Trident bets big on India market
Home furnishing major Trident expects ~150 crore in sales in FY18
Having focused on the domestic market for the last three years, home furnishings major Trident is expecting a 50-60 per cent jump in sales. It expects to clock in sales worth ~150 crore in 2017-18 despite demonetisation and rollout of the goods and services tax (GST) regime. With slow growth in home furnishing segment in the United States (US), the company has shifted focus to the domestic market.
Trident, which is currently the fifth largest player in the home linen space, also expects to maintain an average growth of 50-60 per cent over the next couple of years to break into the rank of the top three brands. “While we currently supply up to 9 per cent of all towels and 1-2 per cent of sheetings which are retailed in the US, we are looking to increase our footprint in India owing to the large growth potential here.” Rajneesh Bhatia, vice chairman — India marketing at Trident Ltd told Business Standard.
The Indian home linen market is currently worth an estimated ~22,000 crore out of which the organised market is only ~2,000 crore. The leading organised home linen player — Bombay Dyeing earns revenue up to ~300 crore. Following Bombay Dyeing, other big players in this segment on basis of revenue earned are Spaces, Portico and Decor respectively.
Having entered the domestic market in 2014 and raking in sales worth ~40 crore, Trident plans to capture about 20 per cent of all hotel rooms in the country with its premium linen range by 2020. Case in point, it is the world’s largest producer of towels, manufacturing 11,00,000 pieces in the last financial year. “We aim to reach ~300 crore by 2020 for the bed and bath linen business in India, targeting 50 per cent growth on a year-on-year basis to achieve this volume,” Bhatia added. Indian exports across textile categories have taken a beating from cheaper alternatives shipped to the United States by Bangladesh and Vietnam, says S K Jain, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry. While sales in the home furnishings segment have shown lesser signs of stress as compared to ready made garments or yarns, lower labour costs and tariff support has meant that competing economies from South East Asia continue to carve up a larger pie of the market every year. In comparison, the domestic market is expected to have an average compounded annual growth rate of 9-10 per cent as incomes rise, industry estimates point out.
While major brands have recently moved in to take a piece out of this pie, Trident has ruled out opening retail outlets. Instead, it is targeting both high-end retail outlets as well as large format stores such as Shoppers Stop and Reliance Trends. The company had planned to push its products into 3,500 shops across the country by Diwali beyond the existing 2,200 shops