We are here to make a difference in India: Priya Sachdev
We are here to make a difference in India: Priya Sachdev

When it comes to fashion, a consumer sports a no compromise attitude in terms of style, brand as well as price. Rocknshop, the online luxury fashion line has made it all the more easy for fashion conscious consumers to have within their reach the best that the brand has to offer in terms of premium to luxury shopping experience only a click away. Priya Sachdev, one of the founders of Rocknshop shares her experience in an exclusive interview with Indianretailer.com

What motivated you to tread into the segment of luxury fashion wear?
Rock N Shop started with a vision dedicated to supporting retailers and brands to reach out to a potential affluent audience in India along with bridging that gap, by connecting the consumer to experience luxury shopping, simply with a click of a button and making Luxury Label more accessible to Indian consumers. We aim to bring premium to luxury shopping to the door step of every indulgent & aspirational consumer across India. We are a global community of visionary fashion boutiques and over 300 Indian and International brands (and still growing) offering an inspirational shopping experience to fashion-forward consumers. We are here to make a difference in India and our mission is making discerning fashion consumers to associate “Made in India” with “Luxury by India”.

What is the market share of luxury fashion and lifestyle products? What is your percentage of market share?
Luxury and lifestyle products are the most consumed when it comes to online. The price points can range from starting as low 500, which goes upwards to 50,000 or 5 lakhs. This includes accessories, clothings, bags, shoes and a lot more. RockNShop.com is definitely one of the key players and we have established ourselves in doing so. Not only are we present in cosmopolitan cities, we also have a large number of consumers in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. About 33% of our sales come from these area and 70% of our consumers are women.

What are the pros and cons of catering only to ‘affluent’ audience in terms of sales?
Pros in terms of sale would be that we at Rock N Shop have Luxury brands like Alexander McQueen, Manolo Blahnik, DVF and more that do not have retail presence in India and they’re only available on Rock N Shop. Secondly, while shopping with Rock N Shop, EMI is one of the payment methods.

Cons in terms of sales would be that people are still a bit vary and hesitant about shopping for luxury brands online. There has been a boost in terms of awareness, shopping patterns and sales in general over the last few months but we are still getting there.

How have you helped independent boutiques and brands grow?
Rock N Shop as a platform appeals to both affluent and mass audience as our selections range from Rs.1500 to lakhs. Retail presence and an online store both work together to help a brand grow. Being a part of a market place/ online platform with a large reach and handpick luxury brands is as essential as having a brick a retail presence.

Tell us about your new venture of Sartorial Box? What is the USP of the products you offer?
Sartorial Box is a special hand curated Box with some hero fashion and lifestyle products delivering a season of chic to the most influential trendsetters in the industry. The Sartorial Box comes at a special price where you shop for more at a lesser price. Every month Team Rock N Shop brings together 5 handpicked designer products keeping in mind the latest trends.  These products put together in box which comes at a special price with Sartorial Box 1 priced at Rs.15,000 for products worth Rs.20,000 & above and Sartorial Box 2 is priced at Rs 38,000 for products worth Rs.46,000 & above.

The USP of the products are that they are handpicked by us and specially curated and offered at a discounted price.

What kind of competition do you face from other brands, being only an e-commerce platform? Do you think e-comm is the only viable way for young players to attain business growth?
Rock N Shop is the only E-commerce website that brings together not only contemporary Indian designers, but also celebrated International luxury brands. The USP of RockNShop lies in making available international and Indian luxury brands in Tier II and Tier III cities and focus on other markets like Middle East, Singapore and cities of India. Over 70% of the sales are driven by females. ​ We think e-commerce is not the only viable way for young players to attain business growth, but it is an integral part of a business plan irrespective of the fact that their brand has a retail presence or not.

What are your plans for expansion? What was your turnovers in the last fiscal?
Rock N Shop has raised $150,000 in seed funding from various high net worth investors. The money raised was used to enhance technology infrastructure, hire staff and get more luxury labels on the platform. The funding was facilitated by Enablers (enablersinvestment.com), a web-based platform for fundraising transactions. They plan to increase their turn​over by 100% and also focus on international markets like the Middle East and Singapore. At present ​ their current turnover is Rs thirty eight lakh annually. Currently we are working on features like; AI – Integrating​  Technology Artificial Intelligence, with push notifications, product notifications and E-mail Marketing with AI + Emailer re-targeting, App-We are in the process of developing an App. 70% of our customers use and order through their mobile and we are also developing an app which will be launched at the end of this quarter.  ​

 

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