All of retailer Trent Ltd’s formats, whether fashion, grocery, or general merchandise, are seen as growth engines for the company, which of late has been relying on its affordable fashion format Zudio to drive growth.
The shares of the company have been clobbered since early February this year, when Reliance Retail Ventures quietly introduced the app of Shein, the Chinese fast fashion label, for Indian customers on January 31. The move pits Shein with Zudio in the affordable, value fashion segment. Shares of Trent have fallen from around ₹6,200 levels in early February to around ₹4,700-levels now.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by the Retail Association of India, Trent’s Managing Director P Venkatesalu said the company was enthusiastic about Zudio, Westside and Star Bazaar. “And they are all positioned to be different from a consumer facing perspective, yet very deeply integrated at the back.”
“And we would like to believe that over a period of time, being integrated at the back and differentiated at the front gives us advantages to plant a few more seeds, which becomes growth engines.”
Deep value
On the overall growth in the segment, he said that all segments were seeing growth and demand was not easing. “…the fact is there is a customer in India for deep value, there is definitely a customer in India for luxury and both spaces have opportunities. Now, the expectation is the Indian market will be a substantially bigger market 5-10 years from now.”
He also added that though the growth may not be linear or smooth, it would be there.
Stating that Indian consumers had become more discerning, he added, “There is a sense of wanting to be aspirational in the consumption at all price points and that leaves enough opportunity for brands like ourselves to keep changing, improving, becoming more efficient and possibly more relevant for the customer.”
On Zara, which in India is sold under a joint venture between Trent and Spanish fashion company Inditex, Venkatesalu said the retailer had always maintained that it was a financial investment “and we don’t look at it operationally, so I am not going to comment on it.”
The brand’s flagship store in south Mumbai has downed shutters over the weekend, eight years after it opened its doors, occupying five floors and over 50,000 square feet in a heritage building in the city.
