Woodland, the leading brand in footwear, apparels, bags and outdoor equipment’s for men and women, seems well set to add another 30-35 stores in the current financial year, which would be an equivalent combination of small towns and metros and will also tap new geographies outside India, said Harkirat Singh, managing director (MD), Woodland. At present, Woodland has over 600 COCO stores across 250 cities in India, covering a total retail space of nearly nine lakh sq ft. The average size of a Woodland store is 1,500-2,000 sq ft.

When it comes to global footprint, currently the brand is present globally in over 40 countries including Hong Kong, China, Australia, Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America, GCC, CIS Countries and more. It sells its products through nearly 1,000 stores globally. The company has set up international regional offices and warehouses in Hong Kong, Moscow and Dubai to cater to the requirements of countries in different regions as the business is growing everywhere.

“We have recently expanded our business in collaboration with Aokang International to enter China. This partnership will allow us to sell our products in about 1,000 retail outlets in China. We will initially start selling through 150 Aokang outlets. After testing the market with 150 stores, we shall scale up stocks by September and will be available in Aokang stores across China.  We are planning similar collaborations in some South African countries and Canada,” said Singh.

Significantly, Indian footwear industry is estimated to be between Rs 30,000 crore and Rs 40,000 crore. And industry officials think that this can grow up to 100 per cent by next 5 years provided the right policies and tax structure. India is the second largest footwear producer in the world and holds capacity to cater demands on national and global market. The rural market of India is still largely untapped for footwear manufacturers. Interestingly, the introduction of GST has impacted the footwear industry as last two quarters were slow in terms of sales and industry experienced (as expected) a smaller growth this festive season as compared to last year. However, GST has created a ground for organized players and will help increase overall consumption in the market.

Singh said that the men market is growing at a CAGR of 10 per cent. At present, men’s market contributes around 60 per cent of sales in the footwear segment as against women’s share of 30 per cent. The women’s segment, however, is growing at a much faster CAGR of 20 per cent. In case of Kid’s the industry is athletic shoes have captured the biggest share in the industry, the industry is growing but is comparatively smaller.

However, Woodland’s thrust will continue to remain on outdoor adventure market. “Today, we see not only youth but people in general also show interest in active outdoor activities and outdoor getaway, which result in increase in demand. That eventually contributes a positive effect on outdoor adventure category. Woodland holds approximately 80 to 85 per cent of outdoor adventure market share in India.  There are many players in sports and active wear segments however we look forward to have more brands coming in this category,” said Singh.

He added, “Woodland has always been an outdoor and a youth brand. We target youth, follow their lifestyle and try to adapt it to our brand. Being associated with the outdoors, we tell and educate people on how they can perform different outdoor sports and adventures using Woodland products. We are not changing the positioning. We are still an adventure brand. Today people want adventure all the time and want to connect with the outdoors on a daily basis. They go for biking, cycling and running on the streets. We are meant to be used in outdoors but also can be used in the cities and people can find adventure in cities as well.”

The company is also planning a strong marketing push to build its appeal among the target audience. It currently spends 7-8 percent of the total turnover on advertisement and promotions. Woodland continues to focus on conventional advertisement avenues, however, it is gradually increasing its digital spend as well.

Interestingly, Woodland’s online sales are growing at a faster rate. “And we expect it to grow to 40 percent in three to four years. We plan to concentrate more on a seamless approach through all available shopping channels, i.e. mobile internet devices, computers, bricks-and-mortar, television, radio, direct mail, catalog, in-store experience and so on,” said Singh.