Australia’s Cotton On enters India market

Cotton On, Australia’s largest fashion retailer, has made its entry into the Indian market through online shopping platform Myntra.

This is a smart move – low cost, quick results and great active market researh.

The brand plans to compete with the likes of H&M and Forever 21 in India, by opening its flagship store — either in Delhi or Mumbai — in the third or fourth quarter of 2020.

AVS Global Network, a retailer of global fashion brands that focuses on retail through digital platforms, is responsible for launching Cotton On in the country.

AVS Global Network has managed to secure an exclusive contract with online retail platforms Flipkart, Myntra and Jabong to sell Cotton On products in India for the next year and a half.

Cotton On Group was established in 1991 and is present in 19 countries including New Zealand, South Africa and Singapore, with about 1,500 stores across the globe.

The Australian giant has eight brands in its kitty, namely — Cotton On, Cotton Kids, Cotton on Body, Factorie, Ruby, Typo, Supre and Lost. Each one of them caters to a different market segment.

Cotton On is testing the Indian waters by selling its products online before investing in stores.

I like this strategy for India, China and other South-East Asian countries – they are increasingly buying apparel online, compared to other Western markets.

Perhaps online is your starting point for India too?

Author: Stephen Manallack

Former President, Australia India Business Council, Victoria and Author, You Can Communicate; Riding the Elephant; Soft Skills for a Flat World (published by Tata McGraw-Hill INDIA); Communicating Your Personal Brand. Director, EastWest Academy Pty Ltd and Trainer/Speaker/Mentor in Leadership, Communication and Cross Cultural Communication. Passionate campaigner for closer western relations with India. Stephen Manallack is a specialist on “Doing Business with India” and advisor/trainer on “Cross-Cultural Understanding”. He is a Director of EastWest Academy Pty Ltd which provides strategic advice and counsel regarding business relations with India. A regular speaker in India on leadership and global communication, his most recent speaking tour included a speech to students of the elite Indian university, Amity University, in Noida. He also spoke at a major Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) global summit, the PR Consultants Association of India in Delhi, the Symbiosis University in Pune and Cross-Cultural Training for Sundaram Business Services in Chennai. He has visited India on business missions on 10 occasions and led three major trade missions there. He provides cross-cultural training – Asia and the west. View all posts by Stephen Manallack