson logo, accounts for about 5 per cent of the company’s net revenue every year. For fiscal 2009, the company posted total revenue of $4.29 billion.