BLINGE promoting fashion entrepreneurs & private labels
BLINGE promoting fashion entrepreneurs & private labels

The ‘renting economy’ or the saga of preferring access over ownership has come of ages from houses to fashion. Burgeoning on the aspirational needs and brand consciousness of middle class, fashion rental portals have further pushed the envelope of sharing economy alongside offering a marketplace to fashion entrepreneurs.                                           

One such platform is Blinge.in - an on-demand fashion rental platform and application founded by three IITians from Raipur. Though conceptualized with an aim to create an affordable premium fashion experience for the masses, the portal was actually triggered by one of the co-founders Pooja Dubey who being a socialite ended up splurging a major chunk of her salary on clothes. Blinge fits perfectly in that ever empty mould, believe the other two co-founders Shashwat Gopal and Shikhar Khanna. I a candid conversation with Retailer media, Gopal spill out the details about the inception and operation of portal.

What was the motivation behind launching this portal?

Solving inefficiency and optimizing processes have always motivated me. And fashion industry which holds a big opportunity was something to lookout for. Major trigger to start the company was when I shifted to Mumbai and met Pooja (Co-founder @Blinge). She had to attend lot of events monthly and dressing up well was necessary for her to keep a good social score and thus spending a huge chunk of her salary in clothes. This being the problem faced by most of people in the society led us to start BLINGE.

How do you plan to position the brand?

Our mission is to become the “One stop shop for all your occasion needs”
We will be positioning ourselves as the fashion brand that saves users time, money and space and getting them occasion ready.

We have received great response so far. We are growing 30 per cent M-o-M in orders. We are also getting repeat and organic users in numbers. This gives us the confidence of customers’ growing trust in Blinge.

What set of marketing strategies are you following?

We are creating a relatively new online market. Hence our major focus is on educating people about the benefits of rental. We are creating unique and credible content by collaborating with fashion experts and social influencers.

What is your revenue model?

We are a transactional platform and charge 10-15 per cent of MRP for every rental. Revenue is shared between designers/brands and BLINGE. We will be able to serve 10k+ users in Mumbai, with revenue going to 1cr by year end.

What is the USP of Blinge that would give you an edge above peers?

There are companies offering on-demand rental services. But BLINGE distinguishes itself from others in two ways. First is the dynamic collection offering which is the right balance between aspirational designer wear and upcoming fashion trends. The second is our Business model. We are a marketplace promoting private labels and fashion entrepreneurs.

Are you planning any offline store in near future, or it will be restricted to online only?

Currently our focus is on market adoption. We believe that we can solve it in a cost-efficient way by using technology and digital media. Surely we will think of offline stores as an opportunity in the future when we have created a face in the market.

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