Titan aims to become a premium watch brand

Titan Watches will premiumise products, price points and the flagship retail format —- World of Titan —- in a bid to garner a larger market share in the premium segment, Harish Bhat, chief operating officer, said.

The watch division of Titan Industries had a little over a year ago made its first attempt at selling watches in the price range of Rs8,000-16,000 with its Automatic collection.

Bhat said the product range priced above Rs10,000 is doing very well for the company as consumers are fast uptrading.

Also, having realised the potential in its best growing segment —- above the Rs5,000 price point —- Titan is focused on launching more premium offerings now.

So much so, a company spokesperson had earlier said that over time, Titan may well start selling watches above Rs40,000.
Titan has a presence in the mass-segment through brand Sonata, and in the premium segment through flagship brand Titan, while the Fastrack brand falls somewhere in between.

“We are seeing more and more consumer willingness to buy watches at Rs5,000 plus —- a segment growing at 25%, because disposable incomes are going up. You are going to see increased number of introductions in the premium segment. Also, we are increasingly opening the World of Titan stores at premium locations, the look and experience also will become more premium,” Bhat said, adding that in a few years consumers will keep uptrading on this segment.

For the festive season, the company has launched the Titan Tycoon and Raga Aqua collections. The company is focused on launching a new watch collection every quarter and four collections a year.

On the retail front, the company has reached the 300 store mark across 130 towns, and is adding an average of 50 stores per year.

From serving 5,000 customers a year in 1987, the company today generates 2.5 million customers annually.

Meanwhile, company’s high-end multi-brand watches store Helios is expected to add 15 stores this year from three stores in Bangalore and Chandigarh.

During the quarter ended September, Titan’s watch business grew 21% to Rs358.36 crore and contributed 23% to Titan Industries’ sales.

Margin in watch business improved by 160 basis points during the quarter due to lower input costs and increase in consumer uptrading to premium brands like Titan Edge, Titan Bandhan, Nebula, and Xylys. Bhat said that the company will be able to sustain margins owing to the strong brands in the portfolio and increasing number of outlets.

In a note to clients this week, Kotak Securities Ltd estimates Titan’s watch division sales to increase at a CAGR of 16% with 13% volume growth.

Internationally, Titan is present in 26 countries in Asia and Africa, contributing 8% to the division’s turnover.

The division’s parent manufacturing unit is in Hosur near Bangalore, it also has four units in North of India.