The Fabindia Story- Creating Opportunities at

the Bottom of the Pyramid

 Company Overview

History Product Range

• Founded in 1960 by • 1976: Upholstery
John Bissell fabrics, home linens

• Export house • 1980s: Garments

converted to domestic
retailer in 1976
• 2000: Non-textile
range
• Exports to over 33
countries
• 2004: Organic foods
• Started as a niche
player but now • 2006: Personal care
changing to
departmental store • 2008: Handcrafted
Jewellery
• Retail expansion since
2004 • 2014: Fables
 Philosophy

• Determined to showcase Indian handloom textiles & provide

equitable employment to traditional artisans

• Vehicle for marketing the traditions of India

• “Our constant endeavor is to resist the temptation of going

`mainstream’ which is more of a commodities game, and develop
and widen the niche markets in which we are the dominant
player,” says Mr. William Bissell, Managing Director, Fabindia
 Current Position
• 85 stores in India, 1 each in Rome, Dubai and Guangzhou

• Believed to be looking out for private equity investment, increase

stores to 200

• Provided jobs to 55,000 artisans, and is hopeful to support another

1,00,000

• Some Facts :
– Crossed 1,000 crore sales mark, ahead of Levis & Zara
– During 2014-15, ethnic wear sales rose 12%, with a 36% increase in
profit
– Fabindia’s domestic business grew 25%
 Marketing Mix
 PRICE:
• Target Customers- Middle class
• Price range between Rs.100-8000 comprises ethnic jewelry in silver,
beads, thread, wood, bell metal ,clay ,ceramics , leather and glass

 PLACE:
• First retail store in New Delhi in 1976
• Currently 211 retail channels across India, 2 stores in Singapore, 2
stores in Dubai, 1 store in Italy, 1 store in Nepal, 1 store in Malaysia
and 1 store in Mauritius
 Marketing Mix
 PROMOTION:
• Provides employment to thousand of craftspeople in rural India
• Uses Facebook and twitter and You-tube

 PEOPLE:
• More than 75% of the employees in its management
• Employees over 60,000 people
 Supply Chain Analysis

Benefits:
1. More jobs in the rural part of the country
2. More working capital
3. Direct interaction with artisans
4. Closer to sourcing which leads to shortened supply chain, better pricing and
quality
 Supply Chain Analysis
• Automated large portion of
ordering process.

• Individual Store Inventory

Management
– Bulk order
– Back-up order.

• Fabindia won the TIE Retail Innovation Award for Excellence in

Supply Chain Management in 2010.
 Key Issues
 Indian apparel manufacturers are facing severe problems:
• Rise in price of fabric in local market
• Scarcity of fabric

 The price of yarn is rising due to the rising exports of cotton to

western countries
 Scaling:
• Suppliers use Hand Tools- Higher processing time

• Suppliers aren’t well equipped & financially poor

• Transportation cost- products go through various hubs

• Increased go to market time

 Key Issues
 Standardization:
• Lack of modern equipment maintaining same quality becomes difficult
• Process of manufacturing product varies supplier to supplier

 Untimely delivery of organic products:

• Transport and storage, shelf-life is big issue
• Pan-India suppliers (craftsman) network, increases
transportation & handling cost

 Others:
• Most of the artist are skilled but they lack knowledge of Fashion Trend.
• Due to constantly change in fashion trends, Fabindia has to acts as a link
between artist and market
 Bottom of Pyramid
• The distribution of wealth and the capacity to generate income in
the world can be captured in the form of economic pyramid

• The bottom of the pyramid, bottom of the wealth pyramid or the

bottom of the income pyramid is the largest, but poorest socio-
economic group
Tier 1

Tier 2

Bottom of Pyramid Tier 3

 Fabindia- Creating Opportunities
• Fabindia established Bhadrajun Artisans Trust (BAT) in the year
1988
• Fabindia established the Fabindia School in the year 1992 in Bali,
Rajasthan
• School has over 800 students
• Fabindia School and various other programmes provide and sustain
rural employment in India
• Fabindia is connected with 55,000 artisans
 CSR Activities
Fabindia focuses on eight areas:

• Promotion of education and vocational skills

• Social Welfare
• Empowerment of women
• Sanitation and health care
• Conservation of environment
• Rural development projects
• Disaster Relief
• Conservation of national heritage, art and culture
The Fabindia Story- Creating Opportunities at
the Bottom of the Pyramid
Thank You

Enakshee Advani- 09
Glen Anthony- 31
Nirmay Shah- 53
Payal Mehta- 54
Sakshi Bhatia- 65
Rahul Wani- 90