Bata Shoe Organization, the holding company of Bata India, is expecting India to be its biggest market in terms of turnover by the end of this year.

Italy currently is the largest market for the company.

According to Christine Bata Schmidt, Director, Bata Shoe Organization (BSO), volume-wise India is already the largest market for them. She declined to reveal the global revenue figures for BSO.

“By the end of this year (2018), we expect India to be our largest market in terms of turnover,” she told reporters on the sidelines of a CSR initiative, called Ballerina Project.

Under the CSR project, Bata India has introduced specially designed Ballerinas women shoes with illustrations by children from schools adopted by the Bata Children’s Programme(BCP).

Digital initiatives

With each pair of these special Ballerinas being sold, Bata will provide ₹65 to the girl child education for one year. The Ballerina Project will be jointly managed by the KC Mahindra Education Trust and Naandi Foundation.

According to Schmidt, Bata India is expected to increase focus on its digital presence over the next few years. But, the company will see to it that there is a balance between online and offline presence here.

Online does not mean a discounted model and studies in developed markets have shown that digital sales go up if companies have an offline presence. However, if the store is closed, then there is a decline in sales as the brand goes out from the consumers’ sight.

“Over the next few years, our focus area is going to be digital. We don’t believe that digital should be discounted. It might be the way you shop,” Schmidt said.

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