Unlocking vast Indian potential

• What are the values and market opportunities that inspired you to create this agency?

The growth that we’ve had as an agency, year-on-year, has been really good, but it is the feeling as an entrepreneur of always wanting more that motivates me. I’m grateful for what we already have but having that constant challenge and reaching for those bigger goals drive me to move forward.

• Since inception in 2019, what major milestones have Kreative Digitals achieved?

 We have helped clients generate revenue of more than Rs 500 crores during FY 2022. Being a company that follows a proper and systematic approach when it comes to research and development, campaign formulation and meticulous analysis, we take pride in the results we have delivered to our clients who have shown their trust and faith in us.

• As an agency, what are the added benefits that you provide to your clients to stay ahead of the competition?

We have always believed in delivering quality services that offer effective marketing to stay ahead of competition. We have the right tools, technology, and processes in place to manage and track campaigns effectively, which will help our clients save time and resources. Our strategies help companies to take advantage of the latest technologies and trends, while our guidance on campaigns yields better results. 

The data-driven insights that we provide and with our expertise have always helped our clients make informed decisions. Having had expertise in performance marketing, we assist clients to reach their target audience more effectively, leading to increased engagement and conversions. 

• Please share one successful instance of managing an event, the responses of the same and the testimonial from the client.

We had the privilege of sponsoring the esteemed D2C India 2023 event in Bangalore, where we not only had the opportunity to showcase our startup through a dedicated stall but also actively participated as panelists. The event organizers did a remarkable job in curating a beautiful setup, fostering an atmosphere of innovation and connection. It was a truly enriching experience for us as we had the pleasure of engaging with numerous investors and brand founders, forging valuable connections and exchanging insightful ideas.

• What are the different services that you offer?

At Kreative Digitals, we offer a slew of services such as performance marketing, social media marketing, designing, influencer marketing, and animation.

• How has the association with Indian Retailers strengthened your reach and visibility?

We have businesses across varied industries achieve their business goals especially in terms of lead generation and brand awareness. It is through our fruitful and meaningful association that we have always had with our clients which has helped us become a known face in the digital marketing space. This has become possible only because of our sincere work ethics and exceptional expertise that we have about performance marketing.

• Tell us about your brand expansion goals 2 years down the line.

As a startup owner, our vision for the next five years is to establish ourselves as one of India's premier creative marketing agencies. We aspire to become synonymous with innovation, captivating content, and unparalleled creativity. When individuals contemplate ideas that push the boundaries of imagination, we aim for our name to effortlessly spring to the forefront of their minds. Our ambition is to not only meet but exceed the expectations of our clients by consistently delivering exceptional and engaging experiences that leave a lasting impact. With an unwavering commitment to excellence, we are driven to shape the landscape of creative marketing in India and beyond.

What builds a brand such that it lasts forever and keeps growing as the ages pass, is no small task. Kankatala is one such saree brand that has been able to reach such heights. The company takes pride in having a loyal customer base through generations who return to their stores for every occasion. 

Despite having such a long-standing player in the fashion retail sector, the 78-year-old brand has opened only a few outlets here in India. The company ascribes its conservative and traditional approach as the reason behind taking so long to expand to North India. 

“So as a family we are very conservative in our business and careful in how we grow – we want to grow very sustainably,” said Anirudh Kankatala, Director, Kankatala Sarees. “We are very well planned and well-calculated in our expansion. We had our second store expansion only in 2000 and since then we have opened in Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, and Kakinada. And, only 3 years back we opened in Hyderabad – that was our first expansion outside Andhra Pradesh,” he added. 

Established in 1943 by the late Kankatala Appalaraju, the business has now grown to 11 stores in Andhra Pradesh, several other cities, and has a strong online presence. In 1982, Kankatala Mallikharjuna Rao, Anirudh’s father, popularly known as Mallik, the second generation Kankatala, entered the business. There was a major turnaround, with the opening of the first plush Kankatala store, which was Vishakhapatnam’s first air-conditioned shop.

Retail Strategy

The company has a very single-dimensional approach in terms of retail strategy. Anirudh stated, “So, actually as a retail strategy, we don’t try to differentiate based on stores, we try to maintain our USP and don’t change the product as per the city.”

It is indeed true that when a brand comes to Delhi, it is assumed that people will expect to go there for Banarasis (popular North-Indian Saree made in Varanasi) more than Kanjirvaram (silk sari made in the Kanchipuram region in Tamil Nadu) because it is north of India. 

“However, we as a brand believe that many people know Kankatala for Kanjivaram - people have been shopping at Kankatala because they like Kanjivaram. We decided not to change the strategy of the brand is catering to our customers,” Anirudh further added.  

The company is planning to open more stores in the north, in (Mumbai) Maharashtra, one in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Kolkata. 

Building Online Presence

In this technology-driven age, much of the competition is on how strong the brand’s presence is online. Being deeply traditional in its approach, the brand had obviously faced tough challenges to transition to online. 

Anirudh stated, “We did have a lot of challenges to take a traditional business online. For us it is 1,000 products, it is only one quantity, and once it is sold it gone. Then we need to take the new pictures and upload them. So I have to train my team to understand e-commerce and go online.” “And, we are from Vishakhapatnam, so finding talent to go digital was also a challenge. The family support was there to help us expand online,” Anirudh further added. 

The brand took almost one year (in 2017) to start the online website and since then it is reported to be growing at 30 percent YoY. In fact, the company attributes its online explorations as the reason behind the company’s growth. 

“One of the main reasons for the growth is because we started online, social media and shipping. Then we have realized that there is so much potential for our brand in Hyderabad and Bangalore. Then we have realized the potential to take Handlooms to the capitals of the states and then after Hyderabad, we had a vision and my father’s dream to be in the capital of India and finally since the last three we have looking for a place,” Anirudh stated. 

The company is also said to be very particular about Vastu. Anirudh said, “For us to find a place in south ex which is almost a 50-year old market, it was very difficult. Finally, we have been able to find a place and our landlord has been very supportive to us and we finally opened in New Delhi.”

Fusion Is New Trend

The brand is devoted to bringing line-ups that are a fusion of South and North in their new lineups. “Kanjivaram is a South Indian saree and Bandhini is a North Indian technique from Gujarat and Rajasthan; so we took Kanjivaram sarees and got Bandhini done on it, “ said Anirudh. “Then, we got Petni from North and got Kalamkari (style of painting from South) hand painting done on it”
 
However, the brand is also aware even though the fusion style is new and trending, the classics like Kanjivaram, Banarasi will never go out of style.

Necessary Technological Adoptions

Given the new trends that the brand is adopting, it is important to cater to the right audience who desires those, and for the same, the brand needs to adopt the necessary technologies to handle that successfully.  

“We are using an ARP-system to help us understand which weaving cluster is more in demand, which colours are moving, accordingly we are using the technology. And, we are using the google analytics and heatmap analysis of the website to understand what people are interested in – what colours,” Anirudh further added. 

Even though the traction the brand gets through online is a small fraction in online – but more than the revenue the online branding has helped us grow. So, initially, when you went online, we thought online as a business is separate and offline separately, but we realized the strategy has to be together. The online branding has helped us as the brand grow and helped to expand to new physical stores and wouldn’t have been possible through an online presence. 

It is also true that Kankatala coming to the North is going to ruffle some feathers within the saree segment. Anirudh’s however stated, “As a brand, we believe that competition is the best thing that can happen to a business. Because Kankatala here, it is going to bring a lot of people to the South Ex market that is not just going to benefit me, it is going to benefit the whole of South Ex.”

The company is currently working towards expanding the online presence more and thinking of an international expansion, starting with starting trunk shows in America and then possibly a physical store in America. 

In North India, the Kankatala brand has opened its outlet in the South Ex region, which was inaugurated by Bollywood Actress Karisma Kapoor. 

London-based Seraphine, a maternity wear brand, was started in 2002 by Cécile Reinaud. The brand was launched in India by Rajat Kapoor and the franchise has been in this business for about three years.

It is the one-stop solution for pregnant women. The brand boasts of easy-to-wear asymmetrical dresses, ruffled dresses, maternity jeans, lingerie, gowns, dresses, tops and much more. It offers everything from everyday essentials to show-stopping evening wear. 

In an interaction with Indian Retailer, Kapoor shares the success story of the brand.

What is the secret behind being the No 1 maternity brand since the last 18 years?

Our design, comfort, and quality play a role in the clothing's excellence. When women get pregnant, they buy one size bigger and compromise on the design and fit. Pregnancy is the thing when women shouldn't think about any compromise. So, we decided to make women feel great and make their journey happy. We make sure about the pregnant ladies' comfort, which is very delicate during that time. Women go through a lot of changes at that time and they shouldn't compromise on fashion and comfort, and we are all about that. 

Are you witnessing any specific consumer trend in the Indian market?

Indian women, when they get pregnant, usually do not look into their style and fashion sense, however, the trend is changing. We provide a much more comfortable outfit for their beautiful moment of motherhood. The way it is designed, it is more suitable for pregnant women. In India, the mentality is changing, and women are also getting fashionable.  It differentiates the Indian market from the global market.

What is your branding strategy in India?

We are present in multiple channels offline as well as online. We are present only in one store located at Select CityWalk, Saket, New Delhi. The products are also available online through our website. Today, Seraphine has a global reach. It’s flagship stores are present in London, Paris, New York, LA, Dubai and Hong Kong. We have tied up with hospitals also, which has specialization in maternity. At present, we also have a presence across all social media platforms. 

How did the idea of franchising strike you?

Considering the demands of India's products, there are lots of companies providing clothing, and still, there is a category that is unexplored yet. There is potential for maternity wear in India, and we got the idea of selling maternity wear in India.  
 

Timex Group has announced its partnership with the retail entity Timehut as an authorised online retailer for its leading brands today. Through this partnership, Timehut will be authorised to sell all the brands under Timex Group across various e-commerce portals such as Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, Ajio, Tata Cliq as well as brand’s owned channels. This will help Timex India to have control and grow marketplace across channels. 

In an interaction, Sharmila  Sahai, MD, Timex shares more about the deal, future strategies and a lot more.

Excerpts from the interview:

Can you give us a brief about Timex’s legacy and the company’s future roadmap in India?

Timex brings with itself a historic legacy of 165 years in watch-making that roots back to 1854 in Waterbury, Connecticut. For over a century, Timex as one of the oldest watch companies in the world has been delivering quality timepieces at extremely affordable prices.

Recently, Timex Group which is synonymous with quality and innovation announced its growth recapitalization globally, as it has entered into an agreement pursuant to which an affiliate of The Baupost Group, LLC, (Boston-based investment firm) will acquire majority ownership of the company. This investment is a testament to Timex’s transformation into a highly consumer-focused company synonymous with quality and innovation. It will provide Timex with a competitive advantage and enable it to pursue many opportunities, strengthen market position and drive efficiencies. 

Right from increasing the Indian market share for the brand Timex, to growing our fashion portfolio for our fashion-conscious customers, we have some of best global brands in our fashion portfolio like Versus Versace, Ted Baker, Nautica and we are also adding a new brand Furla for our customers.We also want to ensure that we bring new collections for our Tier 2 and 3 customers with quality offerings under the brand TMX.

We aim to achieve this by leveraging our distribution channel and growing the e- commerce channel in partnership with Timehut to offer our consumers trendy, innovative timepieces and the best of global selections in India at the comfort of their home.

What does the recent strategic partnership between Timex Group and Timehut means to you as a brand?

With the Indian retail industry already at the cusp of transformation during pre-covid times, the pandemic and its restrictions around has accelerated the emergence of E-retail and its growing influence on Indian shoppers. To capitalize on the growth in e –retail and to offer its consumers, a ‘worry free shopping experience’ TGIL has partnered with the retail entity Timehut.

 The vision is to enable a seamless integration of online and offline for all Timex Group Brands with the help of Timehut. This development will not only support revenue growth but also increase the profitability of Timex group while modernizing its retail experience, as through Timehut we will be able to control offers & discounts, elevate brand experience and present the entire range of watches under the bouquet of brands to our consumers. 

The partnership in the first phase will focus on maximizing profitability by cutting the middleman, enhancing the consumer experience by offeringthe best selection of 100% authentic watches. In the second phase, we will on-board other brands and set up offline stores under Timehut in addition tobuilding a strong digital footprint through investments on e-com enabled website, strong digital marketing initiatives and software to support backend operations. 

In our initial months, we have been able to servemore than 15,000 customers till date and have seen a consistent month-on-month growth in customer orders. In fact we were able to double our orders last month and look forward to steady growth in the upcoming year.

Share the importance of digitisation in today’s dynamic economy and how is Timex Group keeping up with ever-evolving consumer expectations?

The onset of the pandemic has vastly impacted consumer behaviour and brand communication. As social distancing and digitalisation continues to become the new normal, we have planned to focus our communication through social media and are rigorously communicating with consumers on quality, durability and authenticity.

We have also partnered with Viniculum, a global software company that enables omnichannel retailing and aggregator for marketplace ecommerce.We are hopeful that Vinculum partnership will help Timehut strengthen its presence across the Indian ecommerce market through its robust infrastructure, advanced technology and strong marketing acumen.It will further enable modernisation of warehouse, linking offline retailers in Tier2/3 cities,thereby gaining market share and a new consumer base to grow sales.

Tell us your future plans for 2021.

Covid 19 gave us several challenges but also presented us with new opportunities. Understanding consumer needs and staying abreast of consumer trends and insights has been at the centre of our innovation strategy. Considering the rise in the number of fitness enthusiasts across India, we had launched the fitness band- Helix Gusto 2.0, Timex fitness band and our most recent smartwatch launch - Timex iConnect Premium Active in the health and fitness category.Timex Fitness band also awarded as the ‘Editor’s Choice Award – Lifestyle Fitness Band of the Year’ at the Jagran HiTech Awards 2020. These fitness wearables areone of the latest examples where we are pushing the boundaries of innovation and providing Indian consumers the opportunity to own high-quality smart wearable products which they can wear anytime- whether it is a formal get-together, a business meeting, or any outdoor activity.

“We are rethinking our strategies with the evolving market dynamics, in order to reach out to our consumer with an improved experience. Through our strategic partnership with Timehut, Timex Group aims to strengthen its consumer focus and offer the best assortment of global fashion brands with faster delivery and better service quality. Timehut is further open for strategic partnership with brands looking to amplify their online presence with their expertise to generate more sales, get new consumers, and expandthe brand’s online presence,” says MD Sharmila Sahai

While the initial Covid scenario was very tough & challenging, we instantly shifted to cash preservation but at the same time we were served with an additional opportunity to develop our OEM business and for that we partnered with Flipkart to offer our manufacturing, designing & after sales capabilities for some of customers most-loved fashion brands on Flipkart.

We will continue to expand and improve our footprint in modern trade and e-commerce continuously as these segments help us not only in sales and driving brand preference but also further help us in serving our customers better, offering trendy innovative timepieces and the best of global watch assortment. We aim to achieve this by leveraging our distribution channel and growing business in e-commerce channel throughour partnership with Timehut.

Are there any upcoming launches you have in mind during the upcoming season?

With the onset of pandemic, since our consumers have been spending most of the time working from home, we also decided to introduce a WFH collection from Timex, encouraging our consumers to style up by giving them an opportunity to feel good and stay motivated even while working from home.

Further, keeping in line with the seasonal trends, Timex Group is also launching theFurlabrand watches in India offering a range of classic timepieces that come with strong Italian design combined with timeless precision and craftsmanship.

Additionally, we are also working on several new products across brands for Valentine’s Day which is a prime time for gifting and shopping by style conscious consumers.

Test Interview Content

Ashish Chauhan, MD & CEO, Bombay Stock Exchange believes that in the current times technology is the only catalyst of change in retail while citing the example of how volumes of trading transactions at BSE have shot up exponentially over the years. Tech is rapidly changing the form of conducting the retail businesses across the world. It is thus enabling ecommerce to evolve rapidly with the pace of speed of change. According to him online, offline and phygital will be the future of retail with their balance will continue to shift over a period of time.

How retail business can be reframed with technology?

In consumer retail any business gets reshaped by modern age technologies. The consumer retail happening 100 years back was very different from how it was 500 years back. The technology of shipping has changed the way of conducting business over the years. The telephones and printing technology started catalogue retailing in US and in other countries and then supermarts and hypermarts started coming in lately with large amount of goods started getting shipped and manufactured across the world.

While, retail gets shaped by many influences including changing laws and regulatory compliances, most importantly, it gets changed due to technology. The ecommerce oriented retail will continue to evolve with rapid pace of speed of change.

How technology has enabled in the volumes of trading transactions at BSE?

Trading transaction volumes at BSE has gone up from 200cr in the period of Harshad Mehta to 20 lakh crore currently. Basically, the technology has become easier. With automation, people have been transacting more therefore trading volumes have gone up by 5,000 to 20,000 times across many exchanges in the world. This has also led to emergence of commodities, currencies, carbon management and other exchanges.

It’s a 2 percent online ecommerce and 25 percent digitally influenced buying so what would be the move in the future?

Somewhere down the line there is a physical requirement of people to experience things so online and offline will remain together for sometimes to come. Will the equilibrium be established between pure digital and somewhere in between is what remains to be seen. Though currently it is 2 just percent of buying online but the growth could be much higher on the digital further,than the growth in physical retail.

Over a period of time probably 25-30 percent of the retail will happen through digital and few companies would end up capturing that value chain than that ends up becoming very large sort of influencer on pricing and logistics and all.

Do you suggest that phygital will acquire more volumes?

Phygital will also have very large proportion of volumes. Pure non-digital physical retail may slowly shrink but it will not completely wipe out because the economies at which that business works, the digital, which is centralized, may not be able to reach there. So, I think all three channels will continue to work with their balance to shift over a period of time. Thus, in future whoever will be able to crack omni-channel integration will be able to create billions of dollars of wealth going forward.

How cloud technology can come to the rescue of small retailers?

In contrast to large vendors, many small retailers are not been able to set up the technologies and interface it with their partner’s technology because it is expensive. But, cloud technology can enable seamless interfacing with your partner vendors and provide solutions in very real time even though they are not tech savvy and cannot invest in expensive technology. 

In the quest of acquiring larger pie of retail sale at airports Future Group is eyeing to tap airport locations with launching Future Lifestyle Fashion stores across Goa, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati airports soon. The company is also planning to bid for Chennai and Chandigarh airports. Also with its ambitious Retail 3.0 strategy Future Group is planning to launch around 200 Brand Factory Stores blended with technology in the coming years while eyeing to bring in 1 cr online Indian customers to its different formats of offline stores. Hence, while candidly speaking about the Future Retail’s future strategies Rakesh Biyani, Joint Managing Director, Future Retail Ltd. during ReTechCon 2018 in Mumbai.

Do you have plans to expand your Brand Factory format stores?

Under our Retail 3.0 strategy we are planning to expand the presence of Brand Factory Stores across the country. The stores will be blended with technology in the coming years. The format is doing well and seeing its performance we are planning to launch 200 more stores in the coming years.

And what will be the focus for Central stores?

Simultaneously we are focusing on Central stores with more emphasis on celebrating categories with wider space allocated to them. Such as in the store we have footwear spread over 18,000 sqft and handbags are spread over 6,000 sqft among other categories. Central is about brands and new products. Consumer seeks choice and Central offers assortment of choice.

With FLF’s airport retail outlets which are the locations you are eyeing at?

We are in the process of tapping airport locations with launching Future Lifestyle Fashion stores across Goa, Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar and Gwahati airports soon. Next we are bidding for Chennai and Chandigarh airports.

What will be the size of these stores and seeing high rental cost at airports how will you attain profitability?

The Goa stores will be of 10,000 sqft and others will be of 4000 sqft. Goa airport has a rent of Rs 3000 per sqft per month thus time will tell the profitability. But the price of the products at these will be same across inside as of outside of airport.

How will you bring online consumers to your offline stores?

We are aiming to bring 1 cr online Indian customers to our different formats of offline stores. For this we does campaigns like India Decides The Price on Twitter. With every retweet the price keeps coming downward. The campaign is done on jeans, backpacks, luggage, and home products among other. The campaign is for Big Bazaar, Central and it has got amazing response with sale is going up by four to five percent.

According to you why retailers have reduced the numbers of discounting days?

Things are now striding towards good balance with some retailers reducing the numbers of discounting days and the overall sale optimizing well. Likewise any industry goes through a cycle every retailer is trying to do something or the other to gain the market share.

Finally are you planning increasing the number of Cover Story stores?

Cover Story has 12 stores and we could launch similar number of stores in the coming years. The brand is into fast fashion. Value retailers are doing better.

The Indian eyewear market is rapidly growing given the young population and growing awareness of branded eyewear. Growing at a rate of 10 per cent per annum for the last five years, the eyewear industry has witnessed entry of a majority of high end brands under licensing agreement. Major brands as Raulph lauren, Dior, Elle Saab etc. have licensed their names for eyewear category. in Vineet Sharma, MD, Aureole Inspecs shares insight about the eyewear licensing industry. 

Excerpts:

How is Indian retail responding towards eyewear licensing?

As far as retail scenario is concerned, it is divided in a big way. When we talk about certain luxury brand, in order to attract the consumers, every retailer wants brands that the consumers could relate to either in an aspiration value or possibly the name the consumers can recall the most.

Of course the retailers are putting this as a page and obviously the brands have their own attraction. So one – it is aspirational value for the consumers and second – from the knowledge perspective (what they know) and the third is the curiosity of the international brands which they don’t know when they are exposed in market.

How is the competition from global brands?

The brands do attract in a major way and the consumers have a great resonance to it. So, obviously one can conclude that licensing is really working well. But don’t forget that we still have too many licensees in the market which are coming in eyewear predominantly through trading route. There is not so much of direct licensing happening. We have global players which are companies getting licensing, manufacturing, and owning the distribution and if you look at their India operations, they are not doing deals directly.

When we talk about licensing in eyewear, many companies in India are the effect of their parent companies holding licenses and they are purely doing trading in India. There are few companies like us who have been practicing licensing in the country because generally the licensor in here are at a very nascent stage lacking international experience or exposure within licensing.

How has been your experience with brand licensing for eyewear as this genre is not very common in India?

Licensing is at a very nascent stage so people handling licensing don’t understand it. Consumers have responded in a great way, but is industry truly doing eyewear licensing. There are brands, and sub-licensing happening as well (some of the distributors are producing on behalf of the brand) but as far as local licensing is concerned, I don’t think a lot has happened. The question is - are the Indian brands licensors’ ready; do they understand the businesses and brands that work better?

What are the challenges that licensors face and how should they address those challenges?

One of the largest challenge for licensors is ‘quality’ which is proportional to choosing the right partner for short term gain or long term establishing values such as quality, right pricing and comradery between the partner because actually the licensee is the one who actually does invest, not just in stock, but the designs, R&D and is the one firing all the guns. The licensee is not going to be understood or heard.

Talking in Indian front, the Indian brands need to understand licensing better, work with partners who are not just dangling a cheque in front of them but truly becoming partners.

What has been the most popular segment in eyewear?

From an aspirational level, not each customer who aspires, buys but luxury brands have surely been the crowd pullers. I think sports brands are still struggling to make it in a big way, but lifestyle brands are the largest in terms of volumes and perhaps even value.

What are your future plans from licensing per say?

We have signed up with Pepe Jeans just now and have also brought in Hackkit. We have already put it in EBOs. We are also going to bring in Ted Baker, Converse and we have another 4 designer labels from japan & US lined up.

My experience with Indian brands so far has been not very good. Right now I would prefer to deal with international brands because the Indian brands are very nascent and looking for short terms gains rather than investments. 

According to you, why is brand Licensing an effective retail strategy?

From retailer’s perspective, it is always good to have brands which are recognized. All these brands are trying to create relationship with audiences. They are reckoning upon current consumers, possible consumers and future consumers.

Also licensing gives good sales mix to the retailer where he can have certain degree of licensed products being sold and contributing a lot to his margin.

ECommerce connects people like Indra Nooyi to local brands

While eCommerce is revolutionising the retail space in the country, and tussle between online and offline market place is the talk of the town, a number of challenges are being faced by e-retailers as well, payment being one of them.

In a candid chat with Retailer Media, Rahul Narvekar, the Founder and CEO of Indianroots shared about the challenges faced by an e-Retailer, the scalability issue and the efficiency of eCommerce which connects people like Indra Nooyi, the CEO of PepsiCo to a local brand of Kolkata.

What are the major challenges for an e-Retailer operating in high-end segment?

When we started in 2009-10, the early days of eCommerce, people said that nobody is going to buy online because of the issues of fitting; fabrics etc and people will go to a mall, try the clothes and only then buy. Then people realised that we have a great page with a much wider range of apparel. With Fashion and you, the moment we said 60 per cent off on Prada, Zara or Gucci, the sizing issues went out of the window.

What is your take on online payments and COD?

Payments were also an issue. People were reluctant to put in card details. To cater that issue, we did COD (Cash-On-Delivery), which became the biggest enabler of eCommerce in those days. Then for a very long time, it was COD that was ruling. Now, the new trend that we have seen is that people have started using wallets like Paytm.

Initially in eCommerce, one could do only a smaller amount of transaction of ticket size as equivalent to 600 to 800 INR. As the factor of buying online has gone up, the average value of order has gone up. Now people are okay to spend a couple of lakhs online also. People don’t have thirty to forty thousand stacked at home, which made them move towards card payments or the e-wallets.

How do you analyse the emergence of digital wallets?

These wallets have become greatest enablers of eCommerce as one need not to bother about security of card details. Plus, in case of any issue in future, one can raise complaint with wallet service provider and get his money back. That is the new big thing. Now the wallets are going to grow big and the next trend we are observing is that the wallet providers are becoming eCommerce companies like Paytm.

What changes have been incorporated in terms of model of operation?

Talking from the model per say, initially it was inventory led model, with the players buying from vendors and selling to consumers. Now, everybody is looking to more of a marketplace model. The challenge of a marketplace model is that in drop shipment (when vendor directly ships to the customers), the product is replaced – like people received soaps instead of ordered i-phone.

Challenges are there, but that’s the only way to scale and now the vendors have also realised that it doesn’t pay to short chase the customer because then the site will drop you. So, if the ratings of a seller go down beyond a certain point, then he is dropped from the website. That evolution is happening and we are moving to a more marketplace model.

What are the upcoming trends in online fashion retail?

As far as the consumer behaviour is concerned, a lot of showrooming is happening. People walk into a mall, try out stuff and then order it online. Now with mobile-sites and apps, it has become easier because of the mobility factor and single click checkout through Smartphone has further evolved the online market.

People are becoming more experimental in terms of fashion and open to change. Even in office behaviour, people are more casual, it’s okay to wear jeans and t-shirts, brands are playing a bigger role due to awareness. Earlier, people knew a little about the brands. Customer demands have also gone up as people want to wear clothes that fit well and they are willing to pay extra for that customised fit.

Are people going online for high-end brands?

Yes, they are, definitely. Be it high-end or low-end, people are buying online seriously. Malls are in dearth of consumers these days.

How much is the market share of Indianroots in ethnic retail?

We are a market leader in ethnic. This year, we did a turnover of INR 61 crore and this year we will cross INR 500 crore. Next year as in 2016, we are looking at 1800 crore, so we are now looking at a billion dollar revenue in 3 years of time.

What is the USP of Indianroots?

There are two USPs of Indianroots. One is exclusivity as we are only in fashion space and we are not about electronics or anything else. Another fact is that we are everything for everyone. So, one can buy a 400 Rs kurti to a dress worth Rs 4,000. We have everything from local brands to regional brands to designer brands. For instance, we have Weavers Studio from Kolkata on our site. We created a video rather a TV commercial of Weavers Studio on NDTV.com. Indra Nooyi, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, brought the entire collection. We are getting on to connecting a customer like Indra Nooyi to Weavers Studio and making a customer like Indra Nooyi access to a brand like Weavers Studio – a small brand from Kolkata.

When a customer goes on to Amazon, they get lost among the sheer number of product range, whereas at Indianroots that doesn’t happen, they don’t get lost into electronics etc.

What are the challenges you face while dealing with designers?

There are lots of challenges. Designers are far more creative people who have their own issues. What happens in eCommerce is that suddenly you get a lot of orders. We work with a brand called AND at Indianroots where we did 6.5 crore sale in a month’s time. One can deliver so much in a month’s time, which is a major challenge in eCommerce as it’s all about scalability. Most of the designers are not equipped to handle that kind of bulk order. Now they are learning and investing as well.