Metro Brands Limited and Nextail join forces to revolutionize merchandise planning for Indian footwear

• The Indian footwear specialty retailer will implement Nextail to improve margins, enhance customer satisfaction and support continued rapid growth
• The agreement continues Nextail’s expansion into the Indian fashion retail market
  

National, 22^nd January 2024: In a landmark move, Metro Brands Limited, one of India’s largest footwear and accessory specialty retailers, has entered into a strategic partnership with Nextail, the leading merchandise planning platform for fashion. The long-term agreement, encompassing a number of AI-driven solutions across Buying and Merchandising, demonstrates Metro Brands Limited’s commitment to enhancing the retail experience and meeting the dynamic needs of customers in India.

Recently recognized as one of the "Iconic Brands of India" by the Economic Times in 2023, Metro Brands Limited operates more than 800 stores across over 180 Indian cities, with plans to open 200= additional stores by FY 2025. The collaboration with Nextail is the latest example of Metro Brands leveraging technology to cater to the diverse and evolving needs of their customers.

This partnership with Nextail coincides with a seismic shift in the Indian footwear industry, which is projected to triple from USD 26 billion to USD 90 billion by 2030. Metro Brands Limited also recently announced a strategic partnership with US-based footwear giant Foot Locker, leading the expected surge for sports footwear in the country. The company is now poised to leverage Nextail’s innovative solutions to capitalize on this market growth and respond to changing consumer behavior faster than their peers.

With Nextail, Metro Brands Limited is expected to increase operational efficiency while continuing their remarkable growth journey. Through highly accurate demand forecasting and decision automation, Nextail’s platform will ensure product availability across the rapidly expanding store footprint.

With hyper-local forecasting, every single store will have the individual focus that is usually only possible in the earliest stages of a brand’s journey. Metro Brands will be one of the only retailers in India with this capability at scale, joining a number of European pioneers already leveraging such technologies - as well as high growth fashion brand Style Union, another Nextail customer.

Nissan Joseph, CEO of Metro Brands Limited, said, “Since opening our first store in 1955, Metro Brands Limited has been fully dedicated to providing unparalleled service to customers by way of fashionable and region-specific footwear. Our decision to partner with Nextail is based on their strong product vision and retail knowledge, but more importantly because of our shared ethos for leveraging cutting-edge solutions in favor of enhancing the customer experience.”

Juan Avedillo, Co-CEO of Nextail shared his enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “We are so proud to embark on this journey with Metro Brands Limited, an iconic and respected name in the Indian retail landscape. Together, we aim to empower Metro Brands Limited to stay at the forefront of retail innovation in India and worldwide.”

About Metro Brands Limited (BSE: 543426; NSE: METROBRAND)

www.metrobrands.com

Metro Brands is one of the largest Indian footwear specialty retailers and is amongst the aspirational Indian brands in the footwear category. The Company opened its first store under the Metro Brand in Mumbai in 1955 and has since evolved into a one-stop shop for all footwear needs, by retailing a wide range of branded products for the entire family including men, women, unisex and kids, and for every occasion including casual and formal events. In addition to men’s, women’s, and kid's footwear, it also has a wide range of handbags, belts, wallets, etc.

Metro Brands retails footwear under its own brands of Metro, Mochi, Walkway, Da Vinchi and J. Fontini, as well as certain third-party brands such as Crocs, Fitflop, Fila, Skechers, Clarks, Puma, and Adidas which complement its in-house brands. The Metro footwear range is specially curated based on the regional sensitivity to cater to the needs of different regions.

As of 31st December 2023, the Company operated 826 Stores across 192 cities spread across 31 states and union territories in India.