The footwear industry has been gaining a prominent spotlight in the style and fashion industry. After the ban on Chinese products, the local for the vocal campaign has started, and this campaign will generate demand for the footwear industry in India.

In India, the footwear industry can leverage the internet to reach, drive sales, and learn how customers behave.
According to the recent study, the Indian footwear market will be INR 790.6 billion (USD 11 billion) by 2023.

In this blog, we will learn some of the growth factors, critical trends, and challenges impacting India’s footwear domain.

Let’s read the Growth factors first.

Disposable income and economic growth

The rise in per capita and disposable income has transformed customer buying ways towards apparel and footwear. Today, most of the urban population, chiefly in tier I and II cities, have higher spending potential. It is a substantial reason for the growth of the footwear market.

Government initiatives

Today, the Indian footwear and leather industry are becoming export-oriented. The Government has initiated several moves to raise the footwear and leather export to more than INR 900 billion (USD 12.6 billion) by 2020. The Government also declared incentive packages for the leather and footwear industry of INR 26,000 million (USD 364 million).
It will encourage makers to work in an organized way with a better deal under pricing pressure and employ 300,000 people. According to the National Skill Certification & Monetary Reward Scheme, since July 2015, approximately 60,358 youth have been trained adequately for different leather and footwear industries. Various Footwear and design institutes for training have enabled Indians to compete at a Global Level and acquire employment.

Leather Production at its Peak

India has the largest cattle inventory in the world in 2020 followed by Brazil & the United States.   Roughly 65% of the world’s cattle are in India, Brazil & the United States.  (The cattle inventory in India includes water buffalo).
This helps the Indian leather industry which already produces one of the finest leathers in Cow Napa, Sheep and Pigskin. We not only supply Leather to its footwear manufacturers but also exports to Europe, China and America.

Now, it’s time to learn why India needs to go for production in the country itself.

Ban on Chinese products

Since the Indian Government has imposed the ban, it will empower Indian manufacturers to go for PM dreams project locally for a vocal and become global supply chain partners. Therefore, the Indian industry has immense scope and soon establishes itself as a hub for footwear.
With International Brands looking to Divest from China, India stand as competent option to become the next Footwear manufacturing hub for Global Brands.

Critical trends in the footwear market in India

Mechanization in the footwear market

Traditionally, designing footwear required enormous manual work, mainly in sewing and making the uppers. Usually, it would take 18 months, from calculation to delivery, making it difficult to meet supply with demand. But with the arrival of automation in the production line, footwear production has grown more reliable and effective.
Famous brands have long resorted to automatic production. Earlier, these companies designed footwear based on what needs to be delivered in the next six months, but now they are working based on what customers are currently buying. Now, the time taken from making to delivery is around 15 to 30 days

Omni-channel strategy

With footwear evolving from an essential obligation in daily life to a symbol of fashion and style, the makers must ensure synchronization over all the platforms, overcome operational complexities, and assist customer requirements.