Online retailers bask in ‘Ache Din’ while Organized retailers await clouds to disperse-15th edition of the Three-day India Fashion Forum deliberates key issues on Day 1

While online retailers are witnessing ‘Ache Din’, the brick and mortar retailers continue to wait for the dark clouds to disperse.
Participating in the panel discussion at the inaugural session of India Fashion Forum, 2015, Amit Maheshwari, Head, Fashion Business, Snapdeal.com, said, “We are 5 times of what we were in last year January. We are seeing double digit growth month on month. Because we are building distribution capacities month on month, we are now having presence in 5000+ cities.”
However, Govind Shrikhande, CCA & Managing Director, Shoppers Stop believed that the disruption in the Indian economy is still not shaping up to the challenges and hence double digit growth is slowing down in the organized brick and mortar retail space.
While Amit Maheshwari of Snapdeal mentioned that the returns were 15% in the online clothing business, B.S. Nagesh, Founder, TRRAIN, mentioned that the same was 1.5-3% in the organized retail business.
Alluding that online companies to be conferred with NGO status in a lighter vein, Kabir Lumba, Chairman, IFF and MD, Lifestyle International said, “Online is not a threat but is an outcome of technology. The relation will be of compatibility. They will transfer or off-load some of the 5x growth in business to the organized retail.”
Stating that it was not about online or offline tussle, Dr. Thomas Vetter, Senior VP and Global Head, Consumer Industries, SAP said that consumer journey has already started on the web before deciding to buy online or offline.
Adding a further perspective to the panel discussion, Bonnie Brooks, Vice Chairman, Hudson’s Bay Company said, “In an era where Department stores are becoming dinosaurs in most part of the world and have to rely on heavy discounting, they are also finding it difficult to rope in large brands into their stores as the brands are not confident about the ability of Department stores to position their brand in the best possible way”.
Earlier in the opening session of the India Fashion Forum, 2015, Mr. Roy Kettlewell, Global Innovations Manager, The Woolmark Company, Australia highlighted on interesting facts about wool innovation business and how Indian consumers desire for more casual dressing. He discussed on wool appreciation and details about the Merino wool innovation which is considered to be versatile, contemporary and highly functional product. Adding on to this, Ms. Birgit Gahlen, Key Account Manager, The Woolmark Company and Wool Lab Specialist based in Milan, Italy spoke about the upcoming trends for the forthcoming season.
On the eve of the inauguration of the three-day event, the 12th edition of Images Yearbook 2015 – India Business of Fashion Report was unveiled. The yearbook captures the changing dynamics of retail in India and the huge investment in e-commerce and the need to focus on customer experience.
About India Fashion Forum:
The 15th edition of India Fashion Forum 2015 (IFF) is scheduled for 18th – 20th March, 2014 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai.  IFF has been born out of pure passion to boost fashion consumption in India by catalysing fashion brands to think RETAIL, thing LONG TERM and think FASHION FORWARD. It is India’s biggest fashion extravaganza (Workshops + Conference + Exhibition + Fashion Shows + Trends Theatre + Awards), by bringing together the biggest and the most respected names from the industry, not only from India but from all important fashion markets across the world, to share their invaluable knowledge and provide inspiration to the fashion fraternity. This magnum opus of the fashion industry will also celebrate excellence and recognise outstanding achievements with the IMAGES Fashion Awards – one of the most glamorous fashion awards extravaganzas in the world.
Website: India Fashion Forum