Small town Indian girls go bikini shopping

Summers are here and 30 per cent of sale of bikinis at online stores comes from buyers in towns of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Prahesh and Jharkhand. Phirangs wearing bikinis during their trip to Goa and to the private beaches of Odisha is not new. But what is pleasantly surprising is that Indians fed on a healthy diet of "Baywatch" and late night fashion shows are increasingly warming up to the idea of wearing a two-piece. And it's not just girls from Indian metropolitan cities who are making these choices. Statistics show that there is a growing demand for beachwear even among small town Indian buyers who shop online. Says Richa Kar, CEO of Zivame.com, "When I was consulting a global lingerie retailer, I realized that lingerie as a category in India is under-served. There is unavailability of sizes, social discomfort and very poor market penetration. Retailer stock only the fast moving sizes. The tail ends of the sizes remain under-served. Our website gets a lot of queries from small town buyers. Non-availability of good stores and limited collection are the prime reasons for this online hit in that segment." While people from small town India might not flaunt their swimwear when they party in their own cities, it is a must for them when they vacation abroad. A lot of people from small towns travel abroad during summer vacations. This trend is also responsible for the increased demand in beachwear. "There is practically no store in these small towns from where one can buy branded good quality beachwear. In addition, we get querries from women of small town India who are keen to buy swimwear for their honeymoon trips to exotic destinations," Kar informs. Says Mehul Shivjibhai, CEO, Hi Fashion India, "Earlier we used to get queries from big cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Chennai. But, there has been a considerable increase in the demand of bikinis from small cities in the recent years. Due to certain inhibitions linked to innerwear, people find online shopping as the best option so that they have the privacy to buy their desired stuff at affordable rates. Thirty per cent of our customers are from small towns." Says Manu Pathania, CEO, N-Gals Intimate, "The demand for bikinis and beachwear is picking up in smaller towns in India. In addition to our regular customers in the metros, we usually get queries from Odisha, parts of MP, interiors of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The non-availability of quality and desired stuff in small towns makes people hit online. We have 30% to 35% of our buyers from smaller cities." Homemaker Surbhi Sinha from Ranchi is an avid online shopper and she has bought two pairs of bikinis from one such website. "In Ranchi, we have just one beachwear store and that too has very limited collection. Usually it stocks stuff exported from China but they are not of good quality. When I decided to learn swimming, I visited a website and bought two pairs of bikinis. I got a tankini which I'll be wearing while vacationing in a beach." As for the current trends in swimwear, the latest ones come with built-in bra support that add to a woman's confidence. They are more available on the shelf than the regular scoop leg swimwear. When it comes to swimming, women prefer swimsuits which cover their bodies. So tankini, shorts and swim dresses are high on demand. While on a honeymoon or for travels abroad, women prefer bikini tops. Black is a colour of the season during summers because it hides the body's imperfections. And guess what? Many women are trying printed swimwear these days since they camouflage the extra flab!