Lacoste India strategy is to open six to eight retail outlets a year

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Mar 19, 2018

As Lacoste continues to strengthen its omni-channel retail strategy in India, the French premium label will open between six and eight stores a year.

Lacoste, which went online in India in 2016, currently has 48 points of sale across India, including its e-commerce store. The brand is present offline in 18 metro and Tier 1 cities and distribution rights are licensed to Sports and Leisure Apparel Ltd. in India.

Sports and Leisure Apparel Ltd.’s Managing Director and CEO, Rajesh Jain, recently told Images Retail Bureau in an interview: “Our strategy is to open six to eight new points of sale every year and we’re well on target every year.” As well as continuing to expand offline, the business will also be putting efforts into expanding the reach of its online store. “As far as technology is concerned, it’s certainly the way forward,” said Jain. Although the brand does operate both online and offline, it is also working to further integrate the two for a truly omni-channel approach.

Lacoste is currently focusing on metros and Tier 1 cities for brick and mortar store expansion. Although business also comes from Tier 2 cities, the brand is confident that this demand can be met through its online store at the moment and so is not currently planning to open stores at Tier 2 locations.