How Online-Only Brand Kazarmax is Using Tech to Reshape the Future of Indian Footwear Industry

The Indian footwear market is driven by increasing fashion awareness among the youth and growing consumer preferences to match their daily outfits with their footwear. In addition, the rise in health concerns motivates people to perform indoor and outdoor physical activities, which fuel the demand for athletic shoes. However, the high cost associated with raw materials and increased production of duplicate footwear products by local manufacturers hampers the market growth. The presence of counterfeit products in the industry hinders its growth. Conversely, an increase in demand for fancy and comfortable footwear is expected to provide various opportunities for market growth.

“India is the 2nd largest producer of footwear, 2nd largest exporter of leather garments, and the 5th largest exporter of leather goods. This presents an India to the world, full of opportunities in the footwear sector,” as per Invest India’s report.

“It is expected to grow at 11 percent over the next five years. It is expected that India’s non-leather footwear industry will cross the $6 billion mark by 2024. Globally, 86 percent of footwear consumption has become non-leather by volume and India is witnessing a similar trend. This has added to revenue generation by the non-leather footwear industry,” the report added. 

In recent years, the footwear industry has grown and consumers have more options and expect more from brands. Where most of the big players can’t get along with the consumer’s expectations are affordability, comfort, availability, suitability, sustainability, and much more, Kazarmax is providing the solution for these sorts of problems. 

A PETA-approved vegan brand, Kazarmax Footwear is a homegrown footwear company that has been steadily growing over the past four years in the Indian market. Based solely online, this company has proved that you don’t need to have a brick-and-mortar store to gain a loyal customer base. Kazarmax has proved to be a market leader in children’s footwear and is gradually increasing its stronghold in the women’s and men’s footwear category as well.

The brand was started out as a passion project in early 2017 by Simran Mann Sachdeva. She realized that good-quality footwear was hard to come by at pocket-friendly prices in India. The market was either flooded with cheap imported low-quality footwear or branded high-priced ones. The brand was developed to bring high-quality, fashionable athleisure footwear at reasonable prices to Indian customers. In addition, Kazarmax is one of the only Indian brands that provides parent-child and sibling twinning footwear.

Why the Digital Way?
Since its inception and launch, Kazarmax has chosen to only sell online thereby proving that you do not need a brick-and-mortar store to get brand recognition. The brand is currently selling successfully on its website, as well as across all major e-commerce portals like Amazon, Myntra, Ajio, Flipkart, FirstCry, and Hopscotch. 

Sachdeva shared, “The cross-portal visibility has added to the increased brand recall with the majority of customers being repeat customers. Thanks to online retail, the customer base is very wide. From the major metropolitan cities to the remotest towns; it is easy to find Kazarmax customers across India.”

Technological Approach
Technology plays a very important role when it comes to shoemaking, designing, streamlining the process, etc. Technology is a very important aspect of shoemaking.

On the technical front, she said, “Every component, from the sole material to the fabrication of the upper textiles to the composition of the insole requires precise technical know-how. The soles used in our shoes are fabricated with a unique composition of rubber and EVA that not only makes the shoe lightweight but also increases its durability and wearability. The fabrics used are chosen with utmost care to ensure that they are vegan, hypoallergenic, washable, and sweat-wicking. Kazarmax shoes are cushioned with memory foam insoles to provide the ultimate athleisure comfort.”

Future Goals
The brand has recently launched its accessories line that includes socks, hairbands, and belts. 

“The customer response has been very encouraging to these new additions especially since most of the accessories are made to coordinate with the shoes. We plan to introduce categories like bags and caps in the coming months,” she asserted.

“As mentioned earlier, Kazarmax is now becoming more than just a footwear brand. The ongoing and future coordinated accessories lines have shown tremendous promise. In the coming financial year, the brand will see its official launch in the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America. Kazarmax is a purely self-funded brand,” she further added.

The brand has nearly doubled its revenue every year since its launch. With the increasing number of SKUs and categories, the actual revenues are easily surpassing the projected numbers. 

“Due to an increased brand recall and repeat customer base, our website is seeing increased traffic on a daily basis. Our projected revenue for this fiscal year is approx Rs 20 crore. This seems to be a conservative number taking into consideration the rate at which the brand is growing,” she concluded.