Koutons Junior: Striving for a larger market share

Koutons Junior the exclusive collection for kids from the house of Koutons, a New Delhi-based company is targeting Tier II and Tier III cities expansion. Having identified the huge consumer base in these cities who want both quality and cost

effective clothing, the brand plans to aggressively tap them now.

Koutons Junior is meant for the fashion conscious kids between 2-14 years. The brand caters to middle and upper middle class segments. Known for their comfort and durability, Koutons Junior apparel offers a wide range of T-shirts, shirts, night wear, capris, cargos, denims etc for boys and girls. Besides the normal range of apparels, a special range of accessories is also available which includes bags, sun glasses, pencil boxes, bottles, caps and many more, aimed at providing the young ones with a comprehensive brand experience. “After analyzing the competition for Koutons Junior we can say that we are standing at a fairly good position. Since its launch in 2008, Koutons Junior is available in maximum cities across India”, says Balvinder Singh Ahluwalia, President, Koutons Retail India.

  In fact, Koutons formally ventured into the kid’s wear market in early 2008 after extensive market research and product testing within its own EBOs. It has been a successful venture so far and now has a national presence through the 379 Koutons Junior sections in 1,230 Kouton stores across India. In accordance with the parent brand strategy, Koutons Junior operates only through its own parent brand’s EBOs. All Koutond Junior designs and styles are supplied through their national network, thereby ensuring that customers have the same access in any part of India. Strategically, Koutons is not eyeing the export market as it focuses on strengthening within the domestic market.

Meanwhile, the parent brand Koutons too is also focusing on consolidation and continuing to work on the concept of family stores to make shopping a family affair. This seems to have worked for Koutons Retail as this strategy has yielded results for the company in terms of increased revenues and increased customer base.

Going forward, the company aims to strengthen its position in existing markets by introducing newer products and also expand the concept of organized retailing across newer geographical territories. Ahluwalia added, “There is a huge market of kid’s wear category, which is untapped and needs to be covered and we can catch up high and expand fast as the competition is still not very high. Brands catering to kids are less.” Koutons Retail, reported net sales of Rs 1,203.34 crores for 2010 as compared to Rs 1,046.68 crores for the previous fiscal year and registered a growth of 14.97 per cent.