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Luxury lifestyle brand Swiss Military has struck a licencing deal with Firefox Bikes to extend its presence in the adventure bicycles segment.
It also plans to aggressively expand in India in the next 18 months by entering new categories through licensing agreements and strengthening its distribution network through exclusive stores.
Under this partnership, the two companies will be launching four co-branded models of adventure bikes targeted at the youth. Priced at ₹12,000-20,000, the adventures bikes are expected to be launched in the major cities and tier-I markets in the next few months.
Anuj Sawhney, MD, Swiss Military, told BusinessLine : “There is a growing segment of consumers with high disposable incomes, which is taking to adventure biking. We see a huge potential in this segment. We believe our partnership with Firefox Bikes is synergistic as we have similar brand personalities.”
Swiss Military is already in talks for inking more licensing partnerships to foray into new segments in the next two years. “We are looking to expand the brand to categories, such as garments, footwear, motorcycle helmets, home security devices as well as white goods in India,” Sawhney said, adding that licencing agreements to foray into new segments is in-line with the company’s global strategy.
The company, which entered India through channels such as in-flight shopping, corporate gifting and e-commerce, is also stepping up its retail presence. Currently, its products such as travel gear, writing instruments and accessories, are being sold through 800 multi-brand outlets.
“We believe the time is now right for us to have exclusive stores. We plan to have 170 exclusive stores that will open in the next 18 months. Out of these, 160 will be franchisee-run and the rest will be company-owned stores,” he added.
About the growth in turnover, Sawhney said currently India is a small contributor to Swiss Military’s global revenues. “We are aiming to clock a turnover of ₹1,000 crore by 2017 end,” he added.
The company already has a strong presence across e-commerce channels and hopes to complement this by setting up its own e-commerce portal and mobile App, which are slated to be launched in the next few days.
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