Soch, focusing on creative excellence to push up growth

In the highly unorganized ethnic wear market, Soch, has been registering steady growth for the last decade. Amidst an economic slowdown and rising inflation, the brand has been able to expand its network and create profitable sustenance.

Ethnic ensembles for contemporary women

Specializing in exclusive designer ethnic wear Soch, offers unique ensembles to complement

the contemporary urban woman. Apart from exclusive designer saris, the brand also offers a wide range of designs in salwar-kameez, lehengas, kurtis and unstitched dress materials. Opening its first store in Forum Bangalore in 2005 followed by a second store at Commercial Street in 2008, the brand’s retail network today includes 37 exclusive brand stores spread across 13 cities. With an average store area of 1,600 square foot, Soch plans to add 16 new stores in the next 8 months. Looking at an aggressive retail expansion strategy, the brand is planning 50 EBOs through the franchisee route in the next 2 to 3 years. Besides the offline expansion plan, the brand has also explored its presence in online retail sales through Flipkart, Amazon and Fashionara. Soch will give more emphasis on online retail in the coming years. The brand is planning to launch a fully integrated e-commerce portal to increase its reach.

Being an ethnic wear brand, Soch boasts of creative excellence as its unique selling point. “The biggest challenge in women’s ethnic wear segment is the unorganized structure of the market. The variations of design and frequency of changing trends is high in this category. Therefore, the only way to stay ahead of competition is through creativity,” says Manohar Chatlani, Director, Soch.

The brand offers a wide variety of designs and exclusive innovations in exquisite hand-picked fabrics: cotton, chiffon, crepes, silk, brocade, voiles and blends sourced from various places in India. It sources its fabric from heritage hubs of India including Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Banaras, Mysore and Kancheepuram.

Explaining the key success strategy for ethnic wear segment, Chatlani says “Quality, service and price are the three main factors for any brand’s success in this category. The consumers are highly evolved, they have an eye for detail and at the same time understand value for money.” Giving further insight, Chatlani says “saris are increasingly becoming occasional wear in urban markets whereas salwar kameez as a category is expanding fast. From being regular wear, salwar kameez is now getting acceptance in older women and some are even opting for it as party wear or occasion wear in case of weddings etc. Therefore, in the coming years, salwar kameez and kurtis will continue to grow as a category.” The brand has been growing at 40 to 45 percent where same store growth is almost 10 percent. In 2014-15 fiscal, it’s eyeing a turnover of Rs 250 crores and plans to add at least 16 stores by 2014-15 FY end.