In January this year, Titan Industries made its foray into the multi-brand watch market with the launch of its new retail outlet Helios in Bangalore. The store offers customers a wide range of premium international brands along with a shopping experience designed to ensure customer delight.

 

Shyamala Ramanan, senior marketing manager, Titan Industries, shares the thinking behind the company’s strategy and talks about what customers can look forward to

 

Titan launched the Helios store in Bangalore earlier this year. Tell us about the strategy behind the launch and the company’s foray into the multi-brand watch market.
Titan piloted Helios as a multi-brand watch store retailing premium brands catering to the discerning watch customer, in order to exploit the growing opportunity in the premium watch segment, a space that is highly fragmented across several brands. This new concept store will take us a long way in expanding the watch market in India and grabbing a significant share. By bringing so many reputed and premium watch brands under one roof, Titan offers an entirely new experience of watch shopping to our customers in Bangalore.

 

Was this a natural extension for the company?
Yes, it is a natural extension for Titan. Watches and retailing are integral to Titan Industries’ competencies. It was based on an extensive study carried out that indicated that the target consumer felt there was a dearth of world-class shopping environments in the multi-brand watch store segment, along with other aspects such as good, knowledgeable store staff, parking, location etc.

 

What consumer segment/market will Helios cater to?
The store targets premium and accessible luxury watch buyers. These are discerning watch buyers seeking a wider and deeper choice of brands and products.

 

Which are the brands that will be sold at the store? What options will customers have and in what price range?
The Helios store possibly houses the largest number of watch brands under one roof. With more than 40 brands and over 2,200 watches on display, it provides an incredible choice to the discerning, upmarket customer.

 

The brands include Titan, Tommy Hilfiger, Fossil, Guess, Roberto Cavalli, Emporio Armani, Hugo Boss, Versace, Movado, Raymond Weil and Baume & Mercier. The price range is between Rs3,500 to Rs25,000.

 

The store is housed across a spacious 2,600 sq ft. How different is it from the World of Titan showrooms? Has the company introduced any innovations to improve customer experience?
The store is clearly targeted at the global discerning customer who wants a very premium watch-buying experience. Unlike a World of Titan that houses the Titan brands, Helios hosts over 40 globally known brands under one roof and is at least two times the size of an average World of Titan store.

 

The space provided, the attention given to display, the quality, and the in-depth brand knowledge of the store sales team and the personal attention given to customers are some of the improvements introduced to enhance customer experience.

 

How has the pilot store been received so far?
The response has been overwhelming. The store has been very well received by customers and partners alike.

 

What plans does the company have for Helios?
This year we plan to pilot this format across three different towns. With the learning from this, the company plans to seek board approval and hopefully roll out up to 50 stores in the next three years.