Pavers England expands footprint in India
02 Feb 2009
Pavers England Footprints Limited, a joint venture between UK-based $60-million Pavers Foresight Smart Ventures and the $50-million Indian footwear export lader Forward Group, today announced expansion in Indian Footwear Retail by inviting franchisees to retail their European comfort brands Pavers England.
Pavers England will focus on the metros, plus the top 10 Indian cities - Pune, Nagpur, Kolkata, Indore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Cochin, Surat Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Ludhiana. The company has committed to invest $10 million in India by 2010, through 1000 retail outlets.
The company is looking for individual outlets / retail groups with a track record in retailing and managing international lifestyle brands. The company plans to be present both in single brand and multi brand outlets.
The company also plans flagship brand stores which will retail the complete range in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, with an average store size of 1,000sq-ft.
Stuart Pavers, chairman, Pavers England Footprints Ltd, said, "we initially entered the country with a concessionaire route but in our experience, the franchise model is more win-win and we will focus on the same to expand our presence. We have already established the brand in NCR and South, and through franchisees; we will now ramp up operations in West, and expand to Central and Eastern India.
According to Utsav Seth, CEO, customer experience management is a key differentiator. Pavers England has brand ambassadors in each territory, who work closely with the retailers to deliver customer delight. In the case of the franchisees, the company will invest in front end training spanning retailing, visual merchandising, CRM etc, both in UK and India to maintain the high standards set by the brand in the European markets.
Seth further added that Pavers England was received well by consumers with the company exceeding expectations in the recently concluded festival season. He attributed it primarily to a gap in the mid priced segment and the availability of comfortable footwear which also catered to the functional fashion needs.
Another important factor which has been welcomed by the retail trade is the company's unique retail management expertise which enables the retailer to replenish stock in minimal time, and take advantage of market pull for particular styles and trends.
Pavers England has very efficient logistics of concept design to market in 30 days. The modern retail channel is backed by a global network of product sourcing and development. PEFL also has access to Pavers R&D facilities in India, China and Brazil.
This controls the process from design development and sourcing to retail point, ensuring that the customer in India gets to buy the same footwear his counter part would buy in Europe.
The brand is currently retailed through concessionaires which include Reliance Footprints, Loft, Central, Kobler, Chief 19 and WODZ across India.
