India’s leading fashion company Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) will set up a platform for foraying into the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) business.
The D2C market opportunity in India is expected to be US $100 billion by 2025.
The D2C portfolio will be built through organic and inorganic means. This venture will initially be funded through ABFRL’s internal accruals. At an appropriate time, the company will look to bring in external capital to accelerate the growth journey.
The Board of Directors of the Company has provided an omnibus approval to set up a new subsidiary towards building a portfolio of distinct, new-age, digital brands across categories in fashion, beauty and other allied lifestyle segments.
In a statement, the company said that the newly incorporated entity will organically incubate and also acquire promising and scalable D2C brands.
Other than providing growth capital, ABFRL’s proposition is built around its strong operational expertise where it will utilise its rich experience and capabilities to scale up this portfolio.
Ashish Dikshit, MD, ABFRL said, “We are excited about the D2C opportunity in India. At ABFRL, we want to build the next set of iconic brands in the digital space as we evolve with our changing consumers. Leveraging our core capabilities around design, product creation, sourcing and brand building that have enabled us to create some of India’s most loved fashion brands in the offline space, we now wish to craft a blockbuster portfolio in the digital space as well.”
He also added “We are confident that this foray will successfully meet the aspirations of digitally native customers and also create long-term value for investors and other stakeholders.”
The company will now accelerate the process of building the D2C framework and identifying key talent for this play. It will look at tapping the broader tech ecosystem and collaborate effectively with its e-commerce partners, tech service providers, digital marketing agencies to scale this business rapidly.
With revenue of Rs. 5,249 crore spanning retail space of 8.4 million sq. ft., ABFRL is India’s first billion-dollar pure-play fashion powerhouse with an elegant bouquet of leading fashion brands and retail formats.
