Pepe Jeans India is firmly weaving data into the fabric of the company, says Manish Kapoor, Managing Director and CEO
Pepe Jeans has a long and inspiring history.
It was founded in 1973 by three brothers Nitin, Arun and Milan Shah who ran a weekend stall at Portobello Road Market in London.
As denim fever swept the fashion world in the 80s and 90s, Pepe Jeans rode the wave to global fame. From a humble stall to a Carnaby Street shop, from Ireland to Europe and beyond, Pepe Jeans grew fast and strong, weaving a success story with every stitch.
The Indian subsidiary was launched in 1989 to create some of the most exciting denim styles.
Today, this 50-year-old business is slowly transforming itself into a 21st century digital, data, and AI leader.
“The biggest challenge for us is to be ahead of the curve in terms of understanding the customer’s wants and needs and how to adapt ourselves basis those understanding. As data becomes increasingly more plentiful—and more valuable, it is helping us utilize the insights across our value chain,” says Manish Kapoor, Managing Director and CEO, Pepe Jeans India Limited while speaking with ET Edge Insights.
According to a recent report from Research and Markets, the global market for Denim Jeans estimated at US$64.5 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$95.2 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 5% over the analysis period 2022-2030.
What When Wear:
For a long period of time, the Indian subsidiary of Pepe Jeans relied largely on partners and intermediaries to reach consumers. But now, with the aim of building a truly customer-centric business, the brand is going down the direct-to-consumer (D2C) route.
Pepe Jeans India Limited has a wide presence across India through multiple sales channels and currently has 200 stores PAN India.
Kapoor shares that traditionally, the denim industry relied on intuition and instinct.
“We would trust our experience, or the feedback from the sales team. But things have changed. Today we have a lot of data, and have learned how to use it wisely,” Kapoor says.
He calls it a mix of art and science. “Data is the science part, but it needs to be balanced with the art of experience,” Kapoor says.
The team has been focusing on building a strong social connection with consumers and fostering long-term customer relationships.
“Data has become the starting point for most of our decisions. It will become more important as we start building AI/ML models to predict consumer behavior and help us internally in our production” Kapoor says.
For many, data provides a reassuring sense of truth. However, data’s integrity depends entirely on how it was gathered, who conducted it, and how it was analyzed.
“Data can also be tricky,” Kapoor says, and one must filter out the noise and focus on the signal.
Analytics is no longer a buzzword for the CEOs, but a pressing priority. They are facing more and more queries about how they use data to drive their decisions and strategies. It is about finding how they can leverage the power of data to create more value for customers and the organization.
On the future, Kapoor says that “over the next 12 to 18 months we want more than 50% of our sales to happen from D2C channels. Also, we would like to have more real-time access to the consumer response and then take decisions based on the reactions.”
According to a June 2023 report by CRISIL Ratings “Pepe Jeans India Limited is planning to open around 15-20 new stores each year to increase its geographical reach. This can be reflected in the increase in revenues expected at around Rs. 550-555 crore in fiscal 2023 from Rs.364 crore in fiscal 2022.”
India has around 2.5% share in the global denim wear industry. Various reports indicate that the Indian denim market is on a steady rise with an average CAGR of 8-9% and will reach a value of Rs 91,894 crore by 2028.
