Question

Mathew, J., Dey, B., & Puri, S. (2018). Brand W: Strategizing for Omni-Channel retail. Ivey Publishing.

Described the background of the company (Note: This section should set the context for the analysis)

Answer 1

TCNS CLOTHING CO. LIMITED, the name behind W was started long back in 1972 by Mr. Trilok Chand and Mr. Narender Singh. It was primarily manufacturers & exporters of apparels for men’s, women’s and kid’s wear.

Before W became a household name, before it broke the conventional barriers and became the spirit of functional fashion, it was a dream of two brothers Mr. OS Pasricha and Mr. AS Pasricha, who aspired to take Indian fashion to international stage.

W journey started in 2001-2002 from its first store in Lajpat Nagar. In the Year 2006 Wishful was launched especially for occasion wears. In 2011, W was among the first brands to have their own 24*7 fashion destination e-commerce portal. Marking its imprints on the global map, W opened stores in Mauritius, Sri Lanka & Kathmandu in 2016 & 2017 and the store count is 400+ by end of the year.

In last 16 years, W has travelled from one milestone to another and kept creating new standards in fashion for women. This journey will continue and we will keep creating new benchmark for excellence. In fact, we would say that journey has just begun.

TCNS Clothing Company Limited (TCNS), the owner of women’s fusion-wear brands W, Weve, Aurelia, and Wishful, had built up a strong retail brand presence in India since its founding in 2002. By 2017, its product innovation, proactive customer need fulfillment, and extensive retail reach had enabled it to grow into a ₹11.5 billion company. The W brand had been building its online presence, but this was still contributing only single-digit shares to sales. Faced with issues of declining loyalty and increasing expectations of digitally influenced consumers, retailers in India were moving toward omni-channel strategies. In early 2018, this seemed to have become an imperative for W as well. Was it now time for W to pursue an omni-channel retail strategy to offer its customers an unbeatable experience? An infusion of funds from two major investors had given the company significant financial muscle to pursue aggressive marketing. Yet, the challenges of going omni-channel were considerable.