250 to 300 international brands to enter India

A new wave of international fashion brands will be entering the Indian consumer market in the coming two years as an increasing number of mid-segment brands expand into India.

Following the success of many international fashion brands in India including Zara, Mango, H&M, and Levis, many mid-segment brands are now looking to follow their lead and enter India.

The retail solutions provider Franchisee India Holdings has estimated that between 250 and 300 such brands will enter India over the course of the next two years.

With the entry of these brands, the business also estimated that an investment of about one billion dollars will accompany this, a figure that could transform India’s fashion market.

“Now, it’s the turn of small and mid-sized brands as they look to cash in on the open retail policy and huge gap in the market for branded products,” said Gaurav Marya, the Chairman of Franchisee India Holdings. Anurag Mathur, a Partner at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, agreed: “Many international brands are lining up as the retail sector is growing and international brands like Zara and H&M have been really successful, with strong profits and revenue growth being reported in the country. Now, the slightly mid-level or smaller brands too want to explore the Indian market.”

Some of the mid-section brands that are in the process of expanding into India include Kiabi, Mavi, Avva, Colin’s, Damat, Tudba Deri, and Dufy.

It is expected that this wave of brands will focus their expansion efforts on Tier 1 cities and, for them to be able to reach out to Tiers 2 and 3, infrastructure will have to greatly improve.