Bonita is one of the brands of Casa brands which was launched just two years back. In just short span of two years the company is able to reach more than 1000 stores India through independent stores in dealership network. In the span of two years the brand is presented in 15 Indian states and 45 cities.Internationally, the brand is presented in Austria and New Zealand. In an exclusive conversation, Umang Srivastava, Joint Managing Director, Bonita highlights the journey of the brand so far.
Origin and brand development
Bonita was developed when the company observes that Home Organization & Storage products of International Styling and quality were not available to the Indian consumers. “The major reason for this gap was that the category was dominated by unorganized players who had no sense of styling, quality or product innovation and neither did they want to invest in the same. This led us to see a huge opportunity and also a gap in the market and we started developing products under Bonita to fill that gap and to give an opportunity to the Indian woman to experience the innovation, styling and quality available internationally.” shares Srivastava.
Challenges while starting-up
“We have gone through all challenges right from getting the right team in place, funds availability, long gestation time, customers not ready to believe in the concept since it was new.” he says.
Added further he states that most people could not believe (and actually discourages us) that Brands can be created with shoe string budgets and in such a short period of time.
Current presence
Bonita products are available across 1000+ Independent retail Stores across India also available through all major websites like Fabfurnish, Snapdeal, Pepperfry, Groupon, Ebay, etc. The brand is presented through 15+ online websites and soon going to launch on Flipkart under the home utility category which is suppose to launch shortly.
“We have also started getting placements in Modern retail and Bonita products are already available through Shoppers Stop, Hometown, Lulu, Viveks, etc. and would be avalible soon with HYPERCITY . Apart from this, principal go-ahead has been received from 5 major National & Prestigious Retail Chains and placements will happen by end March/early April across these Stores,” informs Srivastava.
Moreover, the brand is currently selling through 45 cities across India which is expected to grow to 70 cities by June 2014. Internationally, the brand in presented in Australia and New Zealand.
Product Range
The brand operates in audary organier and storage and we have just foryed in to kitchen category. “Under our brand, our product category includes the complete range of products in Laundry Care, Organising and Storage category. Under these categories, we have the complete product range viz. ironing boards, Cloth Dryers, Ironing & Drying Accessories like Silicosafe, Ironing Mat, Cloth Pegs (to be launched shortly), Shoe Racks, Laundry Baskets & Hampers, Vacuum Bags, etc. We are going to add several product ranges like Folding Wardrobes, Complete range of Shoe racks, Travel Organisers, etc. Our price ranges starts from Rs. 295/- and goes upto Rs. 3995/.,” shares Srivastava.
Brand USP
Bonita’s biggest USP is that we strive to create more livable space with our products without spoiling the ambience of the house and making our customer’s life easier and more enjoyable.
Strategies on Competition
There are couple of International brands who have launched their products in India in a small way. While they do have a decent range, most of the range is not built as per Indian customer needs and so in reality, the product assortment relevant for the Indian market is very small. This is the reason customers are preferring Bonita over these brands. Apart from this, there are some regional unorganized players and imports from China which is definitely a large part of the sales but the quality standards are far inferior.
Expansion Plan
As Srivastava shares the company is going to launch its exclusive store very shortly in any of the metropolitan cities of India. Also, the brand will soon tie-up with Godrej and Bajaj to expand the presence.
On the international front, the brand is all set to extend its presence in US market very shortly.
