Textile company Raymond is planning to launch an e-commerce venture this quarter. Its personalised tailoring division, under the ‘made-to-measure’ business head, will also be a part of the venture.
“This quarter, our e-tailing site will be launched. There is a proposition for the ‘made-to-measure’ (MTM) segment to be pushed through concierge services, whereby customers can give their measurements,” said Sanjay Behl, CEO, Lifestyle, Raymond, while addressing an analysts’ meet.
Though the company’s Website has online sales, it is restricted to the personal care range of group company JK Helene Curtis, deodorant brands under Park Avenue and Raymond, and the shampoo brand under Park Avenue.
Having reduced its losses by 34 per cent in the first quarter, Raymond is now looking at expanding and renovating its offline stores. It plans to add 150 new stores in the coming quarters, mainly for its exclusive Park Avenue, ColorPlus and MTM stores. Another 50-odd Raymond shops will be renovated.
“We will continue to fund our top line growth by advertising, upgrading and expanding our retail network. All our apparel brands have grown this quarter, except Parx (casual wear fashion brand), which contracted by 18 per cent due to inventory correction,” Behl added.
Park Avenue, the company’s largest selling brand, grew at 21 per cent, followed by ColorPlus at 19 per cent, and Raymond Premium Apparel at 12 per cent.
Looking forward to better margins in the textile business, the company expects its shirting fabric to add to the growth of textiles. “About ₹50 crore was the top-up on account of the shirting element, in the 27 per cent growth recorded by the textiles segment this quarter. We have two-three per cent improvement in the operating margins for suiting,” he told analysts.
With capital expenditure at ₹44 crore during the quarter, the textile company would be assigning a capex for the year which would just above depreciation levels. “Our capex for the year will be slightly above depreciation as we have to push for capacity expansion and retail. We would be investing for growth and are looking at having stable margins going forward.”