Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo enters India

Uniqlo will open its first store in New Delhi on Friday, with two more stores planned in the next few weeks in the Delhi-NCR region.

Despite the current slowdown of the economy, the Japanese fashion retailer hopes to grow in the Indian market that is both vast and diverse with a young population.

Uniqlo is betting big on the government’s liberalised single-brand retail policy to accelerate its expansion in the country – both on its own and through partner-led supply chain and local sourcing.

The company is also looking at the e-commerce segment in India but is yet to finalise its online strategy.

The company, however, is yet to chart its India strategy, which is diverse with unique culture and regulations across states. The immediate focus is on establishing operations and hiring local talent to drive operations.

“India is an important market for us and offers tremendous potential. It has a large population and has been witnessing strong economic growth. Despite the recent slowdown, India’s growth rate is higher than other countries,’ the company’s CEO Tomohiko Sei said.

Tadashi Yanai, founder-chairman of Uniqlo and president and CEO of the Fast Retailing Group, said the strategy to open multiple stores to mark the brand’s entry was the “hallmark of our commitment and strong emphasis” on the Indian market.

He said Uniqlo will offer Indian consumers more innovative apparel options as well as contribute to India’s economic development, adding that the company is eager to learn more about the Indian market and work together with Indian producers and strengthen its sourcing base here.

Uniqlo offers a full line-up of LifeWear for men, women, kids and babies as also functional products such as Heattech garments. It has collaborated with Indian designer Rina Singh to launch a kurta collection, which will be retailed in India, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.