Early this year, the country's largest kids wear brand Lilliput was headed towards a slump sale. The second largest player in the segment Giny & Jony, burdened with debt, is looking to offload stake. Today, the supplies from both these brands have dwindled at retail stores.
Stepping in are private labels from online and offline players with their own kids wear brands. Shoppers Stop has introduced ‘Carrot’, a new private label brand in the segment.
“Lilliput has pulled out of our stores while Gini & Jony has been slow with its supplies. In the kids segment, these national players are struggling and we have lost out with these brands. We have now introduced our own private label, Carrot, in the second quarter of this year in this segment,’’ said Govind Shrikhande, CEO, Shopper’s Stop, during an analyst meet to announce the second quarter results.
Taking advantage of the lacunae in the Rs 33,000-crore Indian kids wear category, e-retailer Unamia has also launched its private label.
According to Jyotsna Pattabiraman, Chief Executive, Unamia, “Most of the national players have retired hurt but it has not been due to lack of demand. Kids wear is a complicated market as the inventory is fragmented and there may not be adequate physical infrastructure to support it in terms of central warehousing facilities.”
With the number of sizes being relatively higher in kids wear, storage and display can become an issue. This is where online retailers can have an advantage.
“Brand loyalty is less in the kids wear segment and it is easier for private labels to thrive in this segment due to value and affordability. Consumers are unwilling to pay a premium for kids wear as children outgrow clothes easily. In this scenario, it is easier for private labels to get profitable,” said Deepa Dsouza, Trend and Innovation Consultant, India, Mintel, a global supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence.
Mahindra Retail, through its Mom & Me stores, has started operations through its own private labels and is looking at the e-commerce model. “Kids wear is a growing segment yet there are complexities in doing business as there are more number of SKUs and ticket sizes,” K. Venkataraman, Managing Director, Mahindra Retail, said.