IF YOU HAVE IT, FLAUNT IT
Samsonite’s positioning as a luxury lifestyle brand has helped it graduate from being a commodity to an aspiration. Mayank Singh reports

The company is working on its forthcoming spring-summer collection and expectations are that it will better its colour range – if you thought that we talking about the next haute couture line from a major fashion house let me correct you. We are actually alluding to the next season’s travel gear line-up from Samsonite. Says Subrata Dutta, COO, Samsonite South Asia, “In 2004 we realised that the time to sell travel gear had stopped and we needed to position Samsonite as a lifestyle brand rather than a commodity.” The idea was backed by research which proved that over the last decade ‘travellers had started flaunting what they carried’ – a fashion statement on the move. To market the brand as a luxury created the need for exclusive Samsonite retail stores.

Retail is the key
Today, close to 70 per cent of the company’s $1.3bn sales turnover comes from these eponymous stores. The reasons for this is not far to seek – these stores present the brand in its entire glory – be it the range, colours or features. The fact that such a high proportion of its sale comes from Samsonite exclusive outlets proves the tremendous pull of the brand. According to a study, Samsonite has one of the highest unaided recalls for any brand in the world. Samsonite is taking the retail model a step forward by having exclusive outlets for one of its best selling brands – Samsonite Black Label. In Muscat the upcoming Samsonite store in Madinat as Sultan Qaboos will be an exclusive Black Label shop. Samsonite has a retail store at the City Centre in Seeb and the Khimji Mega Store in Ruwi. A fourth store is under construction at Qurum.

The positioning of a luggage as a lifestyle proposition gives rise to its own set of challenges. Says Dutta, “It is essential to constantly refresh these retail stores so that customer fatigue does not set in.” Thus these stores sport a new format every two-to-three years. The product portfolio too gets constantly updated – displaying the chic and discarding the dated.

Though the effort may seem to be Herculean for others, for a company like Samsonite, innovation is akin to second nature. Talk of any innovation in the luggage space and chances are that Samsonite pioneered it. It was the first to introduce a suitcase on wheels, the first to come up with a spinner on wheels and the first to usher in suitcases with brakes.

Its luxury positioning is embellished by the use of modern day icons as brand ambassadors. Sir Richard Branson, chairman, Virgin Group endorses Black Label while actress Ingrid Bergman’s daughter Isabella Rosselini is the ambassador for Samsonite Black Label Vintage Collection.

Tapping the mass market
If Samsonite is for the well-heeled traveller, American Tourister, the other brand in the company’s repertoire is positioned as a suitcase suited for the needs of the family. Says Dutta, “Samsonite is more style oriented, while American Tourister is feature driven.”

Keeping functionality in view these suitcases come with a lot of space. They can further be expanded by another 10 per cent of the total capacity if needed. American Tourister bags are equipped with Travel Security Authority (TSA) locks, which can be opened by security agencies. The functionality of American Tourister is proving to be a major draw for the brand. The brand’s turnover has been doubling every two years. In countries like China, Japan and India it contributes to 30 per cent of Samsonite’s turnover. Unlike Samsonite which is distributed through Samsonite outlets, American Tourister is sold in shop-in-shops. This gives customers a chance to compare the product with its competitors like Delphi etc.

Around 60 per cent of the brand’s customers are males, while the remaining 40 per cent are women. In an effort to attract more women, Samsonite has introduced an exclusive range for women called Samsonite Pro-DLX. The company has also launched a new collection of suitcases called Aeirs. The Aiers range comes in seven rainbow colours. An added advantage of having a distinctively colorful bag is that it can be spotted easily on a conveyor belt.

In another significant shift, there seems to be a growing preference for soft bags. “They feel more stylish and give a softer feeling,” says Dutta. Close to 70 per cent of Samsonite bags sold are soft and the remaining 30 per cent is hard luggage. To make its hard bags more attractive, Samsonite has recently introduced Cosmolight – the lightest suitcase in the world. Samsonite has its manufacturing facilities in Oudenaarde in Belgium and Nasik in India. The company also uses a number of third party manufacturers to make its products. The company has a licensed agreement with Timberland and Lacoste to market their bags worldwide.

Power markets
Samsonite sees the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China as its growth drivers. In addition to these are the Middle East Markets which are categorised as power markets. In all these markets the company has been experiencing a 10 percentage points higher growth than the global average of 12 per cent, that Samsonite has witnessed over the last three years.

In Oman the company sees a lot of potential for the American Tourister brand. Says Dutta, “The Sultanate’s growth has been steady and since it is a country which has strong social ties (leading to a lot of travel) by extrapolation there are a lot of opportunities for us.” The company is also targeting institutional sales segment as it feels that it gives credibility to its products. Samsonite is a supplier to Oman Air.

The establishment of a logistics centre at Dubai in 2006 has helped to improve the supply chain management for Oman immensely. Says Vivek Pande, CEO, Life Style Group, Khimji Ramdas (Samsonite’s partner in the Sultanate), “The logistics centre has been a huge advantage for us as we can procure merchandise in a day’s time now against the two-and-half to three month wait that we had to endure earlier when we got deliveries from Belgium.”

While the company is keeping a keen eye on the financial meltdown it is confident of coming off it pretty much unscathed. “We believe that the meltdown will affect the bottom-end of the market more than the top-end of the market. As we are a high-premium product our customers will still come back to us,” says Dutta. After all, luxury never goes out of fashion.

Top^