People not venturing out due to a pandemic, a slowdown in consumer spending, and supply chain disruptions are what footwear and apparel brand Woodland had least anticipated for FY21.

Although consumer spending was recovering towards end-FY20 (January to mid-March), a pandemic-induced lockdown changed all that. Restrictions continuing post unlocking meant Woodland was expecting a “bad hit” on its top-line, said Harkirat Singh, Managing Director, Aero Club (makers of Woodland).

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Recoveries have happened, and business is back to 60 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

“Our stores are company-owned and prolonged closure is not good for our business. With there being rules on re-opening and localised lockdowns, we were provisioning to lose out on sales for a major part of the year. Near-full opening happened around September-October and recoveries though slow are better than expected,” Singh told BusinessLine .

Online push

Navigating the initial days of the pandemic meant reworking its site to make it more user-friendly and allow more payment options. The product portfolio was altered across e-commerce sites — such as Amazon, Myntra and Flipkart — to include “lower cost offerings” that were in demand then.

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Items like open footwear including flip-flops and sandals, monochrome tees and athleisure were the focus initially. As jogs, walks and runs became popular, canvas shoes and walking shoes were introduced. The festival season saw renewed demand for t-shirts and casual wear. Winterwear — jackets and boots which are the mainstay for Woodland — are picking up post the festival season.

But, premium leather offerings (formal footwear) under the ‘Woods’ and ‘Woodland’ brands remain slow. Major outdoor apparel sales, including cargoes and other functional wear, are yet to pick up.

Omni-channel sales helped in better inventory management and clearing excess stocks from slow-moving stores. For instance, there was strong demand for casual shirts and t-shirts from parts of South India and the company used stocks from North and West India stores to cater to the demand.

“Some losses in sales through physical stores have been compensated by e-commerce,” Singh said, adding that post-Covid online sales have jumped to around 19 per cent, almost double of pre-Covid levels.

Tough calls

Amongst the “tough calls”, immediate store expansion was kept on hold. Rent renegotiation happened. At least 50-odd stores — where rent renegotiations did not work out or were making losses — were closed down or relocated.

“Normally stores break even in a two-year-period. Some malls were not renegotiating rents either. But, this year was about conserving cash. So we relocated or closed down 50-odd stores,” Singh said. The company’s current store count is at 530-odd.

On outlook, Singh said the faster onset of winter in North India has given an impetus to jacket and winter wear sales in stores. Marriage season sales are happening, but in lower numbers.

“We should be able to end the year with 60-70 per cent of last year’s turnover,” he said. Woodland had in FY20 clocked a turnover of ₹1,300 crore.

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