Ramesh Tainwala, president of Samsonite is very upbeat about the Indian market, especially in the context of competing with their global competitor American Tourister which seems to be quite aggressive in its rollout as well.
Samsonite India is a $100 mn market and contributes about 8% of Samsonite’s total revenue. Samsonite will open Samsonite Business stores in all airports due to the fact that most business travelers do their shopping in Business Districts or near International Airports. Product SKUs in these stores will be mostly confining to the needs of Businessmen.
Samsonite Vs American Tourister:
- American Tourister is a mass market brand for the aspirant class.
- American Tourister starting price is Rs 2500 while that of Samsonite is pegged at Rs 12,000
- Smasonite is planning to compete with VIP [Indian Brand, long and well established]
India is one of the most diverse markets which is a country-continent in itself.Samsonite is looking forward to make India the third largest market after the US and China within the next 3 years, quite reasonable if things go well here in the Indian economy.