Dollar: Transition from inner wear to jeans

Aiming at a turnover of Rs 500 crores by the next fiscal, the hosiery wear brand is aiming for a huge market penetration with its wide range of products. Last year it crossed Rs 400 crores and still it is aiming higher with its wide offerings. After wooing

the consumer with its comfortable innerwear range, Dollar Club is all set to launch jeans wear in the forthcoming season. Targeting mid-segment young consumers, the company will be utilizing the forthcoming festive season for launching the product, starting with eastern India. Later a national launch would be made. It has earmarked Rs 1 crore for the ad launch.

The company markets its products under the brand name Dollar. The range includes vests, briefs, thermal wear, gym wear, casual wear, socks and sportswear. Several power brands are available from the Dollar stable. Vinod Gupta, Managing Director, Dollar Industries, believes young people are the key target audience for any innerwear company as they are open to experimentation. “The inner wear segment has of late undergone tremendous changes in positioning and consumer attitudes. No longer is it a garment to be buried under outer wear. Inner wear has acquired a fashion quotient of its own. Indian branded hosiery is getting popular in smaller towns and cities,” he says.

Dollar invests a lot of effort into R&D for designing new styles. What’s unique about the brand is that it has managed to keep the price line steady inspite of the recent upheavals. The brand has excellent markets in west, central and north India. And now it is focusing on the east. “Interestingly, the vest may be an innerwear but in smaller towns it is an outerwear,” says Gupta. “The more the variety, the more is the consumption. Indian consumers have become very aspirational, they want the best with competitive prices. We have our brand ambassador, Akshay Kumar, who is a mass hero and connects well with our target audience.”

The brand’s ratio of sales between small cities/towns and metro cities is almost 60:40. Gupta says cities have more options for foreign players and higher priced products. The brand is already present in 26 states. “We have penetrated across cities, towns and villages. Yet there is a lot of scope. With new players coming into both Indian branded and foreign players category, competition is set to grow,” says Gupta. Dollar products have today gone beyond the boundaries of the country. The lucrative export market beckons. Having consolidated its position in Gulf countries the company is now aggressively looking at the rest of the world with collections that promise to redefine evolution.