Indians never fail to amuse themselves with their traditional attire, especially in ethnic wear on occasions or events. On the other hand, wearing such clothes costs like anything in this world, even if you are wearing them for one day or keeping them permanently.
That’s why Flyrobe has made a favourable store by conferring rental dresses at affordable prices. Besides that, customers can buy the products by paying the full settlement.
Flyrobe is an online rental clothing company for men and women. Instead of owning a one lakh dress for a one-day occasion, renting it at an affordable rate would do wonders. Flyrobe sells handmade ethnic wear of the RIB brand and charges fare only on the rental dresses but they ask you to pay extra if you exceed the specified due date.
On the other note, there are no delivery fees or transportation charges and also the company grants one more expedient to the customers where the required product delivers within 3 hours.
Notably, Flyrobe is an online clothing portal that sells as well as rents western attire, ethnic, accessories, designers, and men’s and women’s collections which was launched in 2015 by Pranay Surana, Tushar Saxena, and Shreya Mishra.
Currently, the business is planning to open 30 branches in different cities to dilate their services in the country. The company is operating in 10 major cities in India and has two offline stores in Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Delhi.
Flyrobe – Products and Services
Flyrobe is known for its Ethnic attire, which is made by its handcrafted RIB brand. Subsidiarily, The company sells branded clothes such as Zara, Armani, GLITZ, Sabyasachi, DIOR, etc. to the customers.
Flyrobe also sells designer collections, and accessories like sunglasses, bracelets, rings, and chains. Furthermore, Flyrobe offers party dresses, lehengas, sherwani, tuxedos, and other branded collections.
Flyrobe Website
Flyrobe comes up amazingly with its new arrivals of handcrafted dresses which are given as rentals at a reasonable price. In case you are buying such dresses from Flyrobe, it is said that it costs an arm and a leg.
The store also touts celebrities’ look outfits and renowned designer’s outfits, whereas Alia Bhatt, Sonakshi Singha, Parineeti Chopra, and others have played a part in the growth of Flyrobe.
Flyrobe – Target Audience
Every woman admires herself when it comes to traditional wear, so it is highly recommended for the age group 20 to 40 years, who love to wear ethnic attire to any occasion to amuse others with their classy look. So Flyrobe targets women majorly by selling or renting women’s collections at a pragmatic price.
Flyrobe – Business Model
Unlike other clothing companies, Flyrobe renders their clothes in rental to the customers at a cheaper rate. They rent the on-demand product for a four to eight days period and charge no delivery fees. But if the specified rental period became due, then the customers are asked to send an email to the company in requisition for the dilatory.
It is saddening when one buys an expensive dress for 50 thousand rupees but wears it only for a one-day event. That’s why Flyrobe sounds good when expensive clothes are available for rent at an affordable rate to the customers for 4 to 8 days without delivery charges.
What Is Unique About Flyrobe’s Business Model?
Being on top of its game, Flyrobe uses unique ideas that make them stand apart from its competitors. Some of the ideas used by Flyrobe are:
No delivery charges
Flyrobe provides an excellent service to its customers by way of free pick up and delivery to the address provided by the customer. This is one of the few reasons why Flyrobe is popular among its competitors and customers likewise. The delivery of western clothing within 3 hours with no pickup and delivery charges was coveted by the customers of Flyrobe.
Services offered in 16 major cities
Flyrobe offers its service in 16 major Indian cities: Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Ghaziabad, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Agra.
Rented outfits at a cheap price
The very reason why Flyrobe is favored is because of renting good quality ethnic and western wear at a cheap price affordable to people. This allows people who would want a lehenga for a 3-day function to not spend a fortune on buying a lehenga but also wear one that makes a statement.
Offers a wide range of clothing from top designers
Who wouldn’t love wearing a lehenga from the maker of Anushka Sharma’s wedding lehenga and not having to sell their kidney in the process? Flyrobe offers ethnic and western clothing from top designers like Sabyasachi, Zara, Armani GLITZ, Dior, etc. to its customers and has multiple partnerships with several agencies and designers.
Online and In-store presence
Flyrobe’s online reputation across 16 Indian cities at a reasonable rate of rent for a minimum of four days has customers crowding their site. Customers who want to make alterations to the dress can visit their stores and get a fitting done for no cost.
How Does Flyrobe Make Money?
Flyrobe is gaining much recognition with different types of audiences favouring its concept. Flyrobe makes money in more than one pattern. The majority of the revenue collected by Flyrobe comes from its online sales. As per its founders, 65% of revenue is collected from its online sales.
Apart from that, Flyrobe charges a commission from its sellers on each successful renting and purchase. There is also the option of a subscription plan available for its users which provides additional benefits to the user.
On the other hand, Flyrobe charges a fixed amount from then in return for the subscription model. Flyrobe also earns its revenue from the advertisements provided on its platform.
Flyrobe’s unique idea created an industry that is thriving and profitable. It is well received among those people who would love to wear high-end fashionable ethnic wear to marriages and functions as these are celebrated as grand festivities in India but can’t afford to purchase them for a one-time affair.
And the ability to wear International branded western wear for rent is an option that is positively tempting to those who love fashion. The largest rental platform’s presence in 16 major cities in India and the offline stores only help in increasing the reach of Flyrobe among masses of people who are planning a budget wedding dress.
FAQs
What is Flyrobe?
Flyrobe is a startup focused on fashion-based products which allow them to be rented and purchased. Majorly, it is an apparel-based renting platform.
Who started Flyrobe?
Flyrobe was started by Shreya Mishra, Tushar Saxena, and Pranay Surana in 2015.
Can I rent my clothes on Flyrobe?
Yes, Flyrobe allows easy renting of individuals’ clothes on its platform. One can easily rent their clothes on Flyrobe until and unless the dress meets all the eligibility criteria of the startup.
Is Flyrobe Profitable?
Flyrobe is a profitable business as its revenue collection has been noted to have significant growth over the years.
Right now the Fashion market mainly favours tiny fashion boutiques, new fashion designers, and dedicated outlets that make a personal style statement. It is clear that there is a lot of scope in this field.
Anyone who has ever owned or launched a business will attest that it requires time, study, and smart resource management. Long, hard hours and the funds needed to convert your vision into reality are a struggle that every new firm encounters. It’s no different when it comes to starting a fashion business. Here are the best five fashion startup ideas to help you get started with yours.
Here are the top 5 fashion business ideas to start a fashion startup in 2021.
Fashion Event Production Company
It’s not simple to put together a fashion show. Designers and models are consulted by fashion event producers, who may even train them.
Helping the designer with runway show casting and knowing how garments should be displayed on the body and how the models should hold themselves are part of being a fashion event producer.
Before starting this job, you need to have a basic understanding of fashion shows, work with creative individuals, and be adaptable enough to cope with a variety of personalities. The amount of money you can make is determined by the number of clients you have and how large they are. You won’t need workers or even an office to get started because the initial costs are low.
However, for your firm to be successful, you will need to conduct a lot of self-promotion. For this sort of employment, relationships and referrals are essential. Business cards, networking through industry websites, and user-friendly websites that display both an online and physical portfolio are all required.
Personal Styling Business
A personal stylist aids in the enhancement of a client’s image. Stylist services may be necessary for certain individuals before a significant occasion or even incorporated into daily life. A personal stylist’s responsibilities include hair, cosmetics, clothes, and anything connected to a client’s appearance.
This company is an important element of any community because it helps people succeed in an increasingly image-conscious environment.
Someone with prior expertise in fashion, hair care, cosmetics, or a similar industry is perfect for a personal styling business. While no formal training is necessary, having a network of potential clients may be quite beneficial in getting your business started.
Fashionistas with prior experience in sectors such as radio, cosmetics, or public relations will usually have an advantage. You’ll also need good communication skills and a desire to work one-on-one with folks. While many individuals may be interested in your services, young professionals will be the primary market.
These are up-and-coming individuals for whom the image may be a determining factor in both their career and romantic goals. You have the option of billing your clients by the hour or by the session.
Plus-size Clothing Startup
Opening a plus-size clothes store may be a terrific business endeavour if you’ve ever struggled to find the proper fit or have a passion for making fashion more accessible to everyone. Although no formal degree is necessary, a background in fashion or retail may be quite beneficial. Those who have difficulty fitting into typical clothing stores have the same wants as women who do.
These women are catered to by a plus-size clothing firm, which sells attractive apparel in their sizes. Although most plus-size fashion companies concentrate on plus size women, certain men’s plus size apparel businesses cater to larger guys.
Startup expenditures might be high, with space and goods accounting for the majority of your spending. Look for low-rent commercial space, establish your business on an internet platform like Shopify, or try specialising in a single sort of apparel to reduce inventory.
Your company may stay tiny, but there is a lot of room for expansion in the market. Thus there is a lot of space for growth.
Best Clothing Business Ideas
Start a Sewing Business
A sewing company, unlike many other sorts of enterprises, may be run from home. A sewing company run from home has the extra benefit of giving more comfort and privacy during fits. With minimal initial expenditure, you may establish a small home-based sewing company.
Sewing firms customise garments via embroidery and other decorative arts to produce one-of-a-kind individualised styles in addition to creating and changing clothes.
If you enjoy fashion and have a knack for sewing, starting your own sewing business may be a lucrative full-time or part-time endeavour. While this is best suited for people with a high degree of ability, various educational programmes are available for fashionistas interested in learning the technique.
The initial expenditures of a sewing business are often minimal because you can run them from your home. You could already have a lot of the equipment you’ll need to get started, and you can factor the cost of your supplies into the price you offer your clients.
A sunglasses line is often a high-end eyewear line for upper-crust customers. In 2016, sunglasses earned about $3.6 billion in income, making this a lucrative career choice for many.
Starting your own eyewear business is a terrific way to get your foot in the door of the fashion industry. The ideal owner will have a keen sense of style and design. While no specific knowledge is necessary, you should have a fundamental grasp of how your concept will be developed into a product. It’s also crucial to observe safety requirements while creating UV-protected items. Finding a means to generate distinctive articles and a memorable business can help you flourish in this competitive field. In most cases, the owner is solely responsible for creating and promoting their eyewear.
They can either make the sunglasses themselves or collaborate with a manufacturer to finish the process. Sunglasses can be purchased online or in a physical store. In most cases, owners will collaborate with distributors to have their products offered in other retail outlets.
The materials you choose to employ and your location will determine your startup expenses.
The worldwide clothing market is currently valued at $3 trillion and accounts for 2% of global GDP. And the fashion sector in India is growing at a pace of 24.2 per cent each year, implying that it would be worth $18,732 million in 2022.
Looking at the numbers, it’s clear that this market has a lot of promise, and the need for small enterprises in this field is growing all the time.
FAQs
What are the most valued fashion brands in the world?
Most valued fashion brands in the world are:
Nike
Louis Vuitton
Hermes
Gucci
Zalando
Adidas
Tiffany & Co.
Zara
H&M
Cartier
What are the top fashion brands in India?
Some of the top fashion brands in India are:
Van Heusen
Park Avenue
Pepe Jeans
Levi’s
Allen Solly
Nykaa
Peter England
What are the Fashion Business Ideas to start a fashion startups?
Some of the top fashion business ideas to start a fashion:
"Fashion is part of the daily air and it changes all the time, with all the events. You can even see the approaching of a revolution in clothes. You can see and feel everything in clothes." —Diana Vreeland
Fashion is a form of self-expression, through apparel, shoes, and accessories. Your style and fashion make you stand out and highlight your individuality. It expresses your personality to the world, everyone has their own style and based on that they create their own fashion statement. Generation Z is very conscious about their Fashion game; there is hardly anyone who is not interested to make their own fashion statement and stand out.
Fashion startups are taking this matter into their hand and trying to turn it in their favor. Especially during the festive season, it is a great time to market their brand. What can be better than digital media platforms to do that, when almost everyone is in the grasp of the internet! Marketing especially at the time of the festive season can be an advantage for your brands and for startups, it is even more huge. So getting noticed by the consumers in the digital platform is a big benefit for them.
Therefore, running ads is a very significant part of marketing businesses. In this article we will talk about the best platforms to market fashion startups especially in this Diwali.
Facebook ads – Platforms To Market Fashion Startup
This is one of the biggest and most popular social media platforms in the whole world. There is hardly anyone, who is not on Facebook. So it will definitely benefit a fashion startup to run ads on this platform. Its market share for digital advertising is 20% making it one of the largest options for advertising, just behind Google.
Benefits Of Running Ads In Facebook
There are so many advantages of running ads on one of the biggest social media platforms. Some of them are:
Facebook gives you an option to micro-target your audience, who are actually interested and are best for the business. Market segmentation can be done in a detailed way and separated into different groups for gender, age, location, interest, income, job title, recent purchases, and others.
Reports claimed that Facebook ads are best for E-commerce and give out the best ROAs also known as Return On Assets.
You can choose from multiple types of advertisement and are not only limited to simple text ads. There are options of photos, videos, stories, messenger, slideshow, collection, and games.
Results are quick to visible and it is good for short term digital marketing strategies as well as long term
Facebook is used by over 2.7 billion people, so this platform has one of the largest audience bases in the world. Therefore, conversion is higher than any other platform here.
Facebook Ads are much more cheaper than other platforms.
The company got an option to filter the ads that mean you get to choose the audience to whom you want to showcase your products.
Advertisement Cost
With just a minimum of Rs. 40 one can run advertisements for their startup.
“Facebook ads help us target audience more than any other platform. We run ads around three to four days a week and this platform provides us with great conversion.” – Abhinav Ojha, The Founder and CEO of StyleOFF
Facebook Ads Campaign to market your Fashion Startup
The biggest search engine in the world with an 86% market share gives you an option to create an online advertisements. When we want to search about anything, we turn to google for our answers, if you use this platform to market your fashion startup, this is definitely will be a good decision.
This search engine is used by over 4 billion people, so undoubtedly it has a huge reach. It doesn’t matter what question one has in their mind, they immediately google it. So if your startup is related to something they have searched, with the help of Google ads your products will be visible to them.
Google ads don’t interrupt people like ads on any other social media platform. Here, they get to see your ads, when they search for something related to that. Therefore, people don’t get irritated and think seriously about the ads shown on Google.
The analytics of your ads are given in a simple and easy language, so, it gives out every information about clicks, budget, keywords, and the behavior of visitors that are available there.
Google Ads builds brand awareness, through the ad display; people become aware of the existence of your brand and the products that you offer.
Advertisement Cost
Google’s charge is Rs. 20 per click for the advertisement.
Create Google ads to market your fashion brand
Instagram
Instagram – Platforms To Market Fashion Startup
It is one of the most entertaining platforms for generation Z to connect with friends, celebrities and show their talents on Reels and all. Instagram as a platform for marketing your business is a great option as it is used by over 1 billion people in just a month.
Benefits Of Running Ads In Instagram
This hot favorite platform provides lots of advantages to startups who are interested to market their business here. Some of the advantages are:
One of the best benefits is that you get to create a great number of followers for your brand. Reports also claim that over 81% of users use the platform Instagram to search for products and services. This helps in building followers of the said brand and it’ll help them to increase their sales.
It is very easy to create ads for Instagram. The features like stories, post,s and the explore tab can be used for the placement of the ads.
Stories are used by brands to showcase their product to the users of Instagram. More than 500 million people watch Instagram Stories every day and the shop now button is a cherry on top of the cake.
Engagement rates are much higher than any other social media, and photo posts bring more engagement.
Advertisement Cost
An average Instagram Ad cost Rs. 36 to Rs. 146 per click.
“Instagram is currently the best platform to reach the audience at the cheapest cost.” – Rakesh Raushan, The senior digital marketing executive of Hats Off Accessories, a Fashion startup
The online video sharing platform is one of the popular platforms in the world. Through YouTube people can learn new things, food recipes, create blogs, and keep themselves entertained. Another thing that can be done through YouTube is advertising.
Benefits Of Running Ads In YouTube
There are some benefits of using the largest video sharing platform for running ads and they are:
It is extremely cost-effective as it follows the Pay-per-click thing, here you get to pay and also choose the amount only if someone clicks on your ad.
YouTube ads target the audience very precisely based on their location, interests, online and offline data, and their life events.
Advertising through videos helps in connecting with the audience faster and if the ad is interesting enough, then conversion is almost guaranteed.
YouTube analytics are easy to measure so you can understand if the ad is performing well.
Your ad is viewed by billions of people so they provide fast conversions as well.
Advertisement Cost
The marketing packages for YouTube are Rs. 8000 to Rs. 25000.
Youtube ads campaign to market your fashion startup
With Diwali around the corner, several fashion startups have a got great opportunity to market their brand in the top digital media platform. Marketing can turn a business into a huge success and especially in the digital world doing that on a platform that is visited by billions of people daily is one of the best ideas.
FAQs
Which platform is best for fashion industry to use?
Instagram is an obvious choice for fashion brands to promote their work.
How to make my fashion startup famous?
Using social media platforms for marketing will help you reach a large audience and will also give you an option of connecting with them.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Cloud Tailor.
Cloud Tailor is a D2C mobile app that enables Personalized fashion styling, fashion visualization, recommendations, order placement, tracking, and fulfillment. It is the only tech-enabled personalized fashion brand in India – Serving global women customers from India. StartupTalky interviewed Susmitha Lakkakula (Founder, Cloud Tailor) to get insights on the startup story and roadmap of the organization. In this article, you’ll discover how Cloud Tailor was started, its journey to date, marketing strategies, revenue model, and more.
Cloud Tailor is a D2C mobile app that enables Personalized fashion styling, fashion visualization, recommendations, order placement, tracking, and fulfillment. Cloud Tailor’s unique asset-light ‘Online + Offline’ global fulfillment business model ensures the best quality and price outcome for personalized fashion in guaranteed timelines.
Vision: To be the ‘One Stop Shop’ for all personalized fashion choices for global women.
Mission: To simplify and enhance personalized fashion choices for global women.
“We as founders believe that we have the right mix of technology skills, marketing focus, idea intensity talent, prior startup experience to make Cloud Tailor the No. 1 ‘top of the mind’ brand for personalized fashion across the globe” says Susmitha Lakkakula, Founder, Cloud Tailor
Cloud Tailor – Industry Details
Ladieswear Fashion – Market Size
The Women’s wear industry is a 185 Billion USD valued business per annum globally. The correct estimates of the Personalized fashion industry are not available since it is a completely fragmented market and there are no organized players in the market now.
As per the founder’s discussions with multiple fashion experts and market leaders in this domain, the team has estimated the market in India to be a minimum of INR 8000 Crores per annum driven primarily by domestic consumption. The overseas market order fulfillment in India is an extremely under-served market accounting for only 2% of all organized personalized fashion orders. There is a huge scope to present a brand and offer timely dispatches in the best possible price points to overseas customers for their personalized fashion requirements.
The primary inspiration was the founders’ constant lookout for market segment gaps and under-served requirements. They excel at building an organized online solution to cater to offline requirements in society. The founding team saw a huge gap in the ‘Professional Services’ for personalized fashion, as Susmitha Lakkakula, and her husband, Rudra Pratap, faced a lot of issues trying to place orders to tailors, following up, and trying to reach them over the phone and in-person for updates and progress. The duo decided that it was time for someone to simplify this workflow and accept the challenge. Thus Cloud Tailor was born.
The first set of validators of Cloud Tailor were Industry veterans such as Mr. M C Cariappa (President, Marketing and Sales, Jockey India) and 10 boutique owners with whom the team did the idea-bounce back. All of them immediately suggested that they get started on the startup. Since they conceptualized the initial business plan and structure in Covid times in March 2020, Susmitha had to take police permission for vehicle pass to go around to meet fabric and sewing machine traders, talk to cutting masters, tailors, and other intermediaries to understand how the personalized fashion industry functions and the crucial cogs in the machinery. Susmitha went about doing online courses on fashion on Udemy and other portals. Rudra went about bringing the first UX and UI mobile app screens to life by personally sketching them. He then digitized them and hired a Flutter developer – Tarun Dak from Ahmedabad to bring them to life on Google Cloud, Firebase DB, and Flutter.
The first MVP app version in flutter was made live in the Play Store and iOS store in January 2021. To scale it to the next level, the team sought to onboard Mahesh Patel, who was then the National Head for eCommerce and online sales at Jockey India. He introduced Susmitha to M C Cariappa who was his boss. Mahesh loved the idea and scale possible and joined Cloud Tailor as Co-founder. M C Cariappa was the 1st full-time advisor to join Cloud Tailor.
The team decided to fire on all cylinders and put their personal savings together to get the professionally designed app UX and UI did by Lollypop.design. When Anil Reddy (Founder, Lollypop) listened to their vision and idea, he immediately agreed to help them build the best UI app for Cloud Tailor and also offered to personally design the ‘Cloud Tailor’ logo. The current app in development at its App and Cloud Development center in Hyderabad is being built around the researched UX and UI designs made by the same team at Lollypop.design, who had made Myntra, Paytm money, housing.com, Swiggy, Vodafone idea, and the Aditya Birla app among many others.
Only tech-enabled personalized fashion brand in India – Serving global women customers from India
Cloud Tailor app (Beta is live on Android and iOS) is the only mobile app that has a full fashion styling, learning, social sharing, order placement, tracking, and rewards program
It fulfills global orders for ‘Any Style – Any Design’ – Exclusively for women’s wear
The entire backend fulfillment and stitching/shipping also happens throughthe ‘Cloud Tailor Operations app’ and browser applications at its dedicated Cloud Tailor Fulfillment Centers
ML-based recommendation and upselling engine within the app
VR visualization of dresses styled by the customer or by the fashion designer within the app
Cloud Tailor has been running the Hyderabad Fulfilment Center for the last 5 months (as of Oct 2021) and is now scaling the Fulfilment center operations to Gurgaon, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, and Ludhiana in the next 4 months
This gives a never-before option to Cloud Tailor’s overseas customers to choose the city for the styling and stitching of their fashion
It is currently serving customers in 4 countries (US, Australia, UK, and Singapore) apart from India
The startup has a full-time team of app and cloud developers at its Hyderabad Software development office
Cloud Tailor is guided by a well-accomplished team of advisors from Jockey, Amazon, Geodis, GATI, and TESCO Retail in this rapid scale-up process
The Cloud Tailor customer app has been made by the lollypop.design team which has made the Myntra, Paytm money, Vodafone India mobile, housing.com, and Swiggy apps. bringing vast industry expertise into its app
Cloud Tailor
Key problems Cloud Tailor is solving:
One-Stop-Shop for all personalized fashion – No more boutique hopping for different categories of personalized fashion
Professional and Trained staff – Customer-centric app and offline interactions
Tech powered organized solution in the organized boutique market across the world
Overseas customers – One Stop Shop (aka mobile app) for all their personalized requirements
Customers can now select their home – city (for local styling cues and nuances) for all stitching orders while being based in any country globally
Guaranteed delivery dates – No more follow up with the tailor and No more repeated calls and anxiety
On app fabric options to select and tag to the orders
Huge opportunity for job creation for its on-app Fashion Designers (It limits to NIFT, NID, and Pearl Academy graduates and alumni for now)
Dedicated ‘Fashion Designer’ for Cloud Tailor Gold club members
ML-based recommendations of wardrobe shortlisting of styles – Shorten order decision cycles
Save all measurements on the app and tag them to the profile – Checkouts will now be a breeze
Doorstep measurements option in serviced pin codes for that exact fit as required
Lifetime free alterations for its orders – No more hunting for alteration tailors
Social Styling options – Share your designs and images on the Cloud Tailor app – Tag them on social as well – Let someone else order your style – Earn redeemable buttons
On app ‘Loyalty Program’ – Cloud Tailor Buttons – Redeemable on order value
Offer a professional work environment with good benefits to its staff
Cloud Tailor – Founders and Team
Susmitha Lakkakula, Rudra Pratap and Mahesh Patel are the co-founders of Cloud Tailor.
Susmitha is leading the company formation, strategy, USP, and product features. Rudra handles the mobile app and cloud part of the work and also the offline expansion and the details. Rudra and Mahesh Patel are friends and have known each other for the last 14 years Mahesh has a sharp business acumen has come from a business family in Gujarat. He is an expert at going to market, branding, online sales, and business partnerships at a global level. He immediately liked the idea to join as a co-founder when Susmitha and Rudra both had gone for his housewarming in Bengaluru in January 2021.
Cloud Tailor – Founding Team
Susmitha Lakkakula | Founder & Full Time into Cloud Tailor
Masters in software engineering: BITS Pilani (Software Engineering)
Masters in software engineering: BITS Pilani (Software Engineering)
EPBM – IIM Kolkata
BCA – Utkal University
Diploma in Advertising and PR: NiA
Work Experience: Wipro Technologies/ Reliance / Aliens Real Estate/ Cosyn/ raksan (Over 19 years experience)
Mahesh Patel | Co-Founder, Cloud Tailor
Bachelors in Hotel Management, Sunway College University, Kuala Lumpur
Executive MBA, NIMT
Work Experience: Jockey (Page Industries), Shop CJ, Reliance, Spencers, Aditya Birla Retail
Cloud Tailor Team
Currently, Cloud Tailor has a total of 8 Full-time employees and 4 part-time employees. The founders are very selective in hiring as they need to be sure that the person will be able to don multiple hats when required, is flexible to adapt to a startup, and think like an entrepreneur when it comes to the customer.
Cloud Tailor – Name, Tagline and Logo
The founding team had initially booked ‘bookmytailor’ as the name of the brand and also got it Trademarked. Eventually, they realized that it did not signify the Technology depth of the startup and also the aspect of workflow happening virtually and seamlessly. Hence they brainstormed for over 3 days and found that ‘Cloud Tailor’ was an apt depiction of what they intended to be perceived as by their customers. It also had a nice ‘Cloud’ connotation to it which signifies both the ‘Cloud virtual part’ as well as ‘the cloud nine’ significance which meant satisfaction and happiness.
When they approached Lollypop team, Anil himself volunteered to design the logo. There were multiple iterations and logo designs they ran through over 45-60 days and eventually zeroed in on the one. The founders went ahead and trademarked the ‘Cloud Tailor’ word mark and this has been registered to as well.
Cloud Tailor Logo
The tagline: ‘You Design, We Stitch’ also signifies the importance of the customer in the whole process and also that the customer is a part of the whole cycle. Mita,Rajesh, and Anil from the Lollypop team played a crucial role in sharing options and also shortlisting the logo options down to the last 3.
Illustration of various Cloud Tailor Designed
Cloud Tailor – Business Model & Revenue Model
Cloud Tailor offers a simple and reliable tech-based solution for personalized fashion solutions for global women.
Cloud Tailor Revenue Model
Cloud Tailor’s revenue model is driven by 4 sources:
Ready to Fit: The Tatkal version of ‘Personalized Fashion’. Tag your saved measurements >> Select ‘Ready to Fit’ SKU >> Place Order (dispatch in 24 hours)
Accessories: Select from the hand-picked accessories to match your fashion: Clutches, Tote Bags, Belts, Handbags, and many more
B2B Clothing Line / Personalized Fashion Outsourcing: Dedicated styling/stitching unit setup to service other brands/boutiques anywhere in the globe
Since the startup operates across all styles and design segments in women’s wear, each order is unique and thus its prices depend on the order type, the accessories, the work and time required to complete the order.
Cloud Tailor – Launch and Marketing Strategies
The team at Cloud Tailor used WhatsApp marketing and created small flyers on Canva and posted them in the gated community Whatsapp groups. They had their first order on the 2nd day of the first post. After that, the startup had a constant stream of orders and also because the team generated a lot of goodwill with the experience of their first critical set of customers whom they took special care of.
They also did a small budget Google Analytics campaign for the US, Australia, and the Middle East to place its brand amongst the target group there. Apart from Whatsapp, they also used Facebook marketing with boost posts. Initially, the team also ran branding runs on the boosting on FB and Instagram.
“We will still attribute our earliest quick success to the importance of closed WhatsApp groups of residents/ladies for maximum impact” – Susmitha added.
Cloud Tailor hired a social media agency in July 2021 and like any online marketing hack, social media planning takes time and patience. The startup plans to do Customer Testimonial reels, Live comments, user stories, and process reels on how Cloud Tailor’s app enables easier and faster order design and placement. It Social calendar is also made and executed by the social team. Another important thing that the startup did, was to hire Social media interns from MBA colleges who would track the trends and act as growth hackers for the startup.
The startup is in talks to use popular apps with specific partnerships for coupons and branding. It is currently running a tight ship and is diligent in its spend for the agency and interns process. The startup would enhance the team strength and build more branded content in due course in a planned manner.
Cloud Tailor has grown mostly by customer word of mouth and repeat sales – since there is no other brand around who provides a similar service and a mobile app. Hence its best ROI was in spending time with its existing customers and nurturing their trust to be able to build credible support and core referral and brand ambassador group.
Being Software Engineers by career and training: The founding team learned basics of fashion, garments, styling, sketching, fabrics, machinery, repairs, manpower requirements
Learning the fashion domain intricacies and nuances during COVID time with an infant at home and pre-teen
Placement and ROI of fulfillment centers
Overseas cities where they can scale for orders
Differentiation factor communication to customers
Keep increasing repeat order comfort with existing customers
Cloud Tailor – Advisors & Mentors
Cloud Tailor – Advisors
Cloud Tailor – Achievements & Milestones
Cloud Tailor’s biggest achievement – Highest Order Value from Single customer so far in Sep 2021: Rs. 51000 (From a repeat customer in the US, Houston). This shows the potential and scale the startup can grow to.
Some of the Current Milestones achieved by Cloud Tailor are –
Beta versions of Android and iOS apps LIVE
Hyderabad Fulfillment Center Operationally break-even within 4 months of commencement
M C Cariappa, President (Jockey – Page Industries) joined as a full-time advisor
Abhishek Dwivedi, Head (TESCO – Soft Development) joined as a full-time advisor
Harry Lagad, Regional Director (GEODIS) joined as a full-time advisor
Chirag Bhuva, Leader – Asia Pac, Amazon Business Customer Services joined as a full-time advisor
Started Software Development Office in Financial District, Hyderabad with 2 Full-Time Developers on payroll
Full System Architecture on AWS with API interfaces and ML-based systems designed and approved by the team – Development in progress
Achieved 70% customer repeat orders every month due to the convenience
Average Order value in Aug 2021: Rs. 3000
Cloud Tailor – Funding
The team has bootstrapped Cloud Tailor through the current scaling stage and is currently raising funds to scale it faster, build the app and cloud development teams, set up 2 company-owned fulfillment centers and 6 partner-owned-operated fulfillment centers.
Cloud Tailor – Competitors
Cloud Tailor is an only tech-enabled personalized fashion brand in India – Serving global women customers from India.
Cloud Tailor – Tools used to run startup
Few tools which Cloud Tailor uses to run the startup –
Stable Ver 3 of Cloud Tailor app and backend operations apps
Fulfillment centers in 4 cities
Brand Interaction Signature kiosks/centers in 4 cities
3 B2B partners for ‘managed backend fulfillment’
Cloud Tailor Projected Growth
Long term goals [by 2025]:
10 million MAU
INR 100 Crores in ARR
VR View of fashion styled
Fulfillment centers in 7 cities
Aggregated Partner operations in 7 Tier 2 cities
Brand Interaction Signature kiosks/centers in all 7 cities
10 B2B partners for ‘managed backend fulfillment’
Cloud Tailor – FAQs
What is Cloud Tailor?
Cloud Tailor is a D2C mobile app that enables Personalized fashion styling, fashion visualization, recommendations, order placement, tracking, and fulfillment. Its unique asset-light ‘Online + Offline’ global fulfillment business model ensures the best quality and price outcome for personalized fashion in guaranteed timelines.
Who founded Cloud Tailor?
Susmitha Lakkakula, Rudra Pratap, and Mahesh Patel are the co-founders of Cloud Tailor.
Is Cloud Tailor funded?
No. Cloud Tailor is a bootstrapped startup.
What is the tagline of Cloud Tailor?
Cloud Tailor’s tagline – ‘You Design, We Stitch’ signifies the importance of the customer in the whole process and also that the customer is a part of the whole cycle.
The Indian handicrafts sector provides livelihoods to millions of people around the country, especially women. However, linking small-scale rural producers to urban and global markets has been a challenge. Efficiently connecting buyers and sellers in the handicrafts and handmade clothing market could have an exponential impact by improving the incomes of the poor and help preserve crafts that are rapidly disappearing. CraftsVilla.com is aiming to do exactly that, using the power of the Internet.
In a world full of trends, being a classic is what Craftsvilla is all about.Selling ethnic apparel and accessories on its online portal since 2011, Craftsvilla was launched by Manoj Gupta and Monica Gupta.
Craftsvilla is essentially an e-commerce portal based out of India that mainly sells ethnic items for women like ethnic apparel, ethnic footwear, ethnic fashion accessories, ethnic handcrafted home accessories, and ethnic fashion and lifestyle products along with other parallel industry products like beauty products.
Founded in 2011 by Monica & Manoj Gupta, Craftsvilla is an online marketplace for unique handmade, handcrafted, organic, and gift items. The startup claims to have over 25,000 sellers on its platform, selling close to 3.5 Million products.
The platform aggregates artisans, designers, and retailers from all around the country on a single platform and directly connects local artisans and designers to global customers over the world. Also, this startup over all these years has launched several in-house brands namely Anuswara, Avanya, and Jharokha, all in the affordable and classy ethnic and handloom segment.
Craftsvilla – Products and Services
Craftsvilla ship globally and it’s free for goods worth more than $250. The startup claims to have over 25,000 artisans and designers selling over 4 million products. The products are categorized into different segments like Jewellery, Handbags, Home Décor, Clothing, Food & Health, and Footwear etc., each further divided into sub segments.
About 80% of the buyers are women. The push has been to revive handicrafts and make it conveniently accessible. They try to keep things colorful and lively and that attracts the 18-35 age group buyers. More than 50% of the orders come from Tier 2 cities. And as it is with e-commerce portals in India, 50% of sales are Cash On Delivery (COD).
Here are some examples of what you can expect on Craftsvilla:
The collection of Gowns is an ode to fusion friendly fashion and perfect for all sorts of occasions.
Their drape collection is quite enviable as it includes a plethora of styles including, Printed, Traditional, Designer Sarees and fabrics like Cotton, Satin, Art Silk and Georgette Saree.
They have new and novel collection of Kurtis full of embellished styles, embroidered kinds and hues of every kind.
There are times when you need an ethnic ensemble that is not only trendy but also timeless in terms of style, splendour and a perfect fit for that special occasion. That’s where their latest range of Lehengas comes in! From Net Lehenga Cholis to hip and happening co-ordinate Designer Lehenga Sets, Craftsvilla have it all!
Complete with traditional kinds like Silver, Golden Plated and Oxidised, their collections of Earrings and neckpieces have something for everyone, right from statement making to subtlety sensational ones.
Craftsvilla – Founders and Team
The founders of Craftsvilla are Manoj Gupta and Monica Gupta.
Monica Gupta and Manoj Gupta
Manoj Gupta, Founder and CEO – He is an IIM graduate and a venture capitalist, founded Dreams Early Stage Fund and was Board Observer at Snapdeal before launching Craftsvilla. Prior to Craftsvilla.com, Manoj was Principal at Nexus Venture Partners where he invested in ecommerce companies in India. Manoj has also started a Tech company in San Diego, US from 2001-2006.
Monica Gupta, Founder and COO – She is graduated from San Diego State University.
How was Craftsvilla Started?
The idea for Craftsvilla struck the couple during their visit to Kutch, the hub of ethnic apparel and accessories. They saw supply in abundance with no channelized demand segregation and a portal that could connect the suppliers and the buyers not just in India, but globally. This is exactly how Craftsvilla was born.
Following this, the company was launched by Manoj Gupta and Monica Gupta in 2011 with funding from Nexus Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Initially, this ethnic-focused startup was incepted with 80 employees and 5 offices across the country.
But it so happened that by 2012, this venture completely exhausted the entire amount of INR 10 crore series-A funding. And due to this, the company had to downsize to an only 10-member team and carried their business operations in a small one-room office.
With the downsizing coming too early for Craftsvilla, if it was anybody other than Manoj Gupta, they’d have easily given up. But not the Craftsvilla founder. He kept faith in himself, in his idea, and his passionate team of 8. And in just a short span of 5 years, this ethnic fashion portal, Craftsvilla went from an allegedly failed startup to a big-named company with a huge valuation of $250 million with more than 4 million products in its inventory.
Craftsvilla – Business Model and Reveue Model
The business model of Craftsvilla majorly focuses on removing middlemen from the supply chain mechanism and increasing the livelihood of local artisans and cultured designers to help them create/promote their brand, with preserving the Indian culture, traditions, and values in a broader picture. In current times, the company charges a 20% commission on every transaction which excludes service tax.
Craftsvilla – Funding and Investors
Their latest funding was raised on Mar 20, 2020 from a Venture – Series Unknown round.
Here is a list of all the funding rounds of Craftsvilla:
Normally, entrepreneurs face challenges after the inceptions of their startups. This was not the case with Manoj Gupta. He faced the most crucial challenges right before launching Craftsvilla. It so happened that when Manoj presented his idea of launching an online portal that would sell ethnic stuff to his friends and family, he, unfortunately, received a lot of unenthusiastic feedback relating to it.
Most of his acquaintances pointed out that there is no real market for ethnic fashion wear and there clearly hasn’t been a successful replica of it in the industry across the globe. But Manoj was firm on his idea and despite negative response, Manoj believed in his entrepreneurial idea and the potential that he saw in the untapped market filled with opportunities. Later in the same year, he went ahead and launched Craftsvilla with his wife.
Craftsvilla – Name, Tagline and Logo
Craftsvilla has a tagline. “The Marketplace to discover India”. This tagline goes perfectly with the site, because it has huge range of Indian products & almost all the products are made keeping in mind the Indian craft & culture.
Craftsvilla Logo
Craftsvilla – Competitors
There are a lot of e-commerce portals in the country that deal with ethnic fashion and lifestyle products combined with other western and beauty products. Hence Craftsvilla competes with big and small online marketplaces like Myntra, LimeRoad, Voonik, Amazon, Flipkart, and Fabindia among many others.
Craftsvilla has more than 62 outlets in total across India in cities such as Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi, Kolhapur, Coimbatore, Delhi, Chandigarh, and Varanasi.
This ethnic fashion and lifestyle online marketplace is pegged at around $300–500 million in size.
It claims to have over 25,000 artisans and designers on board.
Craftsvilla currently is selling over 4 million products.
Craftsvilla – Revenue
In FY18, Craftsvilla’s revenues spiked by 3.6% from Rs 30.35 crore in FY17 to Rs 31.45 crore. The expenses from Rs 116.33 crore to Rs 59.13 crore. Losses followed the pattern and decreased from Rs 85.98 crore to Rs 27.68 crore.
Craftsvilla – Acquisitions
Craftsvilla acquired 3 organisations – F2SO4, Place Of Origin and Sendd.
Acquired
Date
Amount
Sendd
January 2016
$4.5 Million
Place of Origin
February 2016
–
F2SO4
April 2016
–
Place of Origin is an online retailer of ethnic food curated from sellers around the country. The online platform currently offers a range of products, from sweets and confectionary to local snacks and health food sourced directly from sellers across several cities.
Chandigarh-based F2SO4 was founded in 2015 by Delhi-based IIT alumni, Amrit Singh and Sachin Goel along with Partik Bhuchar. The startup was an app-based venture that offered branded and high-end designer clothes on rent. The startup was earlier bootstrapped and was founded as an apparel-as-a-service platform.
For the future goals, Craftsvilla is aiming straight on pushing its offline foray. For the same, the venture is also planning to invest INR 100 crore to open more than 1,000 outlets in the coming years.
Craftsvilla – Partners
Craftsvilla has tied up with the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, for e-marketing of handloom products from small weavers. As per this agreement, Craftsvilla has tied up with Weavesmart, an online marketplace that offers handloom weaves from across India.
Craftsvilla – FAQs
Who is Monica Gupta?
The founders of Craftsvilla are Manoj Gupta and Monica Gupta.
What is Craftsvilla?
Craftsvilla is essentially an e-commerce portal based out of India that mainly sells ethnic items for women like ethnic apparel, ethnic footwear, ethnic fashion accessories, ethnic handcrafted home accessories, and ethnic fashion and lifestyle products along with other parallel industry products like beauty products.
What is the Tagline of Craftsvilla?
“MarketPlace to Discover India”
What is the Business Model of Craftsvilla?
The business model of Craftsvilla majorly focuses on removing middlemen from the supply chain mechanism and increasing the livelihood of local artisans and cultured designers to help them create/promote their brand, with preserving the Indian culture, traditions, and values in a broader picture.
Neeraj SIngh Shekhawat
