Interview with Ujjval Saraf

Ujjval Saraf
Promoter
Giordano India

Experienced 40-50% degrowth due to Covid

Founded by Jimmy Lai, Giordano International Ltd, a Hong Kong based international retailer of apparel and accessories for the family, was relaunched in India in 2019. With a strong online presence in India, its worldwide operations span 2,400 shops in more than 30 countries. Ujjval Saraf, promoter of Giordano India, talks about the India story.

What was the inspiration behind founding of the brand? Who are your target audience?

Giordano was founded with the aim to make people feel good and look great with easy-to-wear clothing. The target audience in India includes individuals from tier I and II cities in the 20-40 years age group with a penchant for simple, clean and comfortable designs.

Which are the categories the brand is into?

Menswear| Footwear | Accessories

What is the USP of your products?

We have classic, simple and mature product lines made of highly sustainable fabrics and prints.

Which are your major markets?

Tier I and tier II cities in India.

What is your market positioning like?

Giordano is positioned along side brands like US Polo Association, French Connection, Benetton, Allen Solly etc.

What is your retail and web presence like?

Giordano India has 1 company-owned outlet and is present in 2 multi-brand outlets; the web presence is through platforms like Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart and Ajio.

What are the price points?

Menswear - Rs 1,500-3,000;

Footwear - Rs 2,500-4,000 (men); Rs 900-1,800 (women);

Accessories - Rs 5,500-14,000 (watches), Rs 1,000-4,500 (handbags), Rs 2,000-3,500 (sunglasses)

What kind of brand building strategies do you implement?

Above the Line (ATL), below the line (BTL), social media influencers, building offline store presence.

Which other product categories do you plan to move into future?

Innerwear and loungewear.

What is your growth story in the last three years (excluding 2020)?

We already have a strong foothold on e-commerce and are active on leading marketplaces. For offline, our company-owned store at Sarath City Mall, Hyderabad is performing well, and we plan to have more stores through franchises and MBOs.

What has been the impact of Covid in terms of sales, staff cutdown, rentals, stocks etc?

We experienced 40-50 per cent degrowth due to Covid. We did not lay off any of our staff.

This article was first published in the February 2021 edition of the print magazine.

Published on: 13/04/2021

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.

Print this interview