Lingerie model Zivame’s success story proves how first-time entrepreneurs can strike gold by fixing issues of product discovery.
Established in 2011 by Richa Kar, alongside along with her husband Kapil Karekar, the net lingerie shopping platform gave ladies the liberty to buy intimate put on in privateness, away from prying eyes of salespeople and fellow consumers in a brick-and-mortar retailer.
Its early success and adulation from buyers and fellow entrepreneur neighborhood however, Zivame’s progress story started faltering because the co-founders struggled to scale-up. Faced with slowing gross sales, Kar stepped down as CEO in February 2017. She resigned from the board in March and finally exited the corporate she had co-based.
To regular the ship, the administration appointed Amisha Jain as CEO in May 2019. In her earlier function, she had served as CEO on the attire agency Arvind Sports Lifestyle and head of the digital centre of excellence on the Arvind Group.
Since taking up at Zivame, Jain has aggressively expanded to drive progress.
According to Jain, Zivame is the biggest on-line lingerie platform within the $2.7 billion (Rs18,900 crore) market proper now. About 82% of the lingerie model’s enterprise (Rs137 crore income in monetary 12 months 2019) comes from on-line. Yet she is centered on expanding offline. “We want to be present at every platform (distribution channel), where buyers are shopping,” she stated.
In an interview with Quartz, Jain spoke about her early days at Zivame, the corporate’s innovation technique, and enlargement into new classes.
Edited excerpts:
What have been your fast priorities whenever you took over as CEO?
I began off by making essential adjustments in organisational construction. It was vital to have the proper of individuals driving progress.
Next, it was vital to strengthen our again-finish by streamlining our design and sourcing operations. Consolidation of distributors and optimisation of the provision chain have been different key areas I centered on.
In a extremely unorganised market, what are the important thing buyer wants that the model is fixing for?
Clearly, selections by way of proper match, label and proper value are missing within the bra market.
We see a transparent mismatch in what prospects want and what’s being placed on the desk by most manufacturers. Indian ladies have distinctive physique sorts. However, manufacturers might be simply noticed pushing restricted choices to ladies owing to lack of options and innovation. Clearly, selections by way of proper match, label and proper value are missing within the bra market. Brand Zivame needs to unravel all these issues and innovate to fulfil all innerwear wants of Indian ladies. Clearly, selections by way of proper match, label and proper value are missing within the bra market. Brand Zivame needs to unravel all these issues and innovate to meet all innerwear wants of Indian ladies.
What about pricing? What is Zivame’s technique to compete with branded and non-branded gamers out there?
We need Zivame to be part of each girl’s wardrobe. Our product ought to be accessible to all. Brand Zivame is in a candy spot as our choices are priced underneath Rs500. That’s the entry-stage for us. We supply a variety of product strains on this value phase proper from seamless bra and padded and non-padded bras to wired and professional bras. For us, the in-home model Rosaline is a primary instance of a product that gives consolation at a tremendous value. Then, we even have premium choices.
You have expanded into shapewear and sleepwear. What motivated you?
About 55% of our enterprise nonetheless comes from bras. At the identical time, every part else, together with sleepwear and shapewear, is rising for us. Getting into new classes is all about innovating for patrons and fulfilling their evolving private innerwear-associated necessities.
Zivame
Amisha Jain.
We need to fulfil all wardrobe-associated wants of girls throughout conventional in addition to western apparel. Over a time frame, the workforce has developed a robust portfolio, providing merchandise like thigh, higher physique, and waist shapers. We are taking a look at additional innovation with our sleepwear and shapewear class. For instance, inside leggings, one may take a look at cotton leggings and efficiency put on leggings. We are additionally massive on lounge-put on.
How vital is an omnichannel presence? What are your plans for offline area?
Our omnichannel technique is all about being current at contact factors the place shoppers need to store. Omnichannel presence provides the model various choice to unravel client wants. Besides promoting on-line, Zivame now retails from greater than 35 brick-and-mortar shops throughout the nation. We plan to extend our retailer depend to 60 by monetary 12 months 2020. Our offline presence is aimed toward offering current in addition to new consumers model expertise the place they’ll contact and really feel the product.
We be certain that our model expertise throughout all shopping channels be it on-line or offline is constant. We need to go wherever our prospects are. We realised prospects are more and more shopping for style and innerwear merchandise on marketplaces comparable to Flipkart. So, final 12 months we launched our merchandise on Flipkart and Myntra as nicely.
How do you go about introducing new improvements to consumers?
We constantly discuss to our prospects to determine their necessities. This is key to innovating efficiently. We work together with our prospects via our blogs and Instagram posts.
Again, innovation needn’t be an enormous one. Even small tweaks can go a good distance in offering consolation and luxurious to prospects. For instance, talking to our consumers, we realised most girls battle whereas altering out of a sports activities bra. So, we simply launched a hook and eye in sports activities bra. It’s a small little innovation however makes all of the distinction. Most manufacturers don’t discuss sufficient to their prospects and sometimes fail to know their necessities.
How is expertise serving to?
Technology, helps in personalisation. Customers are requested a number of questions earlier than they begin shopping for a product. The concept is to know wants higher. Based on these solutions, we now have created 300 several types of physique profiles. Based on these profiles, a purchaser can simply determine probably the most snug and apt product for herself.
What are the opposite methods during which you’re leveraging knowledge collected on-line to enhance shopper expertise?
We constantly be taught from knowledge and based mostly on it additional construct our product portfolio. Profiling prospects makes it simpler for us to make the proper of suggestions to them once they return to the platform. Data additionally helps us monitor stock ranges in actual-time.
