Woodland may extend EMI scheme to brick and mortar stores

Choose. Buy. Swipe and convert to EMIs. That has been the norm across India, mostly for high value electronic goods.

But, what if the same is introduced for apparel and footwear?

Outdoor apparel and footwear company Woodland – which had earlier introduced an EMI scheme for customers buying through the company’s website – is now considering an extension of this option to brick and mortar stores.

According to Harkirat Singh, Managing Director,“good response” for the EMI scheme had prompted the apparel and shoe-maker to explore the option of extending the offering.

“We had piloted this on our online sales as of now and have seen a good response. Will be replicating the same across our retail network in times to come,” he told BusinessLine during an interview.

Nearly 15 per cent of Woodland’s sales are through this scheme. The company is targeting a turnover of ₹1,300 crore by the end of this fiscal.

“EMI availability boosts the average selling price and we have seen numbers grow,” Singh said, adding that the average value of products sold through this scheme is pegged at ₹3,000 and above.

Introduced only for online transactions – buying through the company’s website – in end 2015, the scheme saw selling price – minimum purchase of ₹3,000 and above – of being broken down into three monthly instalments.

Woodland has been routing its EMI transactions via a payment gateway which in turn offers multi-EMI solutions across major credit cards.

Some of the banks with which Woodland has a tie-up include Axis Bank, ICICI, Ratnakar Bank, Standard Chartered. In 2009, Levi’s had entered into a similar tie-up with banks to launch EMI schemes. In that case too, transactions of a certain minimum amount made from Levi’s stores using the selected credit cards were entailed for EMIs.

Woodland, meanwhile, has entered into an agreement with Chinese footwear major Aokang International for sale of its products (shoes) in China.

Aokang’s products will also be sold through Woodland stores here in India.

Listed on the Shanghai stock exchange, Aokang International has over 5,000 brand stores and owns five footwear brands.

This apart, Singh pointed out that Woodland will also look to consolidate its presence in Russia.

The company re-entered the market some two years back, after exiting it in the 1990s.

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