Woodland to expand footprint on e-commerce platforms

Restarting economy

The Rs 1,300-crore Aero Club — manufacturer of Woodland brand of footwear and apparels, expects the demand to bounce back in 2-3 months once the situation normalises. Harkirat Singh, Managing Director, in an interaction with Vijay C Roy says the company will strengthen its presence on e-commerce platforms to tap the demand. Excerpts:

Brief us about your operations in India? Are you operating currently?

We have around 600 retail stores under COCO (company-owned company- operated) model in around 250 cities. Punjab and the entire North is major hub for us because of our manufacturing units. We have tannery in Jalandhar and plants are spread across Paonta Sahib, Baddi and Roorkee belt. Currently, the units are closed. However, we have started making protective gears for medical purpose.

Since retail stores are closed, what is your strategy to have a larger pie of the market?

Our brand is available in exclusive and multi-brand stores. Our products are also available on online platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra. We have omni-channel model also. Under this model, whatever stock is lying in our stores, it is made available online also. We know offline retail sales will take some time to pick up. But, online sales will gain momentum soon. We will increase our presence on all these platforms.

When do you expect normal demand to bounce back?

The demand will always be there since our product is a lifestyle product. Though shoes and garments are not necessities but people spend a lot on these products. Our main season starts from September. We anticipate the demand to become normal in 2-3 months.

The pandemic has wasted almost two peak months for your summer merchandise. How do you plan to go ahead?

March is the month when our summer season begins. Whatever stock remains unsold during the summer season, we have to liquidate it before the winters. You can’t keep the stock for long as fashion keeps on changing. We are planning to liquidate the summer merchandise as soon as possible through e-commerce partners and our stores. Normally, we plan our winter schedule according to sales in the last season. But, this year we can’t take last year’s sales as the benchmark.

When do you plan to start production for winters?

Once the lockdown is lifted, we will commence the production of winter merchandise. Normally, the production for winters starts in April-May.

How do you plan to support your distributors amid pandemic?

We operate on COCO model and all 600 stores are company-owned. We are in talks with landlords of our stores across malls and high streets to have some kind of relaxation in rentals. We have given additional time to our distributors for making payments.

What kind of stimulus do you expect from the government?

Ours is a labour-intensive industry and foreign exchange also comes through exports. We have sought some kind of relief in these difficult times otherwise a lot of manpower will be laid off. The government is working on the modalities and we hope to have a positive response.

What are the lessons learnt from this pandemic?

Firstly, in any business one has to be prepared for these kinds of circumstances. Remain calm, patient and plan revival strategy. During these times, being positive is very important because it helps in overcoming problems. Secondly, you have more time to strategise for improvement.