Tap the terrain of opportunity

Styling the young men between the age group of 28 to 36 years, Indian Terrain was launched in the year 2000 in Chennai. Since then the brand has grown by leaps and bounds with its precise strategies. In a chat with Ekta Verma, Charath Narsimhan, CEO, Indian Terrain, talks about the brand’s magnificent journey and expansion plans.

Share with us the inception, success and journey of Indian Terrain?

Premium casual wear brand, Indian Terrain was launched in December 2000 in Chennai and since then we have been trying to figure out how best to get the product across the market. After the Chennai store, we moved to Bangalore. In December we were with Shoppers Stop and in April we were associated with Lifestyle. From then on, we have been with all the large format retailers of the country- Globus, Westside, Shoppers Stop, Central, Pantaloons and Ebony. We started the retail journey in 2006. In 2008 came the recession and spoilt the fun for everyone.  We also had some stores closed and relocated to other centers. But Indian Terrain maintained itself as a premium casual wear brand, which believes that simplicity is luxury. We make authentic quality sportswear that is stylish yet comfortable, easy to mix and match and can be worn both to work and outdoors.

When and what motivated you to adopt the franchise route for your brand?

Our most exclusive brand outlets are franchisee driven as it helps to bring out the best of entrepreneurial abilities. We look for franchisees who will run the stores and look after the operational aspects, while the brand focuses on the product and takes ownership of the same. The average Indian Terrain store is 600 – 900 sq. ft. while a flagship store is between 1500 -2000 sq.ft. The brand is already present in some tier II and III cities and is planning to focus more expansion here, as we believe they are big growth markets.

Share the USP of your brand.

Indian Terrain’s core strength is in the area of casual sportswear and wash technologies and we will continue to innovate on that and offer relevant products. Indian Terrain follows a multi-channel retail strategy as we believe in going, where the customer shops.  We believe in developing all the channels and growing in a steady manner without over exposure.

What are your strategies to survive in such a tough market?

We do a lot of mass media advertising through print and outdoor media and now looking at harnessing the power of social media to reach out. We also plan to do events that are relevant to our target audience. We also try to be in constant communication with our existing customers through our Loyalty Program, which has worked very well for us.

Where do you see the brand in five years time?

The apparel industry will surely become a dominant part of the retail scenario. The coming decade is of growing Indian retail. With the change in demographics, there will be a significant increase in the number of young adults, with high aspirations, more disposable income and high consumption patterns. The learning  in the last 4-5 years has helped Indian Terrain ride the wave, focus on quality products and we have set up a fantastic distribution network across the country, which is going to enable us to grow very quickly in the coming years.

Share your expansion plans. Which cities are you tapping for expansion?

There is a lot of demand for brands in towns like Nagpur, Kolhapur, Sholapur, Surat, Indore, Bhopal, and Jabalpur. In the next two to three years there will be at least 25 EBOs coming up.

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