Growing Era of Lifestyle Brands in India

What are Lifestyle products brands?

Lifestyle brands are brands which promote and market products that embody the attitudes, interests and way of living of a community, culture or group. These brands tend to inspire and motivate people, with their products acting as a definition of the consumer’s way of life. One of the upcoming and growing markets, Lifestyle Brands segment has seen quite a few Korean, Scandinavian and Chinese designer brands coming up in recent years.

Strategic Expansion in Indian Market

India boasts of a retail industry worth USD 750 billion growing at 10-12% year on year - according to research firm Technopak. The rapidly growing organised retail infrastructure and mall culture have turned India into a magnet for Asian retail chains. Given this, the Asian lifestyle products brands have opened multiple franchisees internationally and have also started flooding the Indian lifestyle market off late as India develops a taste for these affordable yet attractive stores with the likes of Miniso, USUPSO,LATT-LIV, Mumuso, Uniso, Yoyoso, Ximivogue, Ilahui and Beccos amongst others. Many metros, tier 1 and tier 2 cities are warming up to the idea of fast-fashion Asian brands setting up shops one after the other.

Before these fast fashion and designer lifestyle brands could set up one of the biggest franchise networks, they first strategically tested waters in the country markets. USUPSO, took a strategic call by opening it’s own shops. They needed to first see if the products were sellable and the stores were sustainable. They saw rapid growth in their sales. Now, they have the numbers that can give confidence to their franchise partners.

Miniso, the retail chain, which manufactures products in China under own private label, opened 7-8 stores in the first nine months after its Indian entry in mid-2017. Only when it switched to a franchise model, its expansion plans geared up with 90+ outlets currently.

Products and Pricing

These lifestyle brands showcase products that are stylish, trendy, creative and innovative. Being patrons of the culture of their specific countries, these products are usually those which one wouldn’t see on any other local products stores. They are so attractive that they trick you to buy products which you wouldn’t know you needed. They are premium yet affordable. These can be anything from sports items, handbags, backpacks, home décor, stationery, crockery, seasonal items, accessories.

All that being said, almost all the brands sell similar items at the same prices. These are usually priced slightly higher than the local products, but are designed to be affordable for the creative lovers of middle class and above. Currently the market is seeing competition in these kind of brands as we see more of them coming up over time.

With simple and quality features, the products are updated regularly and priced competitively. Most products are priced between INR 150 & INR 450, thus earning love from the major consumers aged from 12 to 40 yrs. The brands source these products mostly from South Asian nations such as Malaysia, Singapore, China, Indonesia and Korea.

Franchise Model

These brands have found a very efficient franchise model. Nothing beats getting a local player to invest his time, energy, money, bandwidth and retail distribution network. Franchise model has given brands like Miniso and Ximivogue a lot of speed. Here’s a brief franchise model of these brands-

An investment of 55-65 lakhs would involves Franchise Fee, first order for purchase of merchandise, software and equipments, furniture, signage and accessories and the cost of store interiors. The best part about the model is the guaranteed margin of 36-40% that the products fetch. Typically, stores break-even in about 24 months.

Comparative analysis of the major players

MINISO- One of the first South-Asian lifestyle brand to enter the Indian market, Miniso has opened 13 stores in Bangalore alone. Tokyo-headquartered Japanese-Chinese variety retail brand, Miniso is the promoter of global “intelligent consumer products”. Sticking to the life philosophy of “simplicity, nature and good quality” and the brand proposition of “returning to nature”, Miniso gains popularity among consumers with its core brand edges of updating products every seven days, pricing at a low level, and targeting at intelligent consumer product chains.

Taking product structure optimization and product management as its priority, MINISO insists on selecting materials used in product design & development from all over the world. 80% of the designs are from Japan, Korea, Sweden, Denmark, Singapore, Malaysia and China, etc.

XIMIVOGUE- Korea-based designer brand that operates as franchised retail stores for fast fashion products. The brand's global success has been because of its intelligent product strategy, superior quality products with innovative & attractive designs at a competitive price. XIMI Vogue is now investing heavily in its supply chain technology with state-of-the-art warehouses to further expand its growth in the Indian market. Korea-based fashion and lifestyle retail chain Ximivogue, entered in India in March 2018, and has now 32 outlets across the country.

ILAHUI- ILAHUI is a Korean leisure lifestyle brand. With 1,500+ stores worldwide, ILAHUI has become a leader in providing stylish products for price conscious shoppers. ILAHUI draws inspiration from the enthusiasm of the present young people, with products that are a tad more colourful than its other east-Asian counterparts.

USUPSO- The Japanese brand sells apparel, cosmetics, accessories, footwear among others with affordable pricing as its unique selling point. USUPSO directly purchases from big factories, skipping over all middle steps to control the purchase cost to the lowest level. Usupso, like Miniso, manufactures products under a private label in China, Singapore and Malaysia. USUPSO opened it’s first store in Guwahati.

Here’s a brief of the success story of these brands:

What’s in it for me?

So, if you are looking up for a fresh, trending, upcoming and new concept for taking up a franchise, and have the appetite to spend half of a crore, you are in to experience a whole new world of growth, adventure and competition, while traversing the culture of a colourful Asian country. Knock the door at Businessoptions.in, and we are there to suggest the Best Suit for you!