The sneaker craze has set foot in the country

talking to Mint In January, Anand Narang, Vice President, Marketing and Customer Service, Bata, also summarized the growing craze of sneakers in the country led by Millennials and GenZ. ‘Sneakerization’ is a global trend and changes in the market are about companies being more relaxed about what they wear to work, he said, referring to casual outfits. Furthermore, the coronavirus pandemic accelerated this trend as consumers demanded products they could use on multiple occasions.

Saurabh Sharma, Marketing Head, premium Japanese sports performance brand ASICS India said, “Sneaker culture is almost a celebration of one’s own expression and the Indian consumer has made it even more exciting.” Good pair sneakers are considered an investment today, he said, adding that the creativity that young consumers bring to the sneaker world is an indication of a strong growth in this culture in the times to come.

Not surprisingly, the company known for its sports shoes and performance wear has expanded its sneaker range. Sharma added that it offers sneakers that suit every personality and mood through top-notch designs and vibrant colors.

Sharma pointed out that for ASICS, sneakers have been a focus area for a few years now and have shown growth year after year, with more and more people becoming aware of the category and culture. “Given the versatility of the sneakers, we are targeting strong commercial contributions in 2022 and beyond,” he added.

To be sure, although India has been home to specialty sneaker stores like Veg Non Veg and Superkicks for some time, Narang cites reports three years ago indicating that sneakers contribute about 40% of the total footwear market, Which is close to 50% today. It is expected to reach 60-65% in three-four years.

Interestingly, when Vedanta Lamba, founder of The Mainstreet Marketplace, a reselling platform for sneakers, talked about the increasing craze for sneakers in India, he almost made the trend spectacular. “Sneakers aren’t just casual dressing. It’s something that’s a lot more personal, intuitive. There’s more story involved,” he said. He probably takes a more in-depth look at sneaker culture as his startup deals in coveted limited-edition sneakers from global brands like Adidas, Nike and Reebok, which it claims are India’s most popular sneakers. I have a lot of demand for it.

Lamba’s startup deals in secondhand shoes but that doesn’t mean used shoes, he explained. Young people buy expensive sneakers at launch and know their price will go up. Then they reach Lamba’s platform. “So there are all kinds of people in the ecosystem—companies, buyers and sellers. We are a platform that brings buyers and sellers together. Although estimating the size of the sneaker resale market can be difficult, follow your pair on Instagram. Considering the number of persons selling, this is bound to be significant,” he said. Sneakers are about being brand, fashion and cool, Lamba said, and it’s no wonder people spend more than 20,000- 30,000 on exclusive pairs of your choice.

Mainstreet Marketplace, which has two offline resale stores and a website, may have raised a small amount of funds, but its first store, which opened four years ago in Lamba’s home town of Pune, flopped. He resumed business in Mumbai, but that too, was forced to return to Pune by the March 2020 lockdown. “But in the first two months of that lockdown, I made more money than I did in my entire two years in Mumbai,” he said, “we scaled up online rapidly. Although we had a website, we were selling pretty much 100%.” Were our products on Instagram. Now the website is also down.”

Shuchi Bansal Mint Media, Marketing and Advertising Editor. The Ordinary Post will look into the pre-ssing issues related to these three. Or just fun stuff.