From Heels to Feels: How Inc.5 Is Designing for a New India

Footwear trends often change as quickly as the weather, but one pattern has stayed stubbornly consistent: buyers want comfort, and they want it across price points, cities and age groups. Inc.5, now 28 years into the business, is reworking its design and retail strategy to match that shift — from engineering shoes “inside out” to using AI to understand how shoppers move inside a store.

BrandWagon Online spoke to Rozmin Virji, Director at Inc.5, about the brand’s evolving consumer base, regional growth pockets, AI-led retail strategies, and its expansion roadmap. Edited excerpts:

Inc.5 completes 28 years. How has the brand evolved from 1999 to now?

Inc.5 began as a separate identity from Regal Shoes to fill a clear gap. Footwear stores then were seen as family stores. We built a brand focused on young women who wanted fashion options.

The consumer has changed, but the gap remains. Today Gen Z and millennials want comfort without losing style. We build every shoe through reverse design — sole, midsole, insole and lining are engineered first, and style is integrated without compromising comfort.We have also seen our audience widen. Earlier we targeted 16–35. Today, our consumers range from teens to even 50–60-year-olds. Comfort has become a cross-age purchase driver.

 What does your current target group look like across cities?

In metros, the audience is broader — mothers, daughters, younger working women. In tier-II towns like Nashik, we see similar behaviour. Consumers across age groups want comfort and a modern look, even if they aren’t buying high heels. Our core TG today in percentage terms is 18–40 year old, but older consumers buy us actively too.

Which regions are your strongest markets?

The West and South. Gujarat is one of our strongest offline markets.
Online, the South shows strong traction and very low returns, which indicates high brand trust.
These two regions hold the highest brand recall for us.

What has helped customer acquisition in these markets?

Presence. When a consumer sees the brand online and also sees a nearby store, the trust is higher.
We have 90+ standalone stores and 250+ large-format POS. When buyers know where to go for after-sales support, conversions improve even without heavy discounting. That’s been a key strength.

What challenges do you see in the North?

It’s a high-fashion market with many options. We are assessing what works and what doesn’t without losing the Inc.5 identity.
It’s an ongoing process. The market needs sharper fashion cues but the same comfort promise.

What is the current store footprint and expansion plan?

We have 92 stores. We expect to cross 100 by year-end and reach 150 stores in the next 18 months. These are standalone outlets. We are already present across 250+ POS in large formats like Shoppers Stop.

How is the online–offline split shaping up?

About 70% of our revenue comes from offline and 30% from online. Online is growing, but offline remains the anchor.

What percentage of your SKUs are fast-moving?

Around 60% of our SKUs are fast-moving.

What is your store-level break-even period?

Within 12 months.

What is your YoY revenue growth for FY24 and FY25?

 Over 15%.

What are your key marketing investments right now?

Digital drives the majority of our spends. Around 80% of our marketing budget goes to digital — Meta and Google remain essential because the ROI is clear. We rely heavily on data for every decision — from consumer cohorts to store launches.

Are you using AI across the business?

Yes. Our loyalty program is AI-driven. We track store behaviour — which walls customers spend time at, which counters convert, and what patterns repeat. Digital performance, retail experience, and loyalty are AI-backed.
We’re still early in this journey, but every customer-facing function uses AI in some capacity.

Comfort-led categories are growing across the industry. What is the share for Inc.5?

Comfort-led categories contribute 15–17% of our growth.

How do you see the Indian footwear industry’s global potential?

Indian brands have strong comfort engineering. Consumers globally are no longer buying shoes only because they look good. Given our expertise and India’s fashion design talent, Indian footwear has global potential.

Are you planning to go international?

India is still our main focus, but international markets are under review.
The UAE is a promising market for us. We are exploring it carefully.