How did Jockey become the biggest apparel brand in India?
When was the last time you wore jeans during this lockdown? How many times a year do you buy expensive branded clothes? How many times a year do you buy daily wear?
And what was the last time you wore a Jockey product? Well, I am wearing one while writing this now :)
In India, from the normal middle-class consumer to the investors in the stock market, everyone loves Jockey.
Page Industries- The Indian partner of Jockey
Jockey International Inc is the manufacturer, distributor and retailer of underwear, sleepwear and sportswear for men, women and children.
But here comes the swadeshi touch. Jockey does not sell its products directly in India. An Indian company called page industries holds the exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute Jockey products in India. All this for a 5% royalty on sales.
What is Royalty but?
Say, for example, the factory price of a t-shirt (price at which page industries sells to the wholesalers) is Rs 100, then 5% of 100= Rs 5 is the fee or royalty that page industries pay to the American company Jockey.
The Indian Middle class and Jockey
Jockey’s plan is clear. India is a growing economy and as more and more people move away from poor socio-economic conditions to the middle-class, they tend to improve their lifestyles. So they will ask for quality apparel and this is where Jockey comes to suit their needs. While the reverse of this is happening now, thanks to Covid and our Govt.
And Jockey’s continuous growth in its profits over the past 10 yrs also proves that people are moving to Jockey.
Not so cheap, not too expensive
The main reason where Jockey wins compared to other competitor brands is simply the quality of Jockey’s products and its pricing. All may agree that Jockey really makes quality and durable clothing. Their product pricing is also good, not too cheap and not too expensive.
Let’s understand this with an example. So, you remember that mobile phone One Plus Nord, right? Generally, One plus focuses on selling expensive mobile phones. But then this Nord came which was priced at Rs 28,000. And suddenly, many many people who used to buy phones in the 15–20 k category upgraded their phones. Even my mom was one of them.
Why? Because they were getting a brand name of One Plus.
Suppose, if a customer had bought a phone of say 20k, he may have a regret that ki thoda extra deke One Plus hi le leta. On the other hand, if he had bought an expensive phone, hemay feel ki One plus to 28k me mil rha tha, phaltu me itta mehanga phone liya. But there is no regret in that 28 k wala phone. Dimag ki batti jali? Experts call this cognitive dissonance.
Coming back to Jockey, its pricing reduces this cognitive dissonance ki say agar 200 me Salmon bhai ki Dixcy Scott mil rahi thi, to 100 extra deke to Jockey hi le leta. Or 1000 ki Calvin Klein se acchi to 300 ki Jockey hai.
In a nutshell, Jockey provides quality clothing with great pricing. Aditya Birla’s Van Haeusan is a close competitor to Jockey in this category.
Marketing stuff
Whenever I go to a daily wear/underwear or what do we call it? A hosiery store I guess, I see only Jockey posters and their product boxes everywhere even though the shop also sells other brand products. And I actually like these posters, their packaging attracts me. Just that ki wo premium wali feeling aati hai.
Jockey products are sold everywhere. Be it mummy’s favourite small hosiery shop jaha ke bhaiya discount dete hai, multi-branded showrooms like big bazaar, exclusive shopping outlets or malls. They cover every type of customer.
Labour laws
Jockey also has good labour laws that don’t exploit their workers. This because, before Jockey entered the Indian market, in the early 2000’s the big apparel companies like TTK Tantex and Associated Apparels, had to shut down because of labour strikes. This was when retailers moved to Jockey for selling underwear because of supply shortages.
Final words
So overall, a great product, smart pricing, a wide customer base, premium packaging, good marketing and an evolving market like India makes Jockey or Page industries the biggest apparel company in India!
I too personally like Jockey products. For the stock market enthusiasts, do you think page industries stock price is overvalued?
