Japan’s retail brand Uniqlo has launched its first store in Mumbai, which happens to be the company’s second-best performing online market in India. The brand is also set to open its second store in Mumbai later this month and believes there is room to open more of them in the city.
Headquartered in Tokyo, the Japanese apparel brand opened its first store in India in October 2019 in New Delhi. It did take longer than its competitive brands like H&M and Zara to expand into the Indian market.
The LifeWear concept
Tomohiko Sei, CEO, Uniqlo India, tells Storyboard18 that the company aims to build the LifeWear concept in India, which requires strong operations and well trained store managers. The LifeWear concept is about the Japanese values of simplicity, quality, and longevity.
Sei states one of the challenges globally is to find the right space at the right price. The company has launched 10 stores in India over the last four years, which will rise to 12 with the Mumbai stores. The strategy now is to increase brand awareness, Sei says. The brand posted a 69 percent increase in India unit sales while profit nearly tripled during the year ended March 2023.
For Uniqlo, India is a big opportunity because of the size and diversity of the market. The company has already started exporting production in India to other countries. The plan is to expand partnerships with factories to grow exports from India, Sei says. From a consumer lens, Sei admits, Indians and their lifestyles are different and that is what the brand is focused on to dig deep. “We majorly operate in the essential category. Indians are surprising us because, unlike the general view, they are value conscious. Their priority is quality and are ready to pay for it,” he adds.
Uniqlo’s association with sports and celebrities
Globally, Uniqlo signs up long-term sponsorship deals with top athletes. The apparel maker develops new products with them not only while they are active professionally but also after their retirement. Very few brands are committed to this deeply in the sports arena.
For instance, Shingo Kunieda, one of the greatest wheelchair tennis players of all time, who has three Paralympic gold medals and many major titles in his kitty and retired from competition in January, is still under contract with the brand. Kunieda is working with the company to help train the next generation of wheelchair tennis players.
Similarly, Uniqlo and its sponsored tennis legend Roger Federer signed a 10-year contract in 2018. Federer retired in 2022, so his post-retirement years will constitute the lion’s share of the deal. From a marketing lens, Uniqlo focuses on its brand ambassadors’ daily lives and behaviours that can convey brand messages.
In India, Uniqlo recently roped in Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif as its first brand ambassador in India to woo affluent shoppers. On whether the brand has plans to support any Indian sports personalities, Sei says, “There is an opportunity.” However, now there is no plan to collaborate with anyone other than Kaif.
Uniqlo uses influencers in the brand’s social media communication. Apart from that, the brand also engages in community building by featuring customers via social media posts. Uniqlo has experimented with live streaming shopping experiences where consumers could shop in real-time, with an interactive experience.
Focus on sustainability
Globally, Uniqlo is aiming to create modern classics that people wear for longer, to be more sustainable. It wants to differentiate itself from fast-fashion brands. According to Sei, “Sustainability is not about CSR.” The brand’s focus is on people, the planet and society. Uniqlo is promoting the idea of recycle, reuse and reduce in many markets, and has introduced repair services so that customers can continue to wear them for years. The company aims to be carbon neutral by 2050 and wants to promote more recycling and work with external partners to develop and promote new recycling materials and innovations and their use. For instance, Uniqlo’s Furry Fleece Zip Jackets are made from 100 percent recycled polyester, mainly from recycled PET bottles. Recently, the brand collaborated with UNESCO to advance clean oceans in Asia. The brand will continue to be always conscious, concludes Sei.