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India’s shoe companies have reported their July-September numbers, and two of them tell a similar story. Campus Activewear sold 63.4 lakh pairs in the quarter and charged more for each one. Bata India grew its profit by about 30 per cent while sales rose only 7.5 per cent, and it credited higher average selling prices for the jump.

Colourful traditional shoes and sandals stacked at a market stall

Campus sold more pairs

Campus Activewear’s revenue rose 16.9 per cent to ₹452 crore in the second quarter of FY27, up from ₹387 crore a year earlier, according to the company’s press release filed on 5 November. Volumes grew 10.2 per cent, from 57.5 lakh pairs to 63.4 lakh pairs.

The average selling price climbed 6.1 per cent to ₹713 a pair, from ₹672. Profit after tax rose 21.3 per cent to ₹24 crore. EBITDA grew 12.5 per cent to ₹62 crore, though the margin slipped to 13.5 per cent from 14.0 per cent.

Women’s and kids’ shoes were the fastest-growing part of the business. The company said these segments grew about 29 per cent in the first half of FY27 and now make up 23 per cent of the pairs it sells. It launched more than 160 new designs in those six months.

Bata’s slower quarter

Bata India reported consolidated revenue of ₹861.78 crore for the quarter, up 7.5 per cent from ₹801.33 crore, according to results released on 3 November. Net profit rose to about ₹18 crore from about ₹14 crore. Upstox put the rise at 30.45 per cent, while EquityBulls reported it as over 31 per cent.

The profit came despite some one-off hits. Bata booked a non-cash forex loss of about ₹3 crore on licence fees and a one-time asset write-off of about ₹3.9 crore. Its other income also fell by about ₹4.6 crore, because ₹321.3 crore of surplus cash went out to shareholders as a special dividend.

Sanjay S. Rao, who became MD and CEO on 1 October, said that “the growth momentum continued for the fourth consecutive quarter”. Bata now runs more than 2,000 stores, including franchises.

Pricier pairs, not just more

The common thread is price per pair. Campus earned ₹41 more on an average pair than a year ago, and that, together with more pairs sold, pushed its sales growth well above its volume growth. Bata did not report volumes, but it attributed its profit growth directly to higher average selling prices.

A higher average price does not always mean shoppers paid more for the same shoe. It can also mean more people picked costlier styles, or that a company sold more through its own stores than through discount channels. Neither company broke down how much came from each.

Bata has also been reworking what goes on its shelves. It said zero-base merchandising, a stocking approach it has now rolled out in 850 stores, has improved revenue per square foot. Its inventory freshness stood at 92 per cent, and net stock was 7 per cent lower than a year earlier.

The festive calendar shift

Both Bata and Metro Brands, which reported earlier in October, pointed to the same timing issue. Festive shopping moved largely into the October-December quarter this year, so some demand that would normally fall in September will show up in the next set of numbers.

Metro Brands, which runs Metro, Mochi and Walkway stores and sells brands like Crocs and Foot Locker, reported revenue of ₹730 crore for the quarter, up 12.2 per cent, and net profit of ₹77 crore, up 12 per cent. It ended September with 1,053 stores in 223 cities. For the first half, it cited higher staff costs after minimum wage revisions as one pressure on margins.

Campus, meanwhile, reaches buyers through more than 31,000 retailers in over 850 districts, plus more than 315 of its own brand stores and online marketplaces. Its eight factories can assemble 31.9 million pairs a year.

What to watch

The October-December quarter is the real test. If festive demand did shift as Bata and Metro Brands say, their third-quarter numbers should show it clearly. If they do not, the explanation will look thinner.

The second thing to watch is whether price keeps doing the heavy lifting. Campus grew volumes by double digits, but Bata’s 7.5 per cent sales growth leaned on what each pair earned. For shoppers, that question will play out at the shoe rack, in what the next pair costs.