Footwear and apparel maker Woodland plans to launch a separate line of products for third party e-commerce sites. The move comes as the firm is miffed by discounts given by the e-commerce firms on its current products.
“The e-commerce market has grown tremendously, and they have been offering discounts which we do not approve. We have to stop supply to them for a month,” Woodland Managing Director Harkirat Singh said.
The company had realised that discounts had become inevitable for e-commerce firms due to increasing competition.
“However, if these firms offer discount on their sites, and if we do not in our stores, we are going to lose out customers. So, we are now planning to launch a separate set of products to be made available for these e-commerce firms.”
Mr. Singh said the firm was already showcasing its new set of products to Flipkart in the last three months. Supply of the current products would be phased out once the new products were made available, he added.
Woodland would make available the current set of its products only on its own e-commerce site. “This way, we have better control over the price,” said Mr. Singh.
Mr. Singh was here to launch its latest winter technology enhanced collection.
Woodland plans to grow its revenue by 30 per cent to Rs.1,300 crore in the current fiscal from Rs.1,000 crore last year.
About 25 per cent of the revenue comes from exports. And, Mr. Singh saw opportunities in emerging markets of South Africa, the Middle East and Australia. “Already, we are in talks with groups there,” he added.