Bata India eyes younger market, to focus on women’s fashion footwear for growth

Footwear business Bata India aims to connect with younger shoppers for growth. The business will increase its focus on women’s fashion footwear to tap into new markets and develop its Red Label brand. 

“Women’s fashion, especially oriented towards occasions, whether it’s wedding or otherwise, has been an area that we could have done much more in the past,” Bata India’s managing director Gunjan Shah told the Economic Times. “We have embarked on it under the Red Label brand. We are infusing a lore more fast fashion in it, and we need to bring in many more options and varieties to consumers and keep changing them regularly.” 
 
Despite the current slowdown, the business is confident that growth will be robust in the medium term and expects its new product offerings to help to boost sales. The business is also renovating a number of its brick-and-mortar stores to bolster the brand’s image and boost offline footfall while collaborating with influencers online to engage younger shoppers. 

“We have for the last 18 to 24 months, post-Covid, managed to shift the newness of the offerings to consumers in our stores on average from 25% to about 35%, and that’s a big shift in making sure every season consumers see new products and new styles and collections,” said Shah.