The brand is rapidly increasing its consumer touch points and expanding the retail presence with an aim to take an affordable fashion footwear priced around 399 to more consumers
New Delhi: With a retail presence in 24 states and three union territories, Kolkata-based Khadim India is rated as a major footwear retailer in India. Offering an array of options for footwear and accessories to its customers, the brand has a wide range of products for men, women and children under its primary brand Khadim and sub-brands British Walkers, Lazard, Turk, Sharon, Cleo, PRO and Bonito among others.
Founded in the 1960s, the brand started with a small store in Chitpur, Kolkata, where it is currently headquartered. Over the years, the company grew strength to strength to become a national player with a multi-state presence. The company got listed on the stock exchanges in 2017 and has been a favoured stock of investors thanks to its robust performance—The brand reported a Profit After Tax (PAT) of `4.82 crore for the third quarter (Q3) of the ȱ financial year (FY) 2023; its Profit t Before Tax (PBT) for the same quarter stood at `5.72 crore.
In August, the Khadim India stock jumped 4% on higher volumes after the company said it would consider hiving off its distribution business into a new wholly owned subsidiary. The brand is rapidly increasing its consumer touch points and expanding the retail presence with an aim to take affordable fashion footwear priced around `399 to more consumers.
In an exclusive interaction with IMAGES Retail, Rittick Roy Burman, Whole-Time Director, Khadim India Ltd. talks about the brand’s strategies, collaborations and future plans. Edited excerpts:
What sets your footwear apart from competitors?
Over decades, Khadim has been offering ‘ affordable fashion footwear to its consumers, meeting their demand of being trendy and fashion-forward. We offer a huge line of fashionable products at lucrative price points across categories, which makes the brand unique and different from the competitors. We have products for each member in the family.
Your most popular footwear line and the reason of popularity?
Our ladies fashion footwear and men’s sports shoes and formal shoes are always in demand across regions. We aim to be first choice footwear brand for the entire family and have included a wide range of products across the mother brand as well as in our sub-brands based on market trends and consumer feedback.
Do you follow sustainable manufacturing practices?
We use lead-free and thylate-free compounds to manufacture our mass market products. We recycle manufacturing rejects especially in Hawai and PVC category to re-use the material.
How do you stay up to date with the latest fashion trends while maintaining the brand’s unique identity?
We believe that fashion should be available. But it is important to move ahead with the times and raise our product offerings to meet the aspiration of our consumers as per the market trend. To understand the consumer buying pattern and their requirement, we ensure that our in-house design team is updated with the market trends. The design and merchandising teams visit different domestic and international markets and fairs to study and understand current and future trends. They are also informed about different type of materials and trims that are constantly developed to cater future demands.
How have the technology changes impacted your business?
Technology has contributed a lot in footwear manufacturing. Comfort is the main deciding factor for footwear purchase now a days especially for closed footwear. The deployment of new technologies has helped a lot in manufacturing comfort pairs. Also, in this age of semi-casual and sneakers, it is very important to utilise technology to manufacture stylish as well as comfortable products. We are constantly and continuously working to provide best available technology at the affordable price.
Please share details on your online commerce strategy.
To meet the current festive demand, we have enhanced our e-commerce capabilities, allowing consumers to buy products as per their convenience and provide them a seamless shopping experience. Also, we are present on all leading e-commerce platforms and are also selling through our website. We have partnered with major e-commerce platforms Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra to widen our product offerings and reach.
Tell us about your expansion plans?
Our retail store network strength is increasing with new store opening in different key markets in the country. We have 848 stores in India and plan to add 70 to 80 stores in financial year 2024.
