Denim brand Numero Uno expands to shoes, deodorants

New Delhi: With a plan to make its non-apparel business one-fourth of the overall revenue by 2020, denim brand Numero Uno is reinventing itself by moving on to categories like grooming and leather shoes amid competition.

Over the last few months, the home-grown denim company has been expanding its non-apparel portfolio by launching new categories like deodorants, perfumes, body splashes in grooming and leather and fabric shoes in footwear. The company is also expanding its range of accessories.

“We want the brand to be interesting and relevant with the changing times.The brand must evolve over time. We have been doing brand extensions to increase the experience level for customers coming to our stores,” said Narinder Singh Dhingra, chairman and managing director at Numero Uno Clothing Ltd.

At present, the non-apparel categories account for 10% of the overall revenue of the company. Declining to disclose the actual revenue of the company, Dhingra said that the idea is to take that percentage up to 25% in two years.

In 2018, the company will be investing Rs25 crore on expanding the new categories and will increase the investment by 20% every year.

While deodorants are priced at Rs195 and perfumes at Rs499, Dhingra said footwear across categories will be priced below Rs2,000. “We are trying to price the products reasonably. These products should not burn a hole in the consumer’s pocket,” said Dhingra.

Numero Uno is retailed at 220 exclusive stores and 600 multi-brand outlets. The company also sells through large-format stores and online marketplaces like Myntra and Flipkart. Recently, the company ventured into athleisure wear with the launch of a new sub-brand N1.

Experts believe that Numero Uno’s move to extend its brand to new categories makes sense. “Denim market is a very competitive market; there is a huge competition with foreign brands coming in as well as online marketplaces expanding. The brand extension makes sense because the brand itself is well known in the market and consumers associate with it,” said Arvind Singhal, chairman at consulting firm Technopak Advisors
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