India will be one of the first countries to bounce back: Abhishek Ganguly, Puma

Abhishek Ganguly, Managing Director, Puma India & Southeast Asia, talks about the impact of lockdown and recovery going forward and new product plans among others during a candid chat with Swati Khandelwal, Zee Business. Edited Excerpts: 

Q: We are slowly moving towards recovery after being under a complete lockdown for two months. How this lockdown has impacted your business and what is your strategy to cater to the demand?

A: April and May have remained a difficult period for us as the business came down to almost negligible levels. It was a period when the stores and e-commerce were closed but things are restarting now and eCommerce has been started and deliveries have started across India except in the containment zones. Besides, about 134 stores out of 360 stores have been opened by now and malls stores will be opened from Monday except in containment zones. So, business is slowing getting back on track and stores are being opened. At the same time, positivity is also returning in business. However, we will have to wait for the next three months and see what it uncovers as it will tell us the way the year will move further. But, we are quite hopeful.

Q: India is a critical and important country for Puma because of its consumer demography. How are you anticipating the demand now? Do you think that it is going to be a lean period as people will stay from spending more or demand is going to be a healthy one and you will be able to cater to them?

A: I think, India will be one of the first countries to bounce back and it has several facts, like our overall macro-factors – under which a lot of investments will be made in India as India’s trust-level as compared to China amid the ongoing mindset. India will be a place where everybody would like to invest, which means, capital will come to the country in the next 6-12 months once things start setting down. From the demand perspective, I think, our category, Sports, is a resilient category because it is popular here and there is an increase in sportswear. So, I feel that a major improvement will be seen in our category in future and we are expecting a good recovery and it will come soon.

Watch Zee Business live TV below:

Q: Do you have any plans to launch new products and designs because you customize things country-wise as per the demand? What is your outlook on trends? 

A: First of all, as a brand, we have a global approach but locally we are very sensitive. We have a local orientation in terms of customer demand, the way we market and the kind of ambassador that we choose. So our approach remains locally sensitive. At the moment we have seen that several people are working from home and staying majorly at homes. So, the demand in the category of home essentials, like t-shirts, collar-shirts, track-pants and shorts has gone up as people are staying at home. So, there are many tailwinds in this category of Puma.