Bata India Undergoes Complete Image Makeover

Bata India, the largest footwear retailer in India, picked up brand ambassadors from Bollywood – Kriti Sanon & Cricket – Smriti Mandhana to support the launch of its new internationally designed Red Label & Power collections. It reported a 6% growth in Net Sales for its fourth quarter ended March 31, 2018, on the back of a focus on fashion & casual collections. The number is not comparable to previous period because of introduction of GST from July 2017. Bata further leveraged the demand for best-selling articles by expanding it to more stores in smaller towns, adding stylish designs as well as improving competitiveness in manufacturing.

Continued focus on value added products and efficiencies in cost structure saw Bata’s Net profit at 52 crores, an increase of 45% over the corresponding period last year.

“Bata has had an exciting quarter with its new brand ambassador for Power – Smriti Mandhana who became the face of the new internationally designed collections like Power XO Rise and Glide Vapor. Our connect with the youth was strengthened via Smriti. Also based on consumer insights, we have been moving ahead on a path of premiumisation by adding technologies like memory cushion & Insolia. We continued to invest in improving customer experience with new international ‘Red-concept’ stores and breathtaking visual merchandising. Our smart pricing strategy and operational cost efficiencies, helped ensure better returns for our stakeholders,” said Sandeep Kataria, Chief Executive Officer, Bata India Limited.

Earlier this year, India’s most preferred footwear brand announced its association with Smriti Mandhana — opener of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team as the brand ambassador for its iconic sports brand ‘Power’. Mandhana starred in the #FindYourPower campaign on TV, in Print and Outdoor to help expand the reach of its relaunched Power range - XoRise Genesis, Glide Vapor & Speedy.

This exciting quarter saw the launch of its internationally developed ‘Red Concept’ stores in Kolkata and Delhi. These stores deliver distinctive stories via various elements - Breath-taking visual merchandising, Red and white focal highlight zones, a focal wall highlighting the premium collections and heritage history wall. Thus delivering a premium look & feel keeping in line with the overall strategy of bringing swagger back to Bata. Bata also opened its first stand-alone Power store in Noida which was inaugurated by the global leadership team and Bollywood youth icon Diana Penty.

The brand’s popularity and consumer initiatives were also recognized as the brand was conferred the IMAGES Most Admired Footwear Brand of the year 2017, at the 18^th Annual IMAGES Fashion Awards and was featured among AFAQ’S 2017 India’s Buzziest Brands.

Financial Highlights

The Government of India has implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July,2017 subsuming excise duty, service tax and various other indirect taxes. As per Ind - AS, the revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 is reported net of GST. Accordingly, Revenue from Operations for the quarter is lower and not comparable to the previous period.

    Rs in crore