Raymond Lifestyle is undertaking a broad cost-transformation exercise that will scrutinise everything from media buying and product sourcing to manpower and factory productivity, as the company seeks to protect profitability without significantly passing higher costs on to consumers
“We are going through a transformation project with a big consultancy firm, and we’re looking at every cost from media buying cost to product buying cost to manpower cost to factory productivities, and we will find these monies without too much price pass-on to the consumers,” CEO Satyaki Ghosh said during the company’s Q1 FY27 earnings call
The company is working with Kearney India on the transformation project and is building a three-to-five-year strategic plan. Ghosh said the exercise is aimed at challenging every cost area and identifying opportunities to take costs out of the system
The cost review comes alongside a broader brand and consumer strategy built around premiumisation, casualisation, sharper positioning, differentiated omnichannel campaigns and more selective media <a href="https://todaytrendnews7.com/hong-kong-tourism-seeks-longer-stays-and-higher-spending/” title=”Hong Kong tourism seeks longer stays and higher spending”>spending
Read: Raymond’s Q1 revenue rises 13% to ₹628 crore as profit jumps 50%
Media buying becomes part of cost transformation
For Raymond Lifestyle, media is now explicitly part of the company’s cost-transformation agenda
Ghosh said the company is examining media buying costs alongside product buying, manpower and factory productivity to identify areas where efficiencies can be unlocked
At the same time, the company is not signalling a retreat from marketing. Instead, its stated approach is to make marketing sharper and more efficient
Raymond Lifestyle has outlined a “holistic marketing” strategy focused on sharper brand positioning, differentiated omnichannel campaigns and prudent media selection to maximise both retail footfalls and brand equity
The combination suggests a dual approach: scrutinise marketing costs while improving the effectiveness of the money that continues to be invested behind brands
Garment Exchange Programme aims to deepen brand connection
One of the company’s key marketing initiatives during the quarter was the 2026 Garment Exchange Program, themed “Refresh Your Style with Perfect Tailoring.”
The programme was designed to drive brand awareness and retail footfall by offering value-added tailoring services in exchange for pre-owned garments
Beyond the immediate retail proposition, Raymond Lifestyle said the programme was intended to encourage customer engagement, promote a circular fashion ecosystem and strengthen the brand’s connection with consumers
The initiative gives the company a way to connect its traditional tailoring heritage with a consumer proposition built around reuse, services and engagement
Read: Raymond Lifestyle raises ad spend 6.6% to Rs 323 crore amid brand-building push
12.4 million-member loyalty base becomes consumer data engine
Raymond Lifestyle’s loyalty ecosystem has reached 12.4 million members, which the company now sees as an important consumer-insight asset
Ghosh described the loyalty programme as a “data-led consumer insight engine” that can help drive repeat visits and lower marketing acquisition costs
That gives the company a potentially more targeted route to consumers as it looks to make marketing spending more efficient
The focus is particularly relevant as Raymond Lifestyle reshapes its retail network and moves towards a more omnichannel model
Premiumisation remains central to brand strategy
Premiumisation continues to be one of Raymond Lifestyle’s key strategic pillars
The company plans to shift its product mix across textiles, apparel and garmenting towards high-value wool, poly-wool blends and pure linen collections
Ghosh said premiumisation is expected to support both average selling prices and margins, rather than simply increasing the ticket size of products
“Premiumization is going to be a key theme going forward in every business that we do,” he said
The company believes the premium segment is seeing stronger growth as consumers become more urban and average incomes rise
Casualisation changes what Raymond stands for
Alongside premiumisation, Raymond is continuing its effort to evolve beyond its traditional formalwear positioning
The company is expanding smart casuals, polos, chinos, knits, corduroys and denims, supported by fabric innovations such as Airshield, Flextech and Technoclean across ColorPlus, Parx and Park Avenue
The shift is also visible in the performance of its brands
ColorPlus and Parx, Raymond’s casual brands, recorded double-digit growth during the quarter. The casual component within Park Avenue and Raymond Ready-to-Wear increased by 200 basis points year on year, reaching around 18%
Ghosh said younger consumers are increasingly moving away from formal shirts and trousers towards knitwear, denims, T-shirts, polos and chinos
E-commerce and LFS emerge as important brand-building channels
Raymond Lifestyle’s consumer shift is also reflected in its channel strategy
Branded Apparel revenue grew 4% year on year to ₹349 crore, with e-commerce and large-format stores recording high double-digit growth. LFS grew by more than 25%
The company is simultaneously rationalising its exclusive brand outlets, exiting underperforming stores and redirecting its retail strategy towards higher-yielding locations
Since June 2025, Raymond Lifestyle has exited 133 underperforming stores and opened 85 new high-yielding locations, taking its active network to 1,627 stores across 600 cities
Ethnix moves towards made-to-measure and D2C
The company’s approach to Ethnix by Raymond offers another example of how it is changing its consumer and channel strategy
For high-value products such as sherwanis and bandhgalas priced above ₹50,000, Raymond Lifestyle plans to shift from Made-to-Stock to Made-to-Measure
The company believes consumers spending ₹75,000 or more on weddingwear increasingly want customisation in areas such as embroidery, colour, fabric and collars and are willing to wait 14 to 21 days for their preferred product
For more basic products such as kurtas, kurta sets and bundis, the company is expanding beyond Ethnix’s exclusive outlets into The Raymond Store network and e-commerce
Its D2C operation is already live and beginning to see traction, while agreements with major marketplaces were in their final stages during the earnings call
The strategy is designed to combine high-value sales from flagship stores with potentially better-return sales through other channels
Brand growth increasingly tied to consumer occasions
Raymond’s premium and formalwear businesses remain sensitive to consumer occasions such as weddings and festivals
Ghosh said the absence of summer wedding and celebration dates during the quarter affected demand for suits and other expensive products. However, he expects the return of winter weddings and a longer festive season in the second half to support purchases
The company is therefore trying to balance its heritage in formalwear with a broader casual and premium portfolio that can generate demand beyond traditional wedding and occasion-led purchases
Global brands reinforce Raymond’s manufacturing proposition
Raymond Lifestyle’s brand story also extends into its garmenting business
The company said it has been winning orders from international brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Brooks Brothers, helped by its vertical integration across fabric, design and garment manufacturing
Ghosh said the company’s experience of operating its own brands also helps it understand what it takes to manufacture for other brands
The company also manufactures for Indian brands, including competitors, across different combinations of its own fabric, factories and manufacturing capabilities
The brand strategy is being built around fewer, stronger bets
Raymond Lifestyle’s Q1 commentary points to a brand strategy undergoing a significant reset
The company is simultaneously rationalising physical retail, expanding e-commerce and LFS, building D2C, investing in premium products, accelerating casualisation and sharpening marketing and media efficiency
At the centre of this is an attempt to make the portfolio more consumer-centric while using data and omnichannel distribution to improve the economics of customer acquisition and retention
For a company with a century-old operating history, Ghosh framed the transformation as a fresh start: “The company is 100 years old and we are getting ready for the next 100 years.”
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First Published on August 17, 2026, 07:11:02 IST
