China’s Yishion enters India, eyes major expansion

Yishion, a leading Hong Kong-based casual brand for men, women and children’s clothing, has just branched into India with an official launch in Delhi in the first week of June. The $12 billion company, which specializes in apparels and accessories,

has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Delhi-based marketing and distribution firm Upmarket Group.

The company is currently looking at around 70 to 75 shop-in-shops during the first phase of operations and another 8 to 10 flagship stores to follow soon. Out of these at least three will be located in upscale Delhi and NCR -- Gurgaon and Noida. The company which has a $12 billion global turnover with about 70 per cent coming in from China, is eyeing around Rs 10 crores for the year ending March 2011 for its Indian chapter.

In September, Yishion is looking at opening flagship stores in Delhi at the Ambience Mall while also checking out the business viability of Saket’s Select City Walk or South Extension. The company is also looking at starting with company-owned outlets in metros and later extending them to Tier I-II cities such as Lucknow, Indore, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Amritsar. It may also include Tier III cities in phase two.

The store sizes will also be comparatively large ranging between 1,500 to 3,000 sq. ft. area depending on the location and market size. These flagship stores in India will help in fostering the same brand profile as in China and in 80 other countries so that the same format can be duplicated or carried on through a franchisee route later on.      

Yishion has a rapid business growth strategy in place with all its 10 exclusive stores to be launched between 2010-11 along with 75 outlets and shop-in-shops to be set up from 2010 to 2012. This is all part of its Phase One plan

“Over the last two years, Yishion brand has already invested in India in terms of market research and surveys and contact with leading market retailers across India markets. Now we have earmarked further expansion along with the investments for the next three years. This will be used towards new store setups, advertising and marketing among other things. With all these initiatives we target a total turnover of Rs 100 crores by end of 2012-2013,” says Zhou, brand executive officer of Yishion Group.

As of now, Yishion has started operations with its summer merchandise of shirts, T-shirts and denims for men and women and soon plans on launching its entire product range. However, it will not be launching its children’s collection right away. Also it does not plan to make these products in India for the next two years as till then they are looking at 100 per cent imports from China. Complete advertising and promotions and below the line activity will start from autumn/winter this year while for the current season it is more likely to be in-store branding at a local level, market awareness and kiosk campaigns and mall promotions with retail partners.