Interview with Mr Shreyas Joshi

Yes, it is true that the journey since inception in 1925 to date has been incredible for Raymond. From a pure textile manufacturer to gradually having evolved as India’s largest and most powerful textile fashion and retail brand has been a magnificent growth story. Contributing to this growth and the one constant that has made this a reality has been our core values namely trust, quality, excellence and leadership. Our relationship with customers, trade and other business partners have been governed by these statutes, helping us build a strong foundation for our brands and consistently growing. Today, we have the largest market share in the clothes manufacturing and apparel branding sector in India.

The growing market that India is and the vast potential it offers, keeps our focus on this subcontinent. While we do watch the global market for fashion trends and clothing concepts, we have noticed that India, as a fashion and retail market has evolved and has much to offer to the global apparel industry. Raymond, with its focus on innovation and pioneering market strategies, shall contribute to this global standing of the Indian industry.

A clear merchandising marvel for the industry came from the house of Raymond, when the company launched its “Made to Measure” offering in an exclusive retail format. This provides the customer factory-made, tailored clothing that match up to global industry standards, with the added benefit of impeccable service.

On the apparel side, when Park Avenue, the all-male clothesline launched PA Woman, it was an industry marvel, which is now being adopted by almost every other leading male clothing chain.

We treat every brand as an independent business managing their portfolio of customers, trade and partners. They operate as individual businesses with dedicated teams that manage the entire supply chain, from design to marketing and sales. This enables us to be true to the unique positioning of our every brand individually, thus helping them cater to their different consumer segments.

The apparel industry in India has been recording year-on-year growth of about 15-20%, while globally the growth is about 5%. Private labels are growing at about 5-10% annually in India.

Branded apparel business is definitely growing faster than private labels in India.

Our experience with consumers in small cities and towns has been very encouraging, given their knowledge of urban and global fashion trends and their aspiration to be ahead of times in dressing. Given technological and media-related advancements in a growing economy like India, lifestyles and dressing choices of tier 4 – 5 customers are at par with their urban counterparts. The difference in dressing aspirations between customers in different geographies has also considerably narrowed over the past year. Thus, Raymond adopts a national branding and marketing approach to take its product and service offerings to customers.

To my knowledge, catalogue retailing in India is yet to pick up. While our retail industry is evolving rapidly to match up to global standards, we are still consumers who would like to feel their products before purchase.

Also, shopping for most Indian families is bound into our social fabric as a means and occasion for bonding. This could be for festival or seasonal shopping or while shopping for special occasions, which account for a good part of the Indian retail business. Thus, even today, consumers in India prefer to visit the retail outlet to feel their product before buying, preferably with their entire family around!

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