Crocs has elevated India to a tier 1 market, making it a critical priority not only for its APAC business but also globally, as the footwear brand continues to see double-digit growth in the country and steps up investments across retail, omnichannel, product innovation, and sourcing.
India was among the three markets in Crocs’ APAC region, alongside China and Japan, to post double-digit growth in Q2, even as the global Crocs brand grew 4 per cent and international markets grew 7 per cent. The company said momentum in India has continued into Q3.
“Earlier this year, we classified the India market as a tier 1 market, which is a critical market for us, not only for my region here in APAC, but also from a global perspective,” said Varun Sehgal, SVP & General Manager – APAC, Crocs.
Without disclosing market-level revenue or growth figures, Sehgal said the company remains “very optimistic” about the opportunity in India and expects continued momentum.
“In Q2, we had strong double-digit growth. In Q3, we’re seeing continued strong momentum for the brand in the India market,” he said.
The company’s India playbook centres on four key growth levers, i.e., retail footprint, omnichannel, product expansion and cultural relevance. Crocs started the year with close to 300 stores across company-operated and partner-operated formats and has added more than 20 stores since then.
“We want to continue to expand our footprint. And it’s a two-part strategy,” Sehgal said, referring to expansion through company-operated stores and partners.
The company is increasingly investing in its own stores, which are designed to offer a larger product assortment and deepen the consumer experience, while continuing to leverage partners such as Metro and Apparel Group to penetrate deeper into tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
“The majority of the stores are partner-owned, because our strategy to open company-owned stores is fairly new. As we look out over the next few years, we’re going to accelerate our strategy of company-owned stores,” Sehgal said.
“We want to make sure the expansion is in quality locations that make sense for the brand,” he added.
Beyond physical retail, Crocs plans to invest in both digital and offline channels, viewing them as complementary. Product remains another major growth lever, with the Classic Clog continuing to anchor the portfolio while sandals have also performed strongly in India.
The brand is expanding beyond its core categories through products such as Classic Ballet and Echo, while recently introducing bags that can also be personalised with its signature Jibbitz charms.
“Classic Clog is obviously our foundation… but we see significant opportunity to grow the overall footprint in the clog category,” Sehgal said.
India is also becoming increasingly important to Crocs’ global supply chain. The company has expanded its manufacturing base from two factories to five factories in India and plans to continue scaling capacity based on local and global requirements.
“India is also one of the key global manufacturing and sourcing hubs for us,” Sehgal said, adding that products made in India are exported to consumers outside the country.
