Following a decline in volume growth during the first half of the current fiscal year, footwear giant Bata India hopes to see volume growth resume in the future.
The third quarter of this fiscal year saw the company’s franchise stores and multi-brand outlets (MBOs) perform well, which helped to boost overall sales.
According to Gunjan Shah, MD and CEO of Bata India, the firm experienced volume growth, so after a while, even for the year and the three months of the quarter that passed, the company wants to maintain implementing some of the efforts it wants to see volume growth return.
Shah claimed that a number of key categories and channels, including franchises and MBOs, contributed to the volume gain. Volume growth for the Power and Floatz brands was 9 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, over the previous year.
Three years ago, the footwear manufacturer had less than 100 franchise locations; today, there are over 600. Additionally, retail optimisation initiatives have persisted, resulting in both new additions and the removal of unprofitable outlets.
Zero Based Merchandising (ZBM) is being implemented at the company’s locations, which increased to 17 during the third quarter. In comparison to the target of 100 stores by December 2024, the expansion was very sluggish. ZBM has assisted the organisation in simplifying numerous back-end issues and increasing product availability in stores by 73 per cent.
