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Since 1986, Kolkata-based Sreeleathers has delivered on its’ promise of offering durable products at affordable prices. Today, besides being a household name in Bengal, it is a must-visit for tourists. One of the key indicators of the oncoming Durga Puja is the queues outside this store. A brand made in Kolkata, now has stores all over North and East India. RAI Marketing Director Dr Hitesh Bhatt spoke to Satyabrata Dey, the founder of Sreeleathers to understand the business, the growth, and what the future holds
Tell us a little about your business
Sreeleathers focuses on selling durable footwear and accessories at affordable prices. We offer the best possible price throughout the year, and cater to the needs of consumers who value their hard-earned money. Multiple market research has revealed that same quality of footwear when sold at different brands’ stores are sold at much higher prices. Even though people are willing to pay a higher price, we will not raise our prices. We will continue to offer premium quality products at competitive prices. Our flagship store (on Lindsay street) is spread across 38,000sq ft and holds the world record for being the largest single brand footwear store.
What was the story behind starting the business? Who started the business? When did the first store open?
The brand, Sreelathers that you see today started when I came to Kolkata (then Calcutta) in 1986. I recognised two gaps in the footwear market. The first opportunity was that all the existing brands were grossly overpriced and the second was that all vendors/suppliers were receiving irregular orders and payments. I worked to ensure that my customers received the best quality at the best price, and my suppliers were content with regular orders and payments. Steadily, the brand received recognition among customers and during the Durga pujo festival we saw a spike in popularity.
What were the major milestones in your journey?
Three months after I had opened the store, I sold the first pair of ladies chappal at Rs.69 and I was so happy that day. This was the biggest milestone for me because I realised the only validation that I needed was consumer confidence in my product.
Tell us about your omni-channel initiatives. What are your plans in this regard?
We only sell online through our own website, www.Sreeleathers.com . Considering we are catering to price-sensitive consumers, it is critical that we devise a growth plan according to their needs. It is far more economical for us to sell through our own website compared to selling through third-party platforms. The last two years have forced us to focus on our online performance. Last year, we changed the interface of the website to make it more user-friendly. Since we have limited number of stores, our digital platform helps us access a wider geographic network. Even though the future of retail is blended and having both options (online and offline) is important, I believe that tangibility has played a very important role for Sreeleathers. Since we offer highly competitive prices, it is important for customers to touch and feel the quality of the product. Without the tangibility factor, customers look at price to understand the quality which is the most misleading practice in retail today. A product can be expensive for a variety of reasons including an inefficient supply chain, wastage of resources, artificially increasing the price to facilitate a discount later, etc.
How do you leverage technology for your business?
I believe in skill-building within the organisation. We don’t have an advertising agency, all our artwork, photography, media buying and campaign related responsibilities are fulfilled in-house. The same goes for our tech department, all the inventory applications, website domains, internal technology concerns are addressed by our in-house tech team. From time-to-time we host training sessions hosted by consultants or professors from different universities to keep us updated.
What has the pandemic taught you about running a retail business?
Before the series of lockdown was announced I had made one decision early on that I would not lay off a single employee. That is exactly what we did, we carried out strategic pivots to keep the brand relevant during the pandemic and didn’t lay off a single employee because of the pandemic. It is the upper management’s responsibility to protect the interests of all the people in the organisation.
What are your business priorities in 2023?
2023 is a very important year for us. We will be making two big infrastructural changes this year: the first is inaugurating a warehouse in Mundka, New Delhi that will enable us to decentralise our distribution network and aid in geographic expansion in the North. This will also help our warehouses in Kolkata to focus on growth in the East.
Secondly, our digital performance has grown exponentially in the last few years and we have outgrown our current headquarters. Next year we are shifting to a larger office space and are looking to welcome a lot more people to join our organisation.
Tell us about your expansion/growth plans.
We tend to be conservative when it comes to opening new dealerships. A lot of research and planning goes into approving a store location. We want to ensure maximum success for our dealers and maximum satisfaction of our customers. Once a dealership is approved, it is a strong relationship and we operate like one big Sreeleathers family. Even with just 42 stores we are considered as one of the formidable brands in the country. This is because each of my stores outperform the other stores in the city.
What is your expansion strategy?
Our priority will be on making sure that our value proposition is not compromised in order to expand, which is why we have a sustainable growth rate in mind. “World Class, Right Price” this has always been a priority for us and will continue to be so in the future too.
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