The brand is best known for its unique and fast fashion offerings, with a dash of western touch
With fashion becoming readily available, the consumer today is spoilt for choice but then only brands that cater to specific needs of a consumer would be able to survive the market pressure. Kaira is one such brand, which is balancing the act with both ethnic and western clothing. Established in 2013, Kaira is betting big in keeping the traditional sensibilities in vogue. The brand is best known for its unique and fast fashion offerings, with a mix of ethnic & western touch. By offering the exclusive range of ethnic-inspired Indo-western and western clothing at an affordable pricing, it has created a cult among its female clientele across India.
A brainchild of first generation entrepreneur duo Dinesh Manglani and Karishma Manglani, the fashion brand began its journey in Hyderabad with an aim to restore the grandeur of women’s traditional Indian clothing by popularizing it as a unique fashion statement.
Having achieved its mission, Kaira is today lauded as one of India’s most valued women’s wear brands. Talking about the journey, Dinesh Manglani, Founder, Kaira Fashions, states, “We are the pioneers in reinventing ethnic wear for women in India. I thought of creating an Indian brand that would be as famous as its international counterparts. I have always believed in one philosophy – Be the leader, or follow the leader. Initially, we started with three outlets and now we’re over 100 outlets. In a city like Hyderabad, we’re operating 40-plus outlets, and we are planning to open at least 100 outlets in each state. Likewise, we are also aspiring to open about 2,500-3,000 outlets across India. Initially, we started with three outlets and now we’re over 100-plus outlets.”
BUSINESS DYNAMICS
Kaira took its inception keeping in mind young, modern, enterprising women, who lead an active lifestyle, are fashion conscious and at the same time like the fusion look.
As per Karishma Manglani, Co-Founder, Kaira: “Here we believe any woman of whatever age and of whatever shape can be stylish and fashionable. Our wide range of style themes and sizes offer something that meets every mood and occasion. We have an access to a large pool of designers across India that provides a wide range of styles, cuts and fabrics. With its unique information-driven logistics system, the company has an unmatched ability to offer exactly what each market demands, in the quickest possible time. We also ensure that the assortments at Kaira stores are fresh and reflect the latest fashion trends.”
With strong tech support and smart decisions, the brand is able to provide latest fashion without compromising on the quality. The unique supply chain system ensures fresh stocks to the customer as the ratio of unsold stock is minimum to low; hence there is no discounting of stocks.
FRANCHISING ROUTE
Celebrating over 100 stores, the brand is acclaimed for ingenuity in design, price and a vivid design palette. The brand has grown from strength to strength and is now present at over 100-plus locations in India. The brand’s take on mélange of ethnic and western wear did not only change the way the consumer previously looked at fusion wear, but also developed a specific niche for this retail business.
Fashion should reach everywhere at the same time. And this’s what Kaira is doing and that is one of the reasons it has been embraced with the franchise business model. Franchising the brand and to take it to places is what the brand aspires. The brand believes in growing together and always looks for their growth, in every possible way. In order to build and grow the brand, Kaira is leveraging the local knowledge and experience of entrepreneurial franchisees. Kaira stores represent the brand in these new emerging towns and will be beacons of modern retail in women’s wear for these markets.
The franchise format they offer is a unique and attracts retail business and it has proved to be a convenient format over the time.
Talking about the lucrative franchise model, Dinesh avers: “Our model works on small retail outlets of minimum 300-500 sq ft. Hence, we offer a high ROI model to our business partners with a minimal investment. In order to bring the latest fashion trends in the market, we get our products manufactured by a large pool of freelance designers across India.
HANDHOLD TO GROW
Kaira’s Y-O-Y growth is at 60 per cent, majorly fueling from franchisees. To maintain the same, the management is constantly focusing on quality products, ambiance, accelerated footfalls, driving higher sales conversion, and enhancing profitability for all the stores. For higher growth and standardized quality, the brand offers a comprehensive training to all the franchisees on service operations, accounting, inventory control, etc. Employees from all the verticals are trained by the brand for two weeks for enhancing their operating efficiencies.
For standardized visual display, they also offer a standard retail design template that offers an excellent ambience for purchase - with recommended execution partners for immediate store implementation. Support in terms of brand marketing plan is also offered in each city that targets the local catchment area of the retailer.
SMALL IS BIG
With increasing nationwide presence, the brand looks ahead to the future eagerly. For Kaira, small towns have a huge potential, as the younger crowd in all the towns is aware of the latest fashion trends and due to non-availability of good brands and latest fashion products, the consumer there travel to bigger towns. Kaira wishes to reach to their neighbourhood. Access to the latest fashion trends for consumer in small towns is what makes Kaira look for apt franchise partners.
The brand is keen to expand pan-India. They are currently present in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat, and planning to expand in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Q&A
FASHIONABLE BUSINESS FOR BEST RETURNS
From inception to launch to knit growth pan-India, Dinesh Manglani on how has he made Kaira the most sought-after women’s wear brand
Is it a family-run business or your own venture?
It is a venture that I started in 1995 with one retail outlet under Maharaja Dupatta. We are a well-known name in the market for our quality and price. After that, we slowly introduced dress materials, kurtis, leggings, etc. Kaira was started by me and my wife, Karishma in 2013.
How unique is the design, set up and format of your stores?
We are present in almost every area of Hyderabad. Our store’s design is as per the modern retail format. Our format gives the customer the experience of a mall inside the store.
What is your go-to-market strategy? What kind of marketing spends you have earmarked?
We believe in making our presence in all kinds of media that creates buzz and awareness in the catchment area of every store. We wish for everyone to recognize Kaira with Saina Nehwalji. We support this with city level marketing plans for multi-outlet cities. However, the exact quantum of spends is confidential.
We actively spend on digital media, like radio, outdoor & print media.
How has been your professional journey?
I’m an undergraduate, while my wife is an MBA in Human Resources, who also holds a Diploma in Fashion Designing. I have an experience of about 25 years in this industry. I joined the family business at the age of 15 (as a part-time business). At 17, I was into the textile and readymade business, (full time). I have an experience of 15 years in operating a retail business. At heart, I’m still a retailer.
Do you prefer any particular retail brand or designer -- national or international?
I like PRIMARK because they have an ability to offer extremely fast and fresh fashion at unbeatable prices. Also, it is a brand of choice for consumers across all the age groups.
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