Tanishq, the jewellery business of Titan Industries Ltd, is looking at other alternatives to capture the market. Apart from the presence in high streets, the retail chain is embarking on pilot projects, involving presence in shopping malls and shop-in-shops in retail formats. The move comes in the growing popularity of such formats which are attracting footfalls, which Tanishq is looking to grab. 

Speaking to FE, Titan Industries Ltd divisional manager V Govind Raj said the pilot projects are being undertaken to understand whether the move to position itself in such formats is feasible. “The shopping malls with their food, entertainment and lifestyle formats are attracting a lot of footfalls. Therefore, the pilot project would help us understand whether positioning ourselves in such formats would be beneficial or not. Depending on the learning, we will roll out further,” said Mr Govind Raj. 

As part of the pilot project, a Tanishq retail outlet will come up in R mall Mulund, Mumbai. The company is opening a shop-in-shop at a Shoppers’ Stop outlet in Hyderabad. These outlets are apart from the standalone Tanishq outlets which are present in the high streets all over the country. Mr Govind Raj explained that the experimentation with presence in a mall and shop-in-shop is an attempt to understand whether the footfalls which come to these formats can be veered towards Tanishq. “In shop-in-shops like the one in Shoppers’ Stop, Hyderabad, the challenge is to bring out the Tanishq brand in the limited space given to us. Similarly, through presence in a shopping mall, the attempt is to understand whether the brand will gel with the various other formats within the premises,” he said. 

However, the focus for Tanishq still remains the standalone boutiques. At present, there are around 65 Tanishq boutiques all over the country and the target is to have around 75 such boutiques in the next two to three years. The slow progress in expansion is attributed to the fact that the chain is looking to grow with greater depth in product offering and reach in one particular location rather than volumes through expansion. 

“The expansion would mainly cover big metropolises and involve growing in one particular city through more boutiques,” Mr Govind Raj said. The expansion has been slow but steady and growth in terms of revenues has come from the depth in product offering even as footprint expanded all over the country, he added. 

Last year, Tanishq clocked a turnover of Rs 340 crore and for the financial year 2003-2004, it is looking to touch over Rs 400 crore. Interestingly, for the coming festive seas-on, the company has produced a audio visual campaign, which comes after a gap of almost three years. The reason for the hiatus from the audio visual medium, explained Mr Govind Raj, was more focus on store-centric promos in the same timeframe rather than a pan-national promotion. “This festive season, the adspend is to the tune of Rs 4-5 crore, comprising both television promotionals and store promos,” added Mr Govind Raj.