What will trend in fashion franchising in 2018

Fashion changes every day and with changing fashions, trends are bound to change. With more buying capacity, fashion franchising is on a boom. More number of franchise brands are offering better and bigger opportunities to the prospective investors. With customisation more trends will be seen approaching in 2018. Let’s find out what fashion franchising industry has in store for 2018...

2017 saw big companies acquiring the smaller ones. Also, the JV model remained very famous. We saw many big and small brands embracing the franchise model for better reach. One of the fastest growing lingerie brands in India is PrettySecrets. Its Founder and CEO, Karan Behal comments: 'One trend that we will see across retail is that there will be a spurt in the number of Exclusive Brand Outlets around. As buyers are increasingly looking for a better experience while shopping and at the same time looking for a wider range to select from, the number of EBO's will definitely be on the rise in the coming year.  A large portion of this growth will come through franchising, as it is the most effective and sustainable way to scale offline.’

Consumer trend
Telling us about a few fashion franchising trends for 2018, Ramesh Kaushik, Vice President – Brand Experience, Blackberrys says: ‘Any retailing trend is driven by consumer trend. With the changes in lifestyle, everyone is engaged in a fast moving life with dynamic personalities. It requires the convenience and comfort of clothing for easy movement, being travel friendly and hassle free. We see that the elements of active sportswear are going to blend into the world of casual and formal wear for the sole purpose of providing comfort as lives get busier and nature of professions demands movement. Retail businesses on the other hand have a one-dimensional approach of only being transactional in nature. Moving forward, we are going to see the trend shifting towards an amalgamation of transactional and functional spaces. Multi-purpose, lifestyle oriented spaces are going to be created to focus on more than one aspect of the business and to expand target market as well rather than being product and brand centric.’

Multi-brand franchising
Multi-brand franchising will surely be a top trend in 2018. This way franchisees get an opportunity to seek competence in their operations within a group. Many brands will be seen giving franchisees the chance to own multiple brands within their network. This can obviously save and share operational costs.

Mass customisation
Made on order or customisation will surely see a growth in 2018. This trend in fashion franchising will not only give a boost to number of franchisee run stores but also an edge to the brand and franchisor. Brands like Raymonds are already doing it with Made to measure service. Babu Mangatt, General Manager - Retail & Sales – Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd that has brands like Giovani, Converse, Clarks, Indigo Nation, Lee Cooper, Scullers and many more comments: ‘One of the biggest trends in retail is the Omni channel strategy. Every brand wants to be available at every touch point; online as well as offline. Franchising plays a big role in terms of expansion for a brand in the offline category.’

Hunt for more variety
Customer will always be the king. 2018 too will show customers searching for better choices and variety. There will be a lot of competition is these terms. Consumers as always will not only look for a better price but lots of variety too. Mr Button, one of the most fashion forward and emerging menswear brands in India is also expanding via franchise partners. The brand has gained immense popularity in the last 3 years with its strong consumer engagement approach and product differentiation in the menswear segment. It’s CEO, Deepak Khetan says: ‘In 2018, fashion retail is going to be more about an experiential destination rather than just a product destination. We are moving towards an economy where experience matters more than just the physical product. The brands that give more emphasis to drive value added services and consumer engagement will have a higher competitive advantage than their counterparts. Other retail industries have evolved much faster in terms of experiences than fashion. It's time for fashion retailers to start thinking in that direction and make their first move.’

The wide acceptance of franchising model in the fashion arena makes it even easier for brands to get a grasp in any market. The brands this way easily ramp up their operations in a very short time period. With high success rate of franchise model, any market attracts new brands. Infact a lot of international brands that enter India, do it via franchise model. Though the initial investment may come through JV’s but their top choice remains franchising. Seeing this, 2018 will bring in a lot of fashion franchising trends for better investments and even better prospects.