Top fashion brands take the online route to India

NEW DELHI: Several high fashion brands are taking the online only route to enter India, taking advantage of the absence of regulations around selling through third party portals and owing to factors like lack of quality infrastructure and high real estate costs. Under current regulations, the global brands do not require a licence to sell in India through online portals if they do not have operations here.

Amazon this month signed exclusive deals with four fashion brands — Bjorn Borg ^[2], Drunknmunky, Replay ^[3] and Rockland — to sell their products exclusively in India. It had also signed up with American brand Aeropostale recently. Mayank Shivam, category leader for Amazon Fashion, said the number of brands on the portal has more than doubled over the past six months, and it has more than two million fashion products now.

"Our men's apparel selection has grown over 450% since the launch with over 200% year-on-year growth in sales, and western apparel selection for women has seen over 800% growth in sales over the past one year. Customers can now shop for brands such as Superdry ^[4], Gas, Quicksilver, Gant, Calvin Klein ^[5], Roxy ^[6], Fossil, Steve Madden ^[7], The Hub ^[8], British Knights, CR7, Desigual ^[9], and Dune among others across categories," he said.

Top fashion brands take the online route to India

Gunjan Soni, chief marketing officer at Myntra Fashion, said the fashion portal has signed excl usive tieups with brands like Timberland and Parfois. Myntra has also tied up with others like Mizuno, The North Face, Brooks Brothers ^[10], Silvian Heach and Jeep over the last quarter. It is in talks with others, she said.

"We have been getting calls from several brands. Lack of quality infrastructure and high real estate costs can be limiting for brands. Even the brands that have a physical presence here realise that they are only restricted to a few cities, and online platforms can provide them a wider reach," Soni said. Analysts say the online-only strategy is ideal for global brands to test the market.

"It's a win-win situation for all and brands are using this route to test the marke t," said Paresh Parekh, partner at EY. "While brands need licences for single brand retail, no licences are required if they are selling through online portals and don't have a physical presence here," he said.

Swedish brand Bjorn Borg, which has stores in seven European countries, launched its leather sneaker collection and men's innerwear on Amazon this month, while Drunknmunky, a Californian brand, is launching their sneaker and running shoes range for both men and women.

"India is one of the fastest growing economies and we are delighted to launch the brand online in order to provide maximum possible reach," said a spokesperson of Drunknmunky.

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