Online discounts force Crocs to recall its products

With the battle between online and offline retail heating up, and with malls asking

their patrons to refrain from offering products online at a discount, fashion and apparel companies are now making efforts to remain away from the discount strategies. For instance, premium footwear firm Crocs India has now recalled its products from at least ten e-commerce sites owing to the discounts offered by the online portals and has instead partnered with Amazon and Jabong, to exclusively sell its products online.

The tie-ups are part of the company's new online strategy as part of which it will sell its products simultaneously with the brick-and-mortar format. While the two e-tailers will offer the entire range of Crocs shoes comprising 70 styles, they will not offer any special discounts or prices that are not available in their stores. The tie up will become operational this month.

The brand was launched in India in 2007 through a joint venture with Chogori Retail and later changed to a franchisee operation in the country. It now has a pan India presence with a reach of more than 300 doors at the wholesale level and about 35 exclusive stores. To change its image as the monsoon brand, Crocs, known for its rubber clogs with holes introduced its 350-odd designs from global portfolio such as lace-up sneakers, hover boats and cobbler stud ankle boots in India last year.

Recently mall owners had demanded a uniform discount policy across online and offline platforms since consumers are increasingly turning to e-commerce to grab the deals offered by brands online. Absence of such deals at their brick-and-mortar stores has led to a significant drop in footfalls and sales at malls and individual brand stores.