Although 80 per cent of the shoe industry is unorganised, domestic companies have entered into fierce competition with each other relying on aggressive marketing, sophisticated technology and seasonal designs to woo the consumer.

"Even 10 years back the country's shoe industry was in its infancy. Besides Bata and Carona, there were no known brands which could deliver value-added products to the quality conscious consumer. But gradually the unorganised sector opened up into the organised field," says Relaxo senior manager (market development) Anuj Batra. Relaxo is a major player in the north Indian markets.

"Lately, consumer consciousness about quality products and their desire for varied products has created a great demand helping the regional brands like Relaxo, Liberty, Lakhani and others to cash on and expand their area of operation," says Batra Even the entry of foreign brands like Nike, Adidas and Reebok has not affected their sales volume, claim leading domestic brands adding that they can certainly match up to the foreign brands in quality.

"In fact, the Indian manufacturers should thank foreign shoe companies for promoting the concept of sports shoes which was quite an alien concept for our consumers," says Liberty group director Sunil Bansal. "Quality-wise we are ahead of these foreign brands as our products undergo rigid quality control tests and most of the raw material is procured from abroad. However, there is a misconception among a section of consumers that higher priced products have better quality," says Bansal.

Domestic manufacturers claim that 99 per cent of their products are aimed at the masses with 1 per cent of their range catering to the upper segment. On the other hand, foreign brands are targeting the upper classes, have failed to create a dent in the market. They have also failed to effectively compete with domestic brands, claim shoe makers. "We never entered the market with any aim to dislodge the Indian players. We operate in a different segment altogether where our clientele profile is quite different," says Adidas general manager (marketing) G Kannan.