Caprese evolves as a mass brand with 'masstige' offerings

Caprese is a high fashion accessories brand offering modern, stylish and chic ladies handbags crafted for today’s fashionista, and available pan India through own and partner network across offline and online channels.
Owned by Mumbai-based VIP Industries Ltd. – reckoned as Asia’s largest and the world’s second largest luggage maker – Caprese was established in the year 1971. Today, the company has a global presence with products available in India, the Middle East, UK, USA, Germany, Spain, Italy and select African and SE Asian nations.
Its brand portfolio comprises VIP, Carlton, Skybags, Alfa, Aristocrat and Caprese.
In a tête-à-tête with Caprese Brand Head Shuchi Singh, Images BoF takes a look at the brand’s success journey…
Tell us about Caprese’s inception and the brand’s journey so far.
Caprese is a high fashion accessories brand from the house of VIP Industries Ltd. The brand offers handbags that are a symbol of the international fashion inspired by the Isle of Capri. Started in October 2012, Caprese has acquired a considerable traction and size within a short span of time.
What is your market positioning? Describe your brand’s essence and its USP.
Our brand brings a truly international fashion to a mass premium segment. Its strength lies in its high-end fashion imagery, differentiated designs and a very stylish ‘mass-tige’ (prestige offerings for the masses) offering. We, at Caprese, understand that a woman’s handbag accommodates her whole world, and is an indispensable part of her life at all times!
Tell us about your product range? Who is your core target audience?
Our product offerings comprise women’s accessories ranging from handbags, sling bags to small accessories like wallets and clutches. We primarily cater to the modern urban woman.
What’s your overview of the handbags market in India. How has the customer perception and demand evolved in recent years?
The majority of the Indian handbag market (nearly 70 per cent) belongs to unbranded products, and local or regional brands. The growth rate of the branded segment is estimated to be much higher than the overall market. Rising personal disposable incomes, increasing number of working women, widening exposure through internet, development of retailing and specialty stores have contributed significantly to the handbag industry in India. A major growth driver, however, is the growing acceptance of handbags as a lifestyle product.
What kind of scope does the product segment offer in India? What about the challenges?
This product segment offers a tremendous scope of growth. More and more women are working nowadays and their earnings are also on rise. So, this combined with increasing fashion consciousness and aspiration levels adds to the demand of fashion accessories like handbags. The influx of foreign brands has also helped shape the demand landscape. However, the challenge remains to shift customer preference towards branded products and pre-empt distribution to reach customers.
What is the brand’s current spread across sales channels?
We have developed a wide distribution through a mix of offline and online sales channels. The brand is currently available in 22 Indian cities at exclusive Caprese (Caprese- Carlton) stores, all leading VIP lounges and department stores like Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons and Central across the country. Caprese products can also be bought online through our official web store, www.capresebags.com. We also retail through other leading e-commerce portals, including Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, Myntra, Jabong and others.
Tell us about the brand’s design and style inspirations. How do you keep in step with the changing needs and taste of consumers?
Our bags are made with a distinctly modern design language. Embracing a holistic concept, the sculptural aesthetics of the creations focuses on avant-garde shapes and precise cuts. We are constantly undertaking market research to understand the requirements and preferences of consumers and also to track the latest global trends in fashion.
Tell us about your latest collections. What is your pricing strategy?
The Caprese Autumn/ Winter ’16 collection offers more than 500 options of chic handbags, functional sling bags, stylish laptop bags and quintessential wallets and clutches that seamlessly combine fashion and functionality. The handbags in the collection have been attractively priced at Rs 2,000 upwards, sling bags start at Rs 1,499 onwards and wallets Rs 899 onwards.
How important is the Indian festive and wedding season to your brand?
Seasonality is of utmost importance to us. We have products that have a strong resonance with the festive occasion where there are many.
Share your marketing and promotions strategy.
We have a 360 degree approach to our marketing strategy. We have also roped in Bollywood heartthrob Alia Bhatt as our brand ambassador. We will continue to invest in brand building. We are also present across varied social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. We also have our official blog – Caprese Life.
How do you plan to grow further? Are you also looking to expand your product offerings?
Further growth will come from expansion of the current accessories and handbags portfolio and addition of new product categories, with which Caprese brand is going to be a larger part of the wardrobe of urban Indian women in more categories of fashion accessories. Besides, we are also expanding and strengthening our retail footprint.