Bata India Ltd, which has been witnessing a 2-3 per cent growth in the number of footwear sold in the last couple of years, is expecting to see traction in volume sales starting this year.

According to Sandeep Kataria, Wholetime Director and CEO, the company sold 47 million pairs of footwear last year, a growth of 2-3 per cent over FY18. 2017-18.

“For the last couple of years, we have been consciously focussing on upgrading and coming up with innovation on the product front. Now that the exercise is complete we hope to grow the volume sales,” Kataria told BusinessLine after the company’s annual general meeting here on Friday.

In line with the group’s global strategy, Bata India has been emphasising on product innovation, driving footfalls, premiumisation and omni channel initiatives. Premium footwear (those priced above ₹1,000 a pair) currently account for nearly half of the company’s total turnover, which was ₹2,928 crore as on March 31, 2019. The remaining comes from mass and mid-mass segments.

Bata expects the share of premium footwear to its total turnover to increase by around 5 percentage points in the next two-three years.

“We are trying to premiumise the image by bringing in better products and technology. The mix (between premium and mass) will slowly change. It (the share of premium) has moved up in the last couple of years,” he said.

The higher growth in volumes and increasing share of premium products would help shore the company’s profitability.

Increasing penetration

The footwear market in India is estimated at ₹55,000-60,000 crore. Of this, the share of the organised sector is around 50 per cent. Bata holds a 15 per cent share in the organised market in value terms.

The company is hopeful of improving its share in the market backed by increasing penetration particularly in the semi urban and rural markets.

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