The Max Fashion brand, owned by Landmark Group and known for its reasonably priced apparel, accessories, and footwear, has outlined a plan to increase its presence in India, including the creation of new stores and the launch of collections geared towards youthful consumers.
The move comes as competitors like Trent’s Zudio and Shoppers Stop’s Intune, which was just launched by the latter, are becoming more active in the discount apparel retail space. Industry sources claim that Reliance Retail, the company that owns the inexpensive clothes chain Reliance Trends, is planning to revamp the brand.
According to company authorities, Max Fashion will open 100 new stores in the upcoming year, bringing its total number of outlets close to 600. In order to give customers a big-box shopping experience, Max Fashion opened its largest store in the nation at the same time, in Kochi, Kerala.
According to executives, the Kochi shop would contain 5,000 square feet of space for home goods sold under the Home Centre brand in addition to nearly 20,000 square feet of retail space for fashion and lifestyle items.
Customers in Kochi will have an abundance of options thanks to the large 25,000 square foot store, according to Sumit Chandna, deputy CEO of Max Fashion India. “This is our 465th store in India,” he continued.
Max Fashion’s expansion of operations will pit them against Zudio, which has ambitious future aspirations. Recently, at Trent’s FY23 annual general meeting, the firm announced that it would open 200 Zudio outlets in FY24, significantly more than what experts had predicted. Trent added 117 Zudio locations in FY23, bringing the brand’s total number of locations to 352.
Trent, on the other hand, increased the number of Westside outlets by just 14 in FY23, bringing the total to 214.
“Most retailers have been calling out a moderation in apparel sales in the last few quarters, which is linked in part to a discretionary slowdown in the market,” said G Chokkalingam, the founder and MD of Mumbai-based Equinomics Research. The decision to aggressively target the bargain retail market fits with the broader consumer trend of cutting back on non-essential purchases, the author claims.
The move towards value retail, according to Harminder Sahni, co-founder of Gurgaon-based retail consultant Wazir Advisors, would help businesses catch consumers who are switching from unbranded to branded products.
“Although premiumization is occurring on some levels, a sizable market is still switching from unbranded to branded products. Value retail is created with this clientele in mind, he claims.
Max Fashion has priced its products competitively at Rs 129 a unit for children and Rs 199 and up for young people.
Both Zudio and Shoppers Stop’s Intune have set their product prices for men, women, and children at less than Rs 500 per unit.
