Brands keep away from dressing kids for school
‘Back-to-school’ is a major business with the school uniform itself forming roughly Rs 8000 crore as per KSA Technopak. But it lacks “brand”, as it is a segment largely catered to by local players.
By Ritwik Donde & Muthukumar K, TNN |
The joy of vacation for kids lies in waking up in the morning with the feeling of endless possibilities for the day. But come monsoon and wading through puddles and facing the rigours of homework and classes replace it.
June and children across the nation are going back to school. ‘Back-to-school’ is a major business with the school uniform itself forming roughly Rs 8000 crore as per KSA Technopak. But it lacks “brand”, as it is a segment largely catered to by local players.
The school uniform market in a youngish country like India is big in terms of volumes. Close to 456m units were sold in ’05 and the market is growing at 18% annually. It forms 8% of the overall apparel market in India and is currently the fastest growing segment across all categories.
Internationally the ‘back-to-school’ is really big business, however, in India there is no organised effort in manufacturing, marketing or retailing of school uniforms. Except S Kumars, which is the market leader in the category, there are no really big players.
While large retailers shy away from this business, it is the small local players which cater to school uniform requirements. Take, for instance, Rana Sonara, owner of a small showroom specialising in school uniform and kidswear in suburban Mumbai.
He sources fabrics from S Kumars and gets the garment stitched from a tailor. Around this time of the year, it is usual to find his shop showcasing uniforms of major schools in the locality.
One of the attractive elements of this business is its non-cyclical nature and quick flow of revenue. Unlike other segments, like ‘men’ and ‘ladies’ wear, which witness increased sales during the festive season of October to March every year, this segment is almost counter-cyclical.
A bulk of school uniform sales happens in May and June. So, even a local ‘kidswear’ outlet, during these times, could double up as ‘school uniform’ seller and rake in the moolah.
The school uniforms business generally involves lot of liaisons. Schools often prescribe shops from where parents need to pick up uniforms. Sometimes the fabric suppliers directly contact schools to push their products — all the more reason for such vendors to be in the good books of various schools.
Says Akansha Toraskar, a Bombay Scottish student, “We end up spending about Rs 2,000 on the uniforms. Our school recommends Bigis Store to buy our uniforms.” She adds, “Besides regular uniforms we have to buy separate dress for sports.”
The average spends on a set of uniform though is around Rs 350. Yet there are no takers for this business as it’s a high volume, low margin business.
Also, given the constraints of customizing uniforms at the local school level, the larger players are focusing elsewhere.
June and children across the nation are going back to school. ‘Back-to-school’ is a major business with the school uniform itself forming roughly Rs 8000 crore as per KSA Technopak. But it lacks “brand”, as it is a segment largely catered to by local players.
The school uniform market in a youngish country like India is big in terms of volumes. Close to 456m units were sold in ’05 and the market is growing at 18% annually. It forms 8% of the overall apparel market in India and is currently the fastest growing segment across all categories.
Internationally the ‘back-to-school’ is really big business, however, in India there is no organised effort in manufacturing, marketing or retailing of school uniforms. Except S Kumars, which is the market leader in the category, there are no really big players.
While large retailers shy away from this business, it is the small local players which cater to school uniform requirements. Take, for instance, Rana Sonara, owner of a small showroom specialising in school uniform and kidswear in suburban Mumbai.
He sources fabrics from S Kumars and gets the garment stitched from a tailor. Around this time of the year, it is usual to find his shop showcasing uniforms of major schools in the locality.
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One of the attractive elements of this business is its non-cyclical nature and quick flow of revenue. Unlike other segments, like ‘men’ and ‘ladies’ wear, which witness increased sales during the festive season of October to March every year, this segment is almost counter-cyclical.
A bulk of school uniform sales happens in May and June. So, even a local ‘kidswear’ outlet, during these times, could double up as ‘school uniform’ seller and rake in the moolah.
The school uniforms business generally involves lot of liaisons. Schools often prescribe shops from where parents need to pick up uniforms. Sometimes the fabric suppliers directly contact schools to push their products — all the more reason for such vendors to be in the good books of various schools.
Says Akansha Toraskar, a Bombay Scottish student, “We end up spending about Rs 2,000 on the uniforms. Our school recommends Bigis Store to buy our uniforms.” She adds, “Besides regular uniforms we have to buy separate dress for sports.”
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The average spends on a set of uniform though is around Rs 350. Yet there are no takers for this business as it’s a high volume, low margin business.
Also, given the constraints of customizing uniforms at the local school level, the larger players are focusing elsewhere.
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