Raymond created its
protagonist - The Complete Man - two decades ago. Today, he lives on,
partly through his new digital alpha male avatar. The 89-year old brand
launched RaymondNext.com three months ago. It's an online portal to
dress up contemporary men and women, reflecting their style quotients at
work and play.
Raymond is not the only one. A handful of brick and mortar retail businesses of the A V Birla group, Reliance Industries, Tatas, Arvind and Future group have joined the e-commerce bandwagon to drive sales. Relaince Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, which started its online play with grocery e-tailing Reliance Fresh Direct in Mumbai, is now planning to sell electronics like mobiles and laptops online.
A V Birla group on the other hand has set up a separate team to establish online presence. Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, which owns brands such as Louis Philippe and Allen Solly, already sells through Trendin.com, the A V Birla group's online store. In the electronics space, while regional chains such as Viveks and Vijay Sales have adopted the e-route, Tata group's Croma also sells through its online stores, besides partnering with e-commerce players like Snapdeal.
"We are surprised at the pace of digital adoption," said Vijay Basrur, head of e-commerce in Raymond. Customers are fast embracing the online channel. "We are building our back-end to deliver to customers directly. The portal will have a portfolio of Raymond products including Park Avenue, Parx and ColorPlus. Currently, online contributes 3%-5% to our overall sales. It will go up to 7% in the next two years," Basrur added. Raymond also has partnerships with e-tailers like Flipkart, Myntra and Jabong.
Forrester estimates that Indian online retail spending will reach $16 billion by 2018, from $3 billion at present, and the number of online buyers will touch 128 million in the same period. Recently, Reebok India has designed a structure where its retail partners and the company can join hands to ensure that the buyer gets a product of its choice online. Bata India is looking at a similar route.
Despite his opposition to the discount strategy adopted by e-commerce players, Kishore Biyani-led Future Group is investing Rs 100 crore of his own to roll out an omni-channel retail strategy to give customers a seamless experience across both the physical and digital worlds. "It is about building technology-enabled platforms that allow customers to order from anywhere (homes, from within stores, while they are traveling), on any platform (shops, mobile, laptops) and get the merchandise anywhere (at the store, at their doorstep or at collection points)," said Biyani. Future Group has a team of data scientists that is working closely with its operational teams to grow its omni-channel platform.
The retailer has partnered with customer science company Dunnhumby to analyse the consumer data generated from the group's retail network so that it can better engage with its customers. "We do around 700 transactions every minute. The JV is focused on leveraging our customer loyalty database," Biyani said. The group has also tied up with Infinite Analytics, a big data and social data analytics company, co-founded by two MIT graduates. Infinite's flagship product SocialGenomix uses natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and predictive analytics to understand user behaviour online.
Similarly, Arvind , one of the country's oldest textile and apparel brand houses,
has launched Creyate, a custom clothing brand for men and women that allows customers to do everything from the comfort of their homes. They can design their own garments and book home visits by Arvind's style stewards, who will take measurements and provide consultancy. "
"Creyate intends to offer an alternative to ready-to-wear as well as traditional custom clothing. It targets to cross Rs 100 crore by next year. Our digitized concept retail stores are a well thought-out extension that facilitates customers' yearning to create their own style statements, by literally letting you wear your personality on your sleeve," said Kulin Lalbhai, executive director in Arvind which has a portfolio of brands include Flying Machine, Colt, Ruggers and Excalibur. Creyate is launching stores in 15 cities within the next year in addition to the existing stores in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Delhi.
Arvind Internet plans to launch a multi-brand apparel and accessories site by mid next year.
Raymond is not the only one. A handful of brick and mortar retail businesses of the A V Birla group, Reliance Industries, Tatas, Arvind and Future group have joined the e-commerce bandwagon to drive sales. Relaince Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, which started its online play with grocery e-tailing Reliance Fresh Direct in Mumbai, is now planning to sell electronics like mobiles and laptops online.
A V Birla group on the other hand has set up a separate team to establish online presence. Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, which owns brands such as Louis Philippe and Allen Solly, already sells through Trendin.com, the A V Birla group's online store. In the electronics space, while regional chains such as Viveks and Vijay Sales have adopted the e-route, Tata group's Croma also sells through its online stores, besides partnering with e-commerce players like Snapdeal.
"We are surprised at the pace of digital adoption," said Vijay Basrur, head of e-commerce in Raymond. Customers are fast embracing the online channel. "We are building our back-end to deliver to customers directly. The portal will have a portfolio of Raymond products including Park Avenue, Parx and ColorPlus. Currently, online contributes 3%-5% to our overall sales. It will go up to 7% in the next two years," Basrur added. Raymond also has partnerships with e-tailers like Flipkart, Myntra and Jabong.
Forrester estimates that Indian online retail spending will reach $16 billion by 2018, from $3 billion at present, and the number of online buyers will touch 128 million in the same period. Recently, Reebok India has designed a structure where its retail partners and the company can join hands to ensure that the buyer gets a product of its choice online. Bata India is looking at a similar route.
Despite his opposition to the discount strategy adopted by e-commerce players, Kishore Biyani-led Future Group is investing Rs 100 crore of his own to roll out an omni-channel retail strategy to give customers a seamless experience across both the physical and digital worlds. "It is about building technology-enabled platforms that allow customers to order from anywhere (homes, from within stores, while they are traveling), on any platform (shops, mobile, laptops) and get the merchandise anywhere (at the store, at their doorstep or at collection points)," said Biyani. Future Group has a team of data scientists that is working closely with its operational teams to grow its omni-channel platform.
The retailer has partnered with customer science company Dunnhumby to analyse the consumer data generated from the group's retail network so that it can better engage with its customers. "We do around 700 transactions every minute. The JV is focused on leveraging our customer loyalty database," Biyani said. The group has also tied up with Infinite Analytics, a big data and social data analytics company, co-founded by two MIT graduates. Infinite's flagship product SocialGenomix uses natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and predictive analytics to understand user behaviour online.
Similarly, Arvind , one of the country's oldest textile and apparel brand houses,
has launched Creyate, a custom clothing brand for men and women that allows customers to do everything from the comfort of their homes. They can design their own garments and book home visits by Arvind's style stewards, who will take measurements and provide consultancy. "
"Creyate intends to offer an alternative to ready-to-wear as well as traditional custom clothing. It targets to cross Rs 100 crore by next year. Our digitized concept retail stores are a well thought-out extension that facilitates customers' yearning to create their own style statements, by literally letting you wear your personality on your sleeve," said Kulin Lalbhai, executive director in Arvind which has a portfolio of brands include Flying Machine, Colt, Ruggers and Excalibur. Creyate is launching stores in 15 cities within the next year in addition to the existing stores in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Delhi.
Arvind Internet plans to launch a multi-brand apparel and accessories site by mid next year.
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