Zudio: Fashion at Star Prices
Fashionista? Voguish? Supercool? Haute? Then #Zudio is for you. The brand offers fashionable options at the bottom-most price for millennial and Gen Z buyers of India. The slogan ‘Fashion at Star Prices’ and ‘Irresistible Style at Irresistible Value’, gives life to the brand.
The success faces the struggle the most. Hence, what #Zudio faced. That innovative spirit for its customers of being approaching, committed, and trending; #Zudio made its entire promise true. By fulfilling them, it set its benchmark in the world of fashion. From design to distribution, the brand’s label strategy captured the entire journey. As a result, the company produced high-quality attires at competitive pricing.
History:
Zara, Star Bazar, Landmark, WestSide, and Zudio all these brands are all operated under Tata Retail Enterprise Limited – Trent Limited – Retail section of Tata. Trent Limited was started in 1998 after Tata’s Lakme sold its share with Hindustan Unilever (HUL). The share was sold for 200 million dollars at that time.
In 2017, Trent Ltd. launched Zudio. According to the company’s risk analyst, among the overall revenue of Trent’s, Zudio is contributing approximately 13%. Zudio has marked another level of brand value in the market by selling its products at affordable prices.
Noel Naval Tata, the Founder of Zudio:
Indian businessman Noel Naval Tata, the half-brother of Ratan Tata, is the chairman of Tata Investment Corporation and Trent. Noel Tata is also the managing director of Tata International and the vice chairman of Tata Steel and Titan Company. Not just Zudio but Zara, Star Bazar, Landmark, and WestSide are also part of the TCS.
WestSide is the sister brand of Zudio. Tata is holding over 200 WestSide stores. As a part of the group, in 1998 WestSide was established. The brand focuses on Fashion, Beauty, Technology, Food and Home. In the upcoming years, WestSide is planning to double its stores.
The Tata group under Trent Limited is the superhead of Zudio. #Zudio is the fastest fashionista brand. In 2016, the company was launched on Commercial Street in Bangalore, India. Currently, Tata has established 422 Zudio stores across 26 states of India. The store count of the Zudio has increased by 8x within the last 3 years. This year the brand launched 125 stores. Zudio is planning to add 200+ stores all over India within the next year. The Gross revenue of the brand is over Rs. 3000 crores.
Whereas, Zara captured 21 stores all over India. Zara is a joint venture between Inditex, a Spanish fashion company, and Trent Ltd by Tata. The Inditex group and Trent Ltd own 51% and 49% of the joint venture respectively. But for the last 2 years, no Zara stores have been opened in India. By January 2023, in over 96 countries, Zara had approx. 3,000 stores only.
The total number of Star Bazar stores in India is 48. This hypermarket chain supplies groceries, poultry, fresh food, and daily essentials. The brand is also a joint venture between the Tesco and Tata Group.
About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS):
Tata Group of India launched Zudio focusing the millennial and Gen Z buyers. Its affordable trendy options are for kids, men, and women—products like attire, footwear, and other accessories. Not just the stores but mobile app and online websites are other sources for them to earn. The main objective of the brand is to provide its products to a wide range of customers at affordable prices.
#Zudio is expanding its stores all over India. Therefore, it became the major reason to gain popularity in the market among the competitive brands.
IT company, TCS has built a strategic relationship with Jaguar Land Rover’s digital unit.
TCS workers can get a minimum of 5% discount on Tata products by showing their company’s identity card.
The Strategy of Zudio:
- Zudio focuses on the fast-selling products.
- Is starting from the lowest price when compared to other brands. Its products are under Rs. 1500. And the average price of the items is Rs. 500.
- Is expanding its franchise all over India.
- Zudio is aiming towards casual and daily wear.
The Mission of Zudio:
- To boost the brand with their exclusive products.
- Focusing on products that are more in trend in the market.
- Maintaining prices and quality at the same time while competing with other brands.
Why does Zudio have a Low-cost Budget?
#Zudio follows no-means-no to unnecessary additional costs. Here’s how:
No Middlemen:
Zudio doesn’t believe in distributors or middlemen. The brand believes in selling the products to its customers directly. Whether it is online channels or retail shops, the brand sells all its products on its own. This phenomenon helps the brand to save on additional costs.
In-house Design and Production:
There’s a strict no-no to additional cost. Whether it’s middlemen, designers, or the production team, Zudio is saving its money from all of them. Therefore, Zudio decided to go for its own design and in-house production. This also helps the company to run the business on a cheap budget and to make a competitive price in the market.
Act of Economizing:
Being a part of the #1 company, Tata Group, #Zudio got the benefit from scale economy. It means, Zudio can produce the products and can sell its products in huge numbers. Hence, the production cost is reduced.
Limited Advertising and Marketing:
Zudio didn’t invest in advertising and marketing. This helps the brand to keep the low overhead.
So, without compromising with the product’s quality, Zudio passed in producing in-house items to its customers at pocket-friendly rates.
Way to the Success:
When some go for a shopping, there are endless options. From boutique to street shopping and from online shopping to stores at the mall. But Zudio is a single brand who came like a wave on retail industry. The reason behind this wave is ‘unique pricing’. Zudio understood the Indian market needs, viz., richness in a low price. And this market strategy can’t be overlooked. From Rs. 99 to Rs. 999, Zudio has many items to give us. Therefore, the brand has gained loyal customers. Among the crores of population in India, Zudio made the majority its target, which is, the middle-class people.
Zudio Franchise Online Application Form: Rules to Follow
Zudio is popular for being a well-known fashion and lifestyle brand. The mission is to sell designer products at affordable prices. The Tata Group is the owner of the company. Whereas, the brand belongs to Trent, which is helmed by Noel, the half-brother of Ratan Tata. Zudio was launched by Anand Ramanathan in 2015.
Within the last 3 years, the graph of Zudio’s stores has increased by 8x. To date, the company is running more than 422 Zudio stores all over India. Among which 125 stores were launched in 2023. Zudio is planning to launch more than 200 stores all over India in the coming year. This proves, how the brand is quickly growing in the industry of fashion chains.
Zudio: the FOCO Model
Zudio applies FOCO (Franchise-Owned Company-Operated) model. Zudio also follows the rule of dividing the departments of their products in their store. It helps the customer to meet all their shopping needs without any complications. Other than this, it also helps in streamlining operations, along with, reducing capital expenses.
The Franchise Application
To put in an application for the Zudio franchise, one has to fill out the form of details completely. The basic required questions are:
Your name. your Email address, mobile number, complete address, work or business experience, and the information of your location.
Zudio Franchise Link: https://www.zudio.com/pages/zudio-franchise
You have to send all the information to the company’s franchise team through email. After reviewing the information Zudio will contact you if there’s a scope of availability.
Zudio Franchise Requirements/Eligibility
If you are an investor, and looking for a Zudio franchise then you have to avail the requirements given below. After applying the completed form, Zudio will never promise you to allot the franchise. It depends on the company whether it will allow you to allot the franchise or not.
- Property: There should be a commercial property. The floor area of the land should be between 6,000-8,000 square feet.
- Unit or Shop Area: The unit or shop area should be 3,000 square feet.
- The Nose Count of Employees: A store should have 5-10 employees under them.
- Computer/Laptop or Internet Connections: PC and internet connections cannot be missed in every store.
- The Franchise Period: The agreement will be a minimum of 7 years after which it can be extended on mutual consent.
- Percentage of Revenue Sharing: Zudio allows 16% of Revenue sharing.
- Return on Investment (ROI): The return on Investment of Zudio is 30-36 months.
- Documents Required: Pan card, bank passbook, GSD certificate, dark card, three businesses, address proof, and five passport-size photos.
Zudio Franchise Fees
The Zudio franchise rate is Rupees 10 Lakhs. The investors have to pay these franchise fees only one time. The other costs involve:
- Capital Expenditure: Capex will be of around 1.2 crores.
- The Rent of the Property: It varies.
- Investment in Infrastructure: Infrastructure investment will be between 75 lakhs to 1.25 crores.
Marketing Strategy of Zudio
- Nowadays, targeting social media is one of the main sources of gaining customers. So social media marketing is required
- Secondly, collaborating with influencers is a boost to welcome more customers.
- Last, but not least, if you are applying to a Zudio franchise, remember you have to be compelled to online conversion rate optimization (CRO).
Zudio Franchise’s Profit Margin
The profitable margin by Zudio Franchise is typically between 15% to 20%. The rate of the profit depends on the given factors.
- Location
- Volume of sales
- The strategic planning on pricing
- The levels of inventory
- Competition in the locality
- Economy
Zudio Net Profit Margin
In FY23 (Fiscal Year 2023), Zudio broke its eight-year record. This time, the net profit margin of Zudio was 7%.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
- Affordable prices, products under 1500
- Current loyal users
- Highly brand recognition
- Innovative Product offering
- Fast selling products
- No middlemen
- In-house design production
- Positive consumer attitude towards the company
- A few competitors in your area
- Value for money is high in the customer’s eyes when compared to other brands
Weakness
- Limited resources spent on marketing, as well as on advertisement
Opportunities
- Expanding franchises all over the country
- Boosting brand image
- Low-cost budget
- Working with social media influencers
Threats
- Tough competition with other related brands
Reason Behind the Affordable Price by Zudio
Tata Group is India’s retail giant and is the owner of Zudio, the fashion brand on budget. As the brand offers a variety of clothing, footwear, and accessories, it also helps the brand to maintain its low price. The other factors are mentioned below:
In-house Design and Production: Zudio has its in-house production, hence, produces its products and makes its designs. It helps in keeping the products’ cost down and to give competitive prices to others.
No Middlemen: Zudio sells to their customers directly. As they have their online channels and retail stores, no distributors or middlemen are required of them. It eliminates the additional cost.
Limited advertising and Marketing: Investing heavily on advertising and marketing is not Zudio’s work style. Hence, it helps their customer to buy products at a low cost.