MUMBAI: Once dismissed as an “ugly” shoe, Crocs is now betting big on India. The American clog and sandal brand has made the country a top-six priority market globally, signalling its ambition to tap India’s young and fast-growing consumer base.
“We have not disclosed our targets publicly, but India is prioritized as a Top 6 market for us globally,” Anne Mehlman, executive vice-president and brand president for Crocs Inc., told Mint in an interview. “India may not be a Top 6 market for us by revenue today, but we believe it will be a Top 6 market for us long-term. It has…all of the factors for an outsize revenue opportunity.”
Crocs has stepped up its presence in India with marketing campaigns aimed at younger consumers and high-profile celebrity endorsements. Actress Rashmika Mandanna and, more recently, actor Siddhant Chaturvedi have been roped in as brand ambassadors for the country.
“We don’t really have a lot of celebrities for our brand, it is only for our tier-1 markets, of which India is one. Gen-Z has outsize influence globally, and especially in India which has the fastest growing, youngest population in the world,” Mehlman said, adding that targeting the Gen-Z creates a halo effect around the brand.
Mehlman emphasized that Crocs aims to be democratic, selling to men, women, and children, while preserving a premium price point without aspiring to be a luxury brand.
“We want [customers] to aspire to be in Crocs but I don’t think you need to have the highest price point to be aspirational,” she said. “I think where we fit is that in some [instances] we will be aspirational because we believe in preserving a price point.”
A pair of classic Crocs clogs are typically priced at just under ₹5,000 in India, while a pair of sandals or chappals usually start at ₹2,500-3,000. Similar shoes sold by mass-priced brands such as Bata and Campus start at ₹800-1,000 a pair.
New avenues
Globally, the personalization-focused Jibbitz business generates over $250 million in revenue, although Mehlman declined to share how much Crocs makes in India from selling these.
“It is a growing business,” she said, adding that the company was working on launching India-themed Jibbitz in the country soon. Jibbitz are small charms with motifs that can fit into the holes on top of a pair of Crocs clogs.
In late 2024, Crocs India also launched Hey Dude in India, a casual shoes brand it acquired in the US in 2022 for $2.5 billion. For now, Hey Dude only sells online as the company focuses on stabilizing it in the US before rolling out physical stores in India.
“This is one of the few key markets we think we want to start from an international perspective,” Mehlman said, adding that the brand’s easy slip-on shoes with an emphasis on comfort are a natural fit for consumer needs in India. Hey Dude also sells in Europe and some southeast Asian markets.
Hey Dude reported ₹12.32 crore of sales in FY25 in India, with a small loss of ₹12 lakh.
Crocs has 300 stores in India, largely run by franchise partners, along with a presence on six online marketplaces and its own direct-to-consumer brand store. The company has also opened two company-owned stores in Delhi and Amritsar recently.
The company has five manufacturing units in India–four in Tamil Nadu and one in Dehradun—with one unit dedicated to making Hey Dude shoes.
Data from research firm Tracxn shows Crocs India Pvt. Ltd reported a nearly 7% drop in sales to ₹558 crore in FY25, while net profit fell nearly 37% to just over ₹16 crore. Sales and net profit for the India unit had fallen by 11% and 32%, respectively, in FY24.
Competitive landscape
Other global comfort-focused brands are growing rapidly in India.
German footwear brand Birkenstock’s India unit reported a more than 30% jump in sales to ₹227 crore in FY25, although profit fell marginally to ₹7 crore, as per Tracxn data. Sneakers and slip-ons brand Skechers reported an 11% jump in sales in FY25 to ₹1,970 crore, while profit remained flat at ₹101 crore.
Market leader Bata India has also struggled to implement a turnaround plan, as same-store sales growth lags and both domestic and global competitors compete for a share of India’s $20 billion footwear market, according to consulting firm The Knowledge Company.
“Legacy names like Relaxo, Bata, and Liberty, which long dominated the mass and school footwear space, have struggled to capture Gen Z interest,” The Knowledge Company said in a report last year. “Their reliance on formal and utilitarian categories left them exposed as younger consumers migrated to trendier alternatives. Sales growth for these brands slowed, with some quarters even registering volume declines.”
Instead, newer lifestyle-focused brands are doing better with younger customers, especially Campus Activewear that reported a 10% growth in sales year on year for FY25, while net profits were up more than 35%.
Shares of major casual footwear companies listed in the US have underperformed the S&P 500, including Crocs, Decker’s, Birkenstock, and Nike. Crocs Inc. reported a 1.5% decline in annual sales to $4.04 billion in 2025, but its international business grew nearly 12% during the year to $1.61 billion, as per its annual filings.