Ladies and gentlemen, a good day and welcome to the Q2 FY 2025 earnings conference call of Relaxo Footwears Limited, hosted by IIFL Securities Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on a touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sameer Gupta from IIFL Securities Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thanks, Ms. Khan. Good evening, everyone. We have with us the senior management of Relaxo Footwears today: Mr. Ramesh Kumar Dua, Chairman and MD, Mr. Gaurav Kumaar Dua, Full-time Director, Mr. Sushil Batra, CFO, Mr. Ritesh Dua, Executive VP and Finance, and Mr. Ankit Jain, Company Secretary and Compliance Officer. Without further ado, let me pass it on to Mr. Dua and team. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Sameer. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us on our Q2 and H1 FY 2025 earnings call to discuss the financial and operational performance of the company. We have already uploaded the earnings press release and the investor presentation on the stock exchange, as well as on our website, and we hope that you have had an opportunity to go through them. Before we begin the question and answer session, let me quickly go through some of the highlights on Q2 and H1 FY 2025 performance, beginning with Q2. Revenue from operations in Q2 FY 2025 was at INR 679 crore, as compared to INR 715 crore in Q2 FY 2024, a decline of 5% year-on-year. This is mainly due to weak market demand during the quarter. Our EBITDA for the quarter was at INR 88 crore, as compared to INR 92 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year.
The company maintained its EBITDA margin at 12.9% during the quarter, as compared to 12.8% in Q2 FY 2024, despite the subdued demand. PAT was at INR 37 crore, as compared to INR 44 crore reported in Q2 FY 2024. PAT margin for Q2 FY 2025 stood at 5.4%, as compared to 6.2% in Q2 FY 2024. High depreciation in the quarter has impacted the profitability of the company. Now, moving to our H1 FY 2025 performance. In H1 FY 2025, we recorded a revenue of INR 1,428 crore. EBITDA was at INR 187 crore, compared to INR 199 crore in the same period of last year. EBITDA margin was at 13.1%, as compared to 13.7% in H1 FY 2024. PAT for H1 FY 2025 stood at INR 81 crore, against INR 101 crore in H1 FY 2024. PAT margin was at 5.7%, as compared to 6.9% in H1 FY 2024. The company has incurred a CapEx of INR 49 crore till 30 September 2024.
Our company continued to be net debt-free and is supported by positive cash flow from operations. Our company is in the process of adding new distributors and focusing on the one to improve retail network through various initiatives. Further, in line with our continued focus on cost efficiencies, we are working on optimizing our back-end operations, which would enable us to deliver a sustainable performance in the future. Thank you. The floor is now open for questions.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Ashish from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question was on the commentary that you made in the press release regarding consumers, downtrading to lower price, unorganized competition, and your call to not dilute prices. So how do you see that impacting volumes and market share in the near term?
Hi, this is Gaurav. We are seeing, like, you know, there's a pretty poor footfall happening across the country, what we have noticed. And there is a mushrooming of local players, you know, the unorganized players. New unorganized players have also come into the play. So there was a pressure on us to reduce the prices, which we have not. And we are in the process of adding more retailers and distributors to counter that.
So, Gaurav, where I'm coming from is that during FY 2023 also, when we faced a lot of pressure from RM inflation, we chose to increase prices, but we also then lost market share due to that. So, do you see this call of not diluting or reducing prices impacting volumes as well or impacting our market share in the near term?
Temporarily, we can say yes, but in long term, you know, I think we will be able to gain back the market share. It's because there are two factors, you know, that there's a poor footfall, demand is also subdued, and, you know, the raw material prices, all these things, multiple factors. They were able to enter them. But I think however now the wedding season, we are hearing, like, you know, quarter three, a lot of weddings are happening, but there will be a demand uptake in the market, and things will improve.
Got it. Got it. And the second question was if you can share your observations on the channel inventory and some granular sense on consumption trends as well. While there is overall weakness, but if you could break it down into how have you seen trends move in rural versus urban and also the competitive landscape?
Channel inventory we are maintaining. There is an increase in the inventory as compared to, I think, March. So it has increased due to subdued demand. And the inventory we are carrying, almost, in GT and new channel is the same level, but retail has increased a little bit. So overall, there is an increase on inventory front.
Got it. And my last question is, what would be your outlook for margins versus the earlier guidance of 15%-16% for FY 2025?
I think the company is taking a lot of steps to, you know, improve the margins. They have been backward, on backward front. We are working very closely with the manufacturing how to really improve our productivity and add on to our margins.
Thank you for answering my questions. I'm good to pass on the questions.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shirish Pardeshi from Centrum Broking. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Good evening. Thanks for the opportunity. On this slide in the beginning, I observed that our average realization per pair has gone up by about 6% to INR 156, and the number of pairs sold is lower, so I do understand there is a demand issue and other things, but is there any regional variation because we have a larger business coming from North? Is the difference between North and South and West and East different in terms of this demand situation?
See, across India, there we are seeing this issue, you know, of some demand not being optimal. But East, like, if you say talk, talk about East is most affected. So payments are very slow coming from Eastern markets. So East is the market which has been mostly affected.
Yeah. Okay. So, so we, we have been saying that we are trying to, in fact, improve the mix towards the premium and also. Any, any color in a mix you would be able to highlight at this point of time?
The status quo. Last year is the, you know, average price is more because we revised the prices in January. That is the effect of higher ASP. ASP.
Okay. Okay. And, in terms of, Sparx contribution, would you specify how we should look at in second half? Because you said that you are focusing on the distribution angle also.
Sparx, I think, it, we are able to maintain the momentum in Sparx compared to the other Open Footwear. So I think Sparx should definitely be better off compared to other two brands, that is Flite and Bahamas.
Okay. So assume that, well, first half, the situation, demand, downtrading, regional competition, local competition, if the status quo is there, how we should be looking at second half? Because even second half was, the base is benign at this point of time, but does last 30, 40 days give you some confidence that we will be able to recoup our volume growth?
Currently, like, you know, the, in October or whatever, you can see the start. We have not seen the great start. So we are hoping that, you know, because of this, November, December, having huge number of weddings, so demand should improve.
Okay. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Prerna Jhunjhunwala from Elara Capital. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Just wanted to check on closed footwear performance now that we've added capacity in last year. So has the mix changed, taken place in the first half and second quarter?
It's been the same. It's the same like what it was last year and last quarter. There's not much of a change happening there.
So what is the strategy to improve our mix from to towards more closed footwear?
Strategy, we talk about, again, it is like appointment of distributor, adding more channels, for example, e-commerce. We were a little slow this time because of too much of ask from Flipkart and Amazon. So we are very cautious, and then we are taking steps to improve our, you know, reach in Sparx.
So what could be the revenue, growth that you are targeting for FY 2025, FY 2026, given that you are conservative? Demand is also weak, and we're expecting improvement in demand coming forward in the quarters to come. So how should we see the growth coming in for you?
We are really cautious of the market. What we see is we have to grow. Like, we are appointing more distributors across territories, and we are hoping that we can grow around eight to 10% in Sparx's category.
Okay, and overall revenue growth that you're targeting?
Quite difficult to say as of now, but definitely should be positive.
Okay. And what would be the distributor and retail reach increase for you in the next two years, for both Open Footwear and Closed Footwear?
So it's a continuous process, you know. We keep on adding distributors, and some distributor always, like, you know. So it is a continuous process. So adding retailers, like, which we see two years back, we were at 55,000. Now we are at 70,000 retailers. So it's a continuous activities, continuous process.
We can assume the same runway to continue.
Yeah. Def-definitely.
Okay. Understood. Thank you, and I'll come back to the question queue. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants to use their best staff and time to ask questions. The next question is from the line of Pranshul Mittal from Milkwood Enterprises. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hi. Thanks for giving the opportunity. I wanted to ask a question that, in the investor presentation, you have mentioned that, in channel-wise revenue mix, the Modern Trade is about 10%. But recently, we have seen.
Yes, Campus call.
Can you repeat the question?
Ha, [Foreign language] . It's a time of respect. [Foreign language].
I think this is Relaxo meet, not Campus meet.
Sorry to interrupt you. The participant left the queue. We'll move to the next.
Okay.
The next question is from the line of Sameer Gupta from IIFL Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for taking my question. I noticed that there is an ASP increase of 6%. I mean, I heard that you mentioned that you've taken a revision of price in January, but even from last quarter onwards, this is an increase of around 3%. So just wanted to understand, is there a change in mix that is impacting this and some more color on this?
See, we have introduced premium categories in some of our brands, and because of that, there is an effect of increasing ASP. Plus, we have taken a price increase in the Sparx and Hawai category. So, and last year, the base level was also a little lower.
Okay. But there is no price increase as such, taken, in this quarter?
No, no. We have not taken price increase.
Got it, sir. Sir, second question on this, competitive intensity increasing. What is the trigger for this? Has there been a sharp fall in raw material prices that has resulted in this intensity going up? And how is the company going to counter it? I mean, let's say it continues for a few more quarters. So do you have a strategy in place to counter it at some point, or do you keep waiting, like, because it's unsustainable and it will go away at some point in time?
So, we have, you're absolutely right. Because of lower raw material prices, a lot of new competitors have come in. We are working with our marketing team to devise a new portfolio, you know, new portfolio strategy, so how to counter them. We are working on cost optimization plus adding new products and to understand the regional needs. We are really in touch with the market, what is happening.
Is there a role of the BIS compliance also in this, that the smaller players don't have to comply as of now? Is that also impacting?
Yeah. That is also could be a reason because all small manufacturers, they are exempt from quality control standards. So whatever quality they want to produce, they can downgrade, and they can cause unethical competition also, otherwise. So that also has some role.
Got it, sir. Lastly, sir, if I may squeeze in, the other expenses have seen a decline of 3%. Just wanted to understand the broad constituents which is resulting in this. And also, let's say the volume growth comes back. Do you see this growth in other expenses also coming back, or this INR 220 crore number, or is the ballpark which is here to stay?
Other expenses, we took a calculative call. We have just reduced the advertisement expenses in this period as compared to last year. So that is a major item which has come down.
But do you see this going up going forward if demand comes back?
Yes. Next year, definitely. Not this year. Next year, definitely, we'll review and we may go back to the original percentage spent.
So FY 2025, what is the number that you're targeting for ad spend full year?
Yearly, we used to spend around 4%. This year, we have just thought about 3%, 1% lower than last year.
Got it, sir. I'll come back in the queue for any follow-ups. Thanks, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Gaurav Jogani from JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Apologies for the earlier, sir. And, my question is with regards to the impact of BIS. I mean, you know, while in the shorter term, because the these smaller players are given a relaxation of not complying with the norms. But on a longer term, how do you see the norms impacting the industry on an overall basis and Relaxo specifically?
You know, government has actually given exemption to the small industry for the time being. It doesn't mean that they are going to go away always. So that we have to wait and see how they see. But as far as we are concerned, we are strictly following quality control standard prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards, and that's it.
Yeah. So, because, you know, because you guys are following the quality standards prescribed by the agency, then can you be, you know, marketing your products as a better quality product and hence reduce ISI or BIS mark? So can there be a marketing angle that, you know, benefits guys at the value end who are, you know, following these norms? Is there a case for that?
No, no. On the long term, this will benefit the company. In the short term, because of, you know, the market, downgrading, look, people are not having enough money in their hands, so they are going for cheaper products. But ultimately, cheaper products can never create a future. Future is always for the quality products that we are following.
Okay. Thank you, sir. That's all.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Prerna Jhunjhunwala from Elara Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello. Wanted to understand the CapEx for the year. What will be the full year full CapEx for FY 2025 and FY 2026?
FY 2025, already we have spent around INR 50 crore. So it will be again in the range of INR 50 crore-INR 60 crore in next half. So total will be INR 100+ crore in this full year.
What is it going to be spent on, INR 100 crore?
This majorly we have spent upon the. I think, mold is a regular item which we spent around INR 25 crore-INR 30 crore. Then we are adding some,
Machinery.
Machinery and some civil work also. It's a mix of all these.
Okay. Okay. Can we assume any capacity addition in this?
No.
Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you .
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ankit Kedia from Phillip Capital. Please go ahead.
Sir, when you say October has been a slow month for you and you're hopeful for November, already primary sales for November would have been done now, and you would be generating demand, you know, for the next month. So are we seeing pressure in primary demand from distributors and they're sitting on high stock? And if you could answer separately for Open Footwear and Closed Footwear.
It is the same for both Open and Closed Footwear. Still, the demand has not, like, you know, we are, we are hoping that in the next two months should be better compared to what has happened last quarter. So because of poor footfall, these things are happening. So it's, it would, it would be gradual. It cannot be just immediate that things will change.
Sir, are we facing pressure from organized players as well, like Walkaroo and Aqualite who have also become aggressive in the Open Footwear category? Or it's more from the unorganized only what, you know, you called out?
They are also facing challenge from unorganized, I think. They are also facing a lot of issues compared to BIS of unorganized players, you know, lower footfalls. It's for full industry, it is the same.
And, sir, three quarters back, you know, last year when we had lost market share, you alluded that, you know, you would, you know, go for market share gains and not for margins, and now again, as a strategy, you are going for margins and not for market share gains, so what is the long-term thought process of the company, on top-line growth versus margins?
So it's a, we are taking a balanced approach. It cannot be one way, you know. It cannot be only margin or only sales. We have to take a long-term view and take a balanced approach.
Sure. But, you know, with the steady declining volumes, consumer is downgrading, and that is impacting the brand as well.
No, you, you know, on the long-term, we have to see the thing. Our strategy has to be not based on what currently we are going through. We have to make quality product, and we have to sustain the things. We are adding distributors. We are adding retailers. We have introduced retail app or connect with the retailers improving. And this is a base, is improving of the our retailers. Our reach improves. Definitely, the sale will also improve.
Sir, can you separately call out the growth in the North market versus the West and South if possible? Can you separately call out the revenue growth, or the volume declining North versus ex of North region?
There has been just a marginal, you know, 1% drop in some areas sustained in the west and south. So basically, east, we are seeing a little more dip compared to other regions.
Sure. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aditya Khetan from SMIFS Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. Sir, my first question is onto the volumes part. Sir, in H1, we had seen that the volumes have declined by almost around 5% as compared to the last year of H1. And sir, you have also stated that there are muted demand and all, and you are hopeful for a good wedding season. Sir, so any guidance onto the full year volume side, if you can share? So whether we can see a positive growth or it would be flattish?
It would be flattish because it will take time to cover up, you know, the six-month sales and volume loss.
Okay. And sir, despite facing this muted demand, sir, or so when we look at the operational metrics like your gross profit per pair and EBITDA per pair, so that has gone up on sequential basis by around 3%-4%. I wanted to know, is there any component of the better product mix which we have seen in this quarter?
EBITDA is by and large the same in the first quarter, second quarter, if you compare to last year's first quarter and second quarter. Total H1, H2, just a 0.5% difference of EBITDA.
Got it. Onto the gross profit, sir, we have seen a good improvement. Any comments over there?
Yeah. Gross, definitely, there is a, there are two reasons for this. We took a price increase in January. So that is the advantage that's come in the system. Raw material were also, I think, eased out. And, third is the, if you see the percentage, there is an increase of inventory. So that percentage is, I think, 1% looks better than the last year. So these are the three reasons. So one is the price increase, second, RM-related advantage. Third, that is the accounting part. You can see that there is an increase of inventory around INR 47 crore in this. That includes a conversion cost also. That's why that margin looks better.
Got it. Got it. Thank you, sir. Thank you. That's it.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jasmine from VT Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, team. I wanted to understand your comment on the reduction of the A&P cost. My understanding is that the demand is muted. The local players are kicking in. So what is the rationale of reducing our A&P spend when this time, I believe there should be more spend to garner more market share and hence increase our volume and sales?
So what we have done is we have reduced in advertisement but increased on schemes, you know, and sales and promotion. So because of trade push is required for an immediate scenario, so we have increased our schemes expenditure.
Great. That answered my question. Thank you so much.
Yeah.
Sorry, I didn't get that.
Yeah. You got the answer, I think. We have adjusted with the schemes. Yeah.
Okay. Great. Thank you so much. All the best.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants to state your name when you ask a question. The next question is from the line of Sachee Trivedi from Trident Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Can you hear me?
Yes.
Yeah.
Thank you for taking my question. Hi, Gaurav. This is Sachee Trivedi from Trident Capital Investments. My question is slightly more longer-term oriented. Now, in the last two, three years, we have seen two things happening. One is the shift of demand from open to closed footwear. And the second is the shift of demand from probably, you know, the physical channels to online channels. How did you not see this coming?
There were multiple factors, you know, like, for example, nobody saw that there would be such poor footfalls leading to poor payments from the retailers. So it's very difficult to really gauge, you know, how the monsoon will come up, how election will, what will be the result of that. And plus, a lot of unorganized players coming up because of BIS issue. Like, we never thought that government will give them, you know, a leeway, like you can come enroll after a year, so many things you cannot predict how the things will operate, how government will come with the new policies.
Those are, like, monsoon and election and BIS. I think those are very, you know, I mean, I don't think that is, frankly, the crux of this. We are talking about a very structural, a very secular shift in demand from Open to Closed Footwear. You look around yourself, you know, there's, I mean, people are wearing shoes, you know, those athleisure sports shoes, and there's a very structural shift onto online. In fact, online players are having, you know, disruption from, you know, being from e-commerce to quick commerce and whatnot, so there is a massive disruption happening in channels. Given how widespread you are, given how many contact points, retail points you had, I am surprised that you did not, you know, catch on to the changes, you know, the tectonic shifts, the structural changes that are happening in the industry.
No, you know, actually, there's a conflict of channel. General trade versus online channel. There is also too much of discounting pressure on online channel, so strategically, we are there, but we have to be very cautious of our general trade. Our multi-brand outlet, they get suffered when they see too much of discount. This year, we had to actually say no to Flipkart and Amazon because they generally give too much discount, and that affects them, so we have to be very cautious in the changing scenario. Things are conflicting. They are very complex also, so we are now creating separate portfolio for e-commerce. That is, the things are in total, I mean, kind of a conflicting and not complementary, but sometimes totally opposite. Whatever when we think,
Right. Right.
About the general trade, that gets affected by our e-commerce. And when we look for only e-commerce, then heavy discount and sale may go up. But in the long term, our general trade gets affected. So we are grappling with this issue and trying to create a separate range for e-commerce so that this conflict should get minimized. And plus, you know, consolidation will happen. Now, this year, or maybe last two years, you can see in online, there are multiple new brands have come up in footwear. Like, earlier, it was 20 brands. Now, there are more than 200 brands selling footwear. So consolidation will happen. Now, discount war will be controlled. Like, a lot of things are happening in online, yeah. And our two-thirds business is Open Footwear, which is anyway, which will never go on e-commerce, you know, price, low price, mass-market article.
It is not profitable to work on e-commerce or this mass-market article.
See, this disruption because of the online is a very, it is something to be not taken lightly because we are seeing industry after industry being disrupted and, you know, completely changed and transformed because of this. Do you feel that this could have struck and, I mean, when you say given your very, very rich experience over decades, do you think this is probably the biggest challenge that you are facing now, simply because a shift in nature of demand and the channel of demand is causing and has allowed a lot many competitors, whether it is, you know, people who are coming today and, you know, selling maybe for one season and going away, but all of a sudden, they have the shelf space that they could never get in physical retail industry.
We are seeing in cosmetics, we are seeing in beauty products, new age players are coming up. They have gained enough critical mass, and the old legacy players are really suffering in volumes. Do you think this is the kind of challenge that you are facing? I'm curious to hear how you place this challenge, the size of this challenge, to, you know, everything you have seen in the, you know, decades of experience that you have.
So no doubt, things are challenging. We are also mindful of the situation, what is unfolding. But we have to see, we have to balance between general trade and e-commerce. In e-commerce, we can't, at the cost of e-commerce, sorry, at the cost of general trade, promote e-commerce. E-commerce, we are mindful. We have started selling at brand as seller where we can control our pricing also. Earlier, we were selling directly to Flipkart and other distributors. There was no price control, which was, affecting our general trade. So we are building our own brand as seller and trying to sell direct to the consumer and watchful of the situation so that we can coexist in the general trade also and e-commerce also. And also, you know, two-thirds of the articles that we manufacture, they are meant for the masses.
These mass articles, they are not viable to sell on e-commerce. We have to do that business through General Trade only.
So then one final question from me. From articles that the two-thirds of articles that you have for the masses, now these people are probably not going online also. Why has there been no growth in this masses category over, you know, the last almost three years now?
No, no. After all, in the market, you know, Open Footwear, Closed Footwear is there, but in the general trade, in the two years, the demand has been low, and now, in this year, you find a lot of unorganized low-price articles have entered the market. You know, there is a problem of money in the hand of the masses segment at the moment, what we are witnessing. That is why they are trying to go for cheaper alternatives, but on the long term, quality articles will also be the aim for the company, and that will only help the company. We can't go for reducing the quality of the product just for the time being.
Okay. And actually, if you don't mind, I saw that you have tied up with Disney and Marvel.
Mm-hmm.
Does it mean you are going to have some focus on the children's segment?
Yeah. That will help, you know, that will help in the premiumization of our articles, which are meant for children and others also. So we have done this, slow building, but in the coming time, this, will help us improve the ASP of the company.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Oh.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Devanshu Bansal from Emkay Global. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Hi, thanks for taking my question. Sorry, I have joined the call late, so please pardon me if I'm repeating anything that has been answered before. Sir, I just wanted to check on your remark that the industry has sort of witnessed an increase in lower-priced unorganized competition. So firstly, I wanted to check what exactly is this unorganized competition. So earlier, during this entire calendar year, the imports from China, etc., were on a decline. But now, over the last couple of months, I guess, the imports of such articles have seen an increase. Are you referring to this, or are you referring to all those smaller-scale MSMEs that are operating from India, and they have suddenly increased the competitive intensity in that case?
Yeah, it's actually both. Plus, you know, two years back, there was a change of GST from 5% to 12%. Since then, like, you know, a lot of new players in unorganized competitors have come up. There are two multiple reasons for that. One is the lower-priced raw material. You know, as when the raw material price goes down, definitely new players come in. And when the price goes up, they really vanish. Plus, there definitely, we can talk about these are regional players which have been having no brand, not paying GST, but, you know, they don't have BIS compliance. So they are taking some market share. And there's a lot of import happening. Like what you have heard, what you were saying about China import, it has not reduced, but it has increased because government have allowed them till September to import products.
Since after that, they cannot because then the BIS will be applicable. So multiple factors, not one or two.
Understood, sir. And, secondly, I just wanted to understand from your balance sheet perspective, the inventory levels are sort of up by about 10-odd percent. So any specific reason for that?
Due to subdued demand and due to run the plant, and because there is a pressure upon the demand, that's why inventory has increased.
Okay. I just wanted to check because this time around, festive season has been early. Despite that, the inventory levels are up and the receivables are down. So I just wanted to check. I mean, is it like some demand levels in festive also, sort of, remaining low?
However, our demand has been subdued, even in the month of September and October. We are hopeful that in November things will improve.
Understood, sir. Thanks for taking my question.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Levita from Mirae Asset. Please go ahead.
Thank you. I have two questions. So, with respect to how we are positioned in the market, are we seeing any portfolio gaps in the Open or Closed Footwear category? Since we have seen Crocs being successful last two, three years, the way customers' preferences have changed towards more comfort wear and fashion wear. So are we looking at newer categories in any of these Open and Closed Footwear space? And second question is,
Yes. Yeah, continue. Please continue.
Okay. So my second question is towards marketing strategies. Are we looking at any differentiated marketing strategy? Because we see the high-end brands have a different appeal towards the young millennials and customers. So what's your take on that? Okay.
So we are in touch with the market constantly, and we are always aligning our portfolio with the market. For example, like, from basic slipper, people are moving to colored and printed slippers. So we are going to launch whatever the gaps are in the portfolio. We are in constant touch with the market and, you know, giving product accordingly. Secondly, about our marketing strategy, definitely move the way the world is moving. We are also moving from, you know, from offline to online advertising. So we are doing a lot of branding in the digital space now.
So, it's my understanding, so I wanted to understand more on the specific category. As in, is there a trend that we have not looked at? Is there something, any space in any particular category that we have not looked at and we are approaching towards it? And in terms of marketing, more towards different message that we can, you know, a unique way of marketing strategy apart from being there online with everybody else's? That's all.
So, when you talk about the product gaps or portfolio gaps, like, definitely marketing is shifting from sportswear to athleisure. So we are in touch with the market, you know, be it people are going for chunky soles or different color, different design. So we keep on doing this analysis and introduce products accordingly.
No sneakers at all.
Yeah, the sneakers, like, you know, the sneaker trend is there, the street fashion is there. So we are in line with the market trend and launching products accordingly.
Okay. Understood. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Devanshu Bansal. From Emkay Global, please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Hi, thanks for the follow-up opportunity. My question is, sir, in India, there is a lot of footwear parks that are being created in Tamil Nadu, right, where all large Taiwan-based players are entering the space. Haryana as a state also has similar advantage from a labor cost of labor perspective. The footwear industry is quite well established in the state. Any thoughts around this incremental Make in India opportunity that is emerging? So your comments on that, please.
In Tamil Nadu, whatever manufacturers that are coming, they are from Taiwan. They are making for multinationals, and mostly they are doing making and then exporting. That is not going to affect our domestic market in that manner so far.
And I wanted to check if we can also sort of explore, as in utilizing our facilities, in the lean period for such demand that may be there. Any thoughts around that?
No, we have to see what is required by the Indian market, Indian consumer, and what kind of the masses consumer that we have, how we have to address their needs. So we are developing our article as per the needs of our customers. And we are aligning that. There is a value for money, a quality, whatever affordable quality we can buy. That is what we are focusing.
Understood. And sir, there were some news reports. No, it was not widely, but there were some news reports on this GST being reduced from 12% to 5%, right, for footwear. So any thoughts around that, any representations being made that were made to the government in sort of, because there has been a lot of disruptions, right, because of this unorganized lower-priced competition that is there. Any thoughts on this, please?
Yeah, representation by the industry is being made regularly and regularly intermittently. Currently also, industries take up this matter with the government authorities.
Any expectations, sir, from that perspective?
No, no. Because government will never commit. These things are you can only make representation. And then we have to wait.
Understood, sir. Thanks for taking my question.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask question. The next question is from the line of Sameer Gupta from IIFL Securities. Please go ahead.
Sir, just a follow-up. This separate portfolio for e-commerce that you have mentioned, any timeline that you can share? By when do we expect to launch this? And, is it going to be margin diluted because this is being done primarily to bypass the e-commerce channel's discounting nature, and its effect on duty?
So we have already bifurcated the online portfolio e-commerce portfolio. Now, what about the second question is about the margin dilution. So we are not going to dilute our margins in that category.
Then, sir, how does it address the issue, which is basically the online players discounting and that affecting the channel? How does it affect that issue? I mean, if we are not going to participate, then how is the separate portfolio going to help?
No, no. You see, participation was for the Big Billion Days and the Amazon Festival where they were offering huge discounts. Other small activities or any other days, we will be there. Our only thing is to protect the margin for, protect the interest of the, both channels. You know, we have to see about the brand also, at what level we can give discount. And it should be in concurrence with us, you know, how they decide the discounting policy. It cannot be wherever they want, they can give what kind of discount they can offer, like, you know. So we are more focusing on more of Bahamas, brand as seller, compared to giving outright sale to them and.
Agreed. But when this separate portfolio, you will still be brand as a seller. You are not going to, outright sell to the Flipkart and Amazon?
In that scenario, it depends upon what will be the discounting philosophy of that brand, you know? For example, Flipkart, we will not participate when the high discounting is happening.
How does it work? The discount is borne by the Flipkart and Amazon, or it's kind of shared between you and?
See, on the special days like Big Billion Days or Amazon Festival, they give from their side without taking any, you know, approval from us or sitting together and deciding the price. So they just, whatever they feel like, they give discounts. So we do not appreciate, like, these kind of, discounting practice.
We have to protect our general trade also.
Yeah. But for the brand image.
The brand image.
Portfolio is bifurcated. It will protect, right? I mean, how? I'm not able to understand this. So,
No, no.
I understand the brand image part.
So we have to be mindful of both the things. General Trade, once we make the article separate, okay, that thing is there. But still, we have to be mindful of how we have to manage both the channels and what the brand image, what kind of discounting we want to allow. We have to balance out all these things and take a very cautious move.
Got it. Second question, and I heard this during the course of the call, that BIS for smaller players, they've been you mentioned that a leeway of one year has been given, but my understanding was that right now there is no such deadline to comply for small and micro enterprises. Just wanted your clarification on this, sir.
This is what only the minister declared. But how they will do it, there's no writing on it.
Got it. So officially, there is no such deadline. Minister, the minister has said is what you're referring to.
That was, he said, our intention is that everybody has to comply, but for the timing, these small players are being exempted.
Got it, sir. That's all from me.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask question. Is there no further questions from the participants? I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
So this is all from our side, and we thank you all for joining the call. Looking forward to joining you again. Thank you very much. Thank you, everyone.
Thank you. On behalf of IIFL Securities Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.