Japanese apparel majors eye India entry

Two Japanese fashion apparel companies Fast Retailing,

which owns the Uniqlo brand and Japanese fashion apparel firm World Co are considering India entry. The latter is currently exploring several possible joint venture partners and has also been test marketing its products in the country.

The move by the two companies to enter India is prompted by the growing market for fashion apparel in the country. The apparel market accounts for 6 per cent of India’s consumption expenditure and is expected to grow fourfold over the next decade, with an estimated consumption expenditure of $225 billion (around Rs 1,22,287 crores) in 2020, according to a 2012 report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). India’s overall retail sector is currently valued at about $500 billion (Rs 2,71,750 crores) and is estimated to reach $1.3 trillion by 2020, according to a 2012 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Uniqlo’s entry into India was first reported by Reuters in September last year. Fast Retailing is Japan’s largest apparel retailer with annual sales of 928.6 billion yen (around Rs 61,288 crores) in the year ended August. With 845 stores in Japan and 292 shops elsewhere, including Singapore, the UK and the US, Uniqlo is the company’s mainstay.

World Co on the other hand has more than 100 brands and 3,000 shops in Japan and 200 stores in other parts of Asia. The company is currently test marketing the five brands, women’s apparel and accessories brands such as Couture Brooch, Opaque.clip, Ozoc, Tk Mixpice and Hot Beat. It even test marketed mini-stores in New Delhi’s Select City Walk Mall for a duration of 11 days to gauge consumer response earlier this month.