Titan eyes ₹100 crore from women’s bags segment

Titan Company said the organised market for women’s handbags in India would cross ₹3,000 crore in the next five years and by then, the company would have a revenue share of ₹1,000 crore in the segment.

The company announced its foray into the women’s handbag segment, a new lifestyle category, by introducing the brand, IRTH. It would compete with brands such as Lavie, Baggit and also international labels.

Manish Gupta, CEO and VP Fragrances & Fashion Accessories Division, Titan Company told The Hindu that the women’s handbag segment offered a fairly large opportunity for the company as the market mostly remained underpenetrated currently.

“We see an attractive opportunity in women’s bags category for us to explore. It is sizeable and has a lot of whitespaces,’‘ he said.

The country’s unorganised ladies’ handbag market is pegged at more than ₹4,500 crore of which the organised portion at present accounts for ₹1,600 crore and is expected close to double in the next five years, as per Mr. Gupta.

“It is a sizeable and attractive market and our ambition is to do ₹1,000 crore in the first five years from IRTH as well as Fastrack girls’ bags,’‘ he added.

Titan Company said it would have bags to cater to the requirement of mass, economy, premium and luxury customer segments with prices starting below ₹500 and going up to ₹6,000. “Our focus is going to be international like quality and design at a much lower ticket size,’‘ Mr. Gupta explained.

The IRTH product portfolio would include maternity bags (with special insulations for feeding bottles and compartments for fresh and used baby nappies), working professionals, wildlife enthusiasts, photographers, artists, musicians, home makers and others.

“There are two categories of consumers that are targeted by IRTH: Functionalist who says ‘I need value’ and Romanticist who says ‘I love bags’. We are targeting customers of 23 years and above,’‘ he elaborated.

Titan Company expects 40% of its women’s bags sales to come via fashion verticals of top e-com platforms, and the rest through exclusive outlets and department chains. By March 2023, IRTH would have exclusive outlets and flagship stores in three metros including Bengaluru.