Recent surge in people pursuing sewing as hobby
Usha, a company whose roots lie in the sewing machine business, is India’s leading consumer durables company. In an interview with Paulami Chatterjee, Parveen Kumarr Sahni, President, Sewing Machines Business, Usha International, gives a background about the evolution of sewing machines in India, measures Usha is taking to help build its brand and the new launches planned.
Could you throw some light on the evolution of sewing machines in India--growth, trends, and forecast?
About 36 lakhs sewing machines were sold in India in the FY 2020-21– this includes sewing machines from both organised and unorganised players, and around 55 per cent of this market consists of unorganised players. These 36 lakh units comprise the entire range of sewing machines including the Straight Stitch (domestic black machines), Automatic Zig Zag (white machines), and Industrial Machines. In terms of sales, this number takes into consideration all sales across various channels and platforms, such as trade, retail, rural, government, and institutional sales, as well as e-commerce, across domestic markets in the country.
Usha is the pioneer in the Indian sewing machine industry and enjoys the highest market share. The company accounts for a majority of the country’s organised sector in sewing machines. Usha sewing machine business straddles the entire spectrum of the market, from urban to rural India, from the lowest to the highest, and has enriched the lives of more Indians than any other brand. Usha takes pride in having developed the market of automatic zig-zag (white) sewing machines in India. With white machines, we also offer the finest quality of creativity enhancement attachments such as the presser foot, ruffle foot, etc. Additionally, we help customers by creating easy-to-follow sewing content which helps them learn from the comfort of their homes and utilise their machines effectively.
We witnessed a healthy growth of approximately 15 per cent in our sewing machines business in 2020-21. We have grown substantially in the Automatic Zig Zag (white machines) category, gaining over 65 per cent market share in this category by the end of FY 20-21. Our Straight Stitch (domestic black machines) segment has also grown considerably in the last year, helping us gain a 27 per cent market share and emerge as a strong player in the domestic black machines category as well, by the end of FY 20-21.
What are the future trends in sewing and quilting as a hobby?
Sewing can be fun, quirky, creative, and earn you rich dividends, and has witnessed a huge resurgence in the last many months. A gender agnostic skill, it offers great creative outlets for anyone wanting to explore the craft.
During the pandemic, we witnessed a lot of people picking up sewing as a creative outlet to deal with the stress – from masks to accessories, clothes, and home décor, also the trend of upcycling and recycling is now much in demand. Another popular trend that is fast catching up in India and is preferred by a lot of consumers is Do-It-Yourself or DIY. As the masses are complying with the work from home/study from home scenario, there has been a noticeable upsurge in DIY activities that not only are enjoyable and creative but also help de-stress. We have observed that the passion for sewing is growing – for both utility functions like repair and alterations, as well as for creative pursuits.
The Indian sewing machine industry, and especially Usha as a brand has witnessed a high demand for household sewing machines due to the consumer’s inclination of pursuing sewing as a hobby. The adoption of sewing machines in the household segment by hobbyists is expected to drive the market growth even further.
Being in the midst of the pandemic, what kind of shift in consumer behaviour do you see related to the sewing industry?
There has been a recent surge in people pursuing sewing as a hobby, as a craft they want to hone, as a form of creative expression, or then as a means to grow their earning potential.
Another important trend we have observed is an increase in online sales as people are becoming more comfortable with the online world. E-commerce has risen multi-fold, and many consumers are experiencing online shopping for the first time, overcoming mindset barriers of setting up online accounts and making digital or online payments, as they are slowly coming to trust this way of shopping. With the accelerated adoption of digital, we are focused on creating unique retail experiences for our consumers on online platforms like brand stores on Amazon, engaging demo videos across product categories, rich A+ content, etc. We have invested heavily in e-commerce and digital and have actually seen e-commerce sales grow significantly. We expect this to increase even further in the post-pandemic world, as people now are more digitally influenced and inclined in terms of their purchase journeys and decisions.
How many machines do you have in sewing in total? Which machines are the most popular and what are their characteristics like?
Usha is a brand steeped in legacy as much as it is a leader in technology for all its offerings across categories from Straight Stitch Machines, Industrial Machines, Automatic Zig Zag Machines to Computerised Embroidery Machines. Ensuring that its sewing machines offer customers superior technology empowering them to get the most out of their machine whether it is sewing, embroidering, or then quilting, Usha has always been ahead of the curve.
Usha’s wide portfolio of sewing machines comprises a range of products from the very basic to the extremely high-end with prices that range from ₹4500 to over 6 lakhs. Usha Sewing Machines can be divided into four major categories, each of which have further subcategories:
Usha Memory Craft Sewing Machines: Often called the computerised dream machines, the Memory Craft series of specialised and professional computerised sewing and embroidery machine is for those wanting to work across garments, quilting, and home decor, etc. While its wi-fi and iPad compatibility help you expand your creativity, its speed and precision add that critical edge needed for advanced sewing. Sewing speeds of 1,000 stitches per minute, special features designed for quilting, including specialty stitches, and an advanced feed mechanism enable those who want to do more, and better. The category includes eight high-end machines - Usha Memory Craft 450E, Usha Memory Craft 550 E, Usha Memory Craft 9850, Usha Skyline S9, Usha Memory Craft 15000, Usha Memory Craft 8200 QCP, and Usha 6700P.
Usha Automatic Zig Zag Sewing Machine: The fully automatic Usha Janome sewing machines powered with Japanese technology caters to all – from those taking their first steps in their creative journey to those who are already experts and like to challenge themselves more and more. It offers features like a range of built-in stitches, applications to help you with stretch stitching, button fixing, rolled hemming, satin stitch, zip fixing and smocking, and much more. All of these make it remarkably easy for you to enhance your skills and develop and express your unique style. This category includes a wide variety of machines namely - Allure, Allure DLX, Design Craft, Dream Maker 120, Dream Stitch, My Fab Barbie, Quilt magic, and many more.
Usha Industrial Sewing Machine: Usha Industrial machines are technologically advanced solutions for those who need their creativity replicated in multiple numbers – with precision and speed. Capable of working on various fabrics ranging from light to heavy and speeds varying from 1000 spm to 3000 spm, Usha offers various models to suit a variety of needs, namely - Craft Master, Design Master, Quick Stitch with Japanese Hook, Direct Drive Over Lock machine 757E, etc. With multiple features including computerised patterns and the convenience of a push-button, as well as hands-free operation, automatic thread cutter, combination patterns, and mirrored editing, etc, these sewing machines are a heaven send for those wanting to do more in less time.
Usha Straight Stitch Sewing Machine: These are the machines we all grew up seeing, and if we were lucky, are still using. These machines are really hardy and come with a whole plethora of features to make sewing simple and easy. Auto tripping, spring-loaded bobbin winder for uniform bobbin winding, perfect stitch formation, lever stitch regulator for easy forward and reverse stitch control, and a slide plate for easy insertion of the bobbin, all make this the go-to machine for their tailoring needs. This category includes traditional black machines namely, Tailor DLX, Tailor Super Deluxe, Umang DLX, Anand, Butterfly, etc.
Usha has always kept consumers at the core and has developed products that ensures that these product fulfills their needs. The recent launches by Usha – Usha Quilt Magic, Design Craft, Sew Magic, MC 8200 QCP, Style Stitch, and Mystique and Usha Memory Craft Skyline S-9 and Memory Craft 9850, Usha 6700P, Usha Memory Craft 550E in 2020 are amongst the most popular sewing machines today. Each of these machines caters to diverse needs–for homemakers, sewing enthusiasts, fashion designing students, tailors, and boutique owners offering a range of superior features for those who want both precision control and perfection.
Which are your target markets? How is the demand for your sewing machines from consumers and local markets? Which market has witnessed the highest growth?
We have been catering to audiences across India, agnostic of age, gender, and geography. This includes kids as young as 8 years to senior citizens in their 70s – basically, everyone looking to learn, grow, create and take forward their passion or hobby of sewing.
Demography-wise, we have a very loyal and strong customer base both in rural and urban markets across the country. Going by recent trends we have witnessed, people in the southern region are more inclined towards pursuing sewing and quilting as a hobby, which is closely followed by the West and North markets. A key point to note here is that the North and West markets are currently emerging and are set to be very big in the coming years. Besides new markets, there is also a special push in the East where we are increasing our footprint by doing UJ product demos and localised promotions to work closely with our customers. Sales in semi-urban and rural areas are thriving, and urban centers such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata are also on track.
What are the new launches Usha is coming up with?
Usha has been a market leader in the sewing machine category for years now. This enduring leadership position has been possible because of the company’s ability to constantly innovate, anticipate, and even create consumer demands of today.
It is Usha’s constant endeavour to bring innovation in design, technology, and performance of products, helping in building the category as well as the industry. We have launched 6 new machines - Usha Quilt Magic, Design Craft, Sew Magic, MC 8200 QCP, Style Stitch, and Mystique in the recent past, we have also added the Usha Memory Craft Skyline S-9 and Memory Craft 9850, Usha 6700P, Usha Memory Craft 550E to the high-end MC series in FY 20-21. These models are currently very popular with consumers. One of the USPs of the Usha sewing machine business is - the kind of quality accessories that we sell as add -ons with our products. For instance, with black sewing machines, we sell one of the best quality motors, special design table, oil, shuttles, and stand. With white machines, we offer the finest quality of creativity enhancement attachments like presser foot.
We are working on introducing a few new products in the coming year but it’s too early to talk about them right now.
What are Usha’s strategy and future outlook for the sewing machines business? What kind of business Usha is looking forward to in the current fiscal?
We are aiming to grow by at least 10 per cent this fiscal year. Besides building the domestic market we are now focussing on the export markets as well. In domestic markets, Usha sewing machines have grown double-digits last year and we are planning the same in FY 21-22 as well. This is a positive sign, and hence we have set quite an ambitious target of achieving double-digit growth for both our domestic as well as our exports division by next year.
Usha being an industry leader is focused on building the market by adding new customers in the hobby and creative spaces. One big step in this direction is the efforts Usha is putting in creating valuable teaching content for customers, those who wish to learn the new applications of sewing. We are promoting teaching through demonstrators, as well as through online teaching content on leading e-commerce platforms like Amazon, etc.
What are the measures Usha is taking to help build the sewing category as well as stand out in the industry?
Usha sewing machines have enriched the lives of Indians since 1934 when the company first became operational from a factory in Kolkata. The company is selling over one million sewing machines every year. Usha has since evolved to traverse the entire spectrum of the market, keeping step with changing consumer demographics and needs through constant innovation, by anticipating as well as by creating consumer needs.
Over the past nine decades, consumer centricity has been at the core of products we make–consumer insights, feedback, market gaps, and customer needs–the brand has constantly tried to launch products offering the best-in-class value proposition. We are focused on driving brand relevance by being committed to understanding our customers’ evaluation criteria covering both aesthetics and performance. For us, maintaining brand relevance goes hand in hand with ensuring we continue to win the trust and loyalty of our customers. Currently, we are focused on building demand for sewing machines by offering easy-to-use innovative products that appeal to customers and offer the best creativity, technology, and safety.
Usha’s sewing machines are innovation-driven and offer the best-in-class technologies. For instance, the Usha Memory Craft Skyline S-9 and Memory Craft 9850 have a USB port for being able to use customised designs. The Usha Skyline S-9 is Wi-Fi enabled allowing one to export embroidery designs from any Windows PC or an iPad straight to the machine. These sewing machines allow free-motion embroidery for all textile arts, quilting, dressmaking, home furnishings, and more.
For those really serious about it, how can sewing be taken from a hobby to a creative career? And how can it help in financial empowerment?
While many home-sewists began by sewing homemade masks during the pandemic, many more picked up sewing as a creative outlet, not only to deal with the stress but also to pursue a creative career. This eventually has created a Do-It-Yourself/hobby culture, giving an impetus to sales of sewing machines during last year and this year as well. This segment is expected to grow further as increasingly people realise the potential of sewing as a hobby and for creative expression. The sale of sewing kits for home tailoring and alterations also surged during this time. Craft and creativity seem to have become the “in” thing. And this is where Usha is playing a big role. We are not only selling the product but have a whole ecosystem to support and guide those keen on learning and honing their craft, especially sewing.
While some consumers prefer our range of economical, household sewing machines, some sewing enthusiasts prefer to invest in our range of high-end, tech-enabled machines in order to hone their craft and passion.
During the pandemic, we witnessed a lot of sewing enthusiasts taking this opportunity to turn their passion for sewing into a full-time career option and hence becoming financially independent. Usha International has helped numerous aspirational women in their sewing journey, helping them become financially empowered. One such example is of Nanda More, a housewife based out of Mumbai. More started her entrepreneurial venture with the help of Usha Sewing Machine, during the lockdown amid the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic. She enjoyed sewing since childhood but could never pursue it as a career due to family responsibilities. However, last year, in February 2020, when her only son got married and she finally had time to herself, she decided to turn her hobby into a profession. More bought herself a specialised quilting machine, Usha Janome 6700P machine, which was 3X faster and helped her to increase her productivity. By devoting 4-5 hours daily into quilting, More currently earns around 40k per month. This feeling of turning her hobby into an entrepreneurial venture and becoming financially empowered is something she is very happy and proud of.
20230103183907.png)
