APPEARS EVERY MONDAY
quired. Ishita Swarup, CEO of 99Labels, decid-
CLOTHES FROM
CYBER SPACE
Consumers start logging on to online discount
portals retailing high-end fashion wear
PRIYANKA JOSHI
reeti Sethi, a Mumbai-based event man-
P
ager and image consultant, has been
on a shopping spree for a couple of
months now. Exclusive high-end de-
signer brands that are usually not avail-
able at retail outlets in the country have be-
come part of her wardrobe. Giorgio Armani, Chris-
tian Dior, Prada, Diesel, Ed Hardy — the list of
premium apparel, cosmetics, footwear and ac-
cessories that Sethi owns is still growing.
“The best part is that I haven’t burned a hole
in my pocket to buy these fashion lines. All were
bought at 30-50 per cent discount, and purchased
online,” she points out. Sethi was quick to reg-
ister herself on no less than three online shopping
sites that offer merchandise at marked-down rates.
Not only does she use each of the sites regular-
ly, she also gets to evaluate her purchases be-
fore actually paying for any item.
Sethi is not alone. Internet has created an
avenue for many consumers like her to experi-
ence quality that was hitherto unaffordable. In the
next five years, India would have achieved 15-
18 per cent internet penetration, that is 180-200
million internet users (according to estimates
by industry body Internet & Mobile Association
of India). And, that is a consumer pool that In-
dian e-marketers are trying to channelise.
A new world where everyone is learning
But online boutiques have to contend with the fact
that e-commerce is still in its nascent stage in
India. The segment did start off at around the same
time the retail revolution took place, but still looks
dwarfed at $1.4 billion, against the $350-billion
Indian retail sector. On the other hand, consumers
in developed markets have been participating
in private and sample sales for a long time.
Still, despite the concept’s recent origin in
India, the potential is immense in the country. Take
for instance, Fashion and You — an online por-
tal that brings luxury and designer brands at up
to 70 per cent less than retail prices. From its launch
early this year, Fashion and You has grown its user
base to around half a million registered users, and
now ships 1,000 orders a day.
Fashion and You CEO Pearl Uppal says: “In
the early days of e-commerce, fashion brands were
hesitant about selling online for two main reasons:
Fear that online distribution would dilute exclu-
sivity and suspicion that consumers would never
buy luxury fashion they weren’t able to physically
try on. And yet, today, apparel and footwear sell
the fastest on our site, in addition to luxury watch-
es and jewellery.”
Sites like 99labels.com, fashionandyou.com
and theprivatesales.com have proved that the In-
dian consumer is ready to experiment with e-shop-
ping. But a few tweaks here and there are still re-
ed to focus on merchandise that would appeal
women after she realised they dominated the web-
FASHION BIZ 2.0
site’s 100,000-plus user base. “We have even in- INCOME
troduced a cash-on-delivery mode to tide over the FashionandYou.com 99labels.com
(constraint due to) low usage of credit cards.”
Today, the site ships around 500 items a day
and Swarup has even invested in revamping
48% 52%
the site’s look to make it more user-friendly and
interactive, and easier to navigate for its wide
member base. A special sales calendar lists all the
current and upcoming sales for easy viewing and
reference.
7% 9%
So, is it cheaper and better online? 8% 11% 2%
E-commerce players can offer consumers heavy 26% 8% 3% 20% 6%
discounts, as most of the websites don’t have to
bear any overheads associated with brick-and- theprivatesales.com
mortar set-ups. Also, they have no inventory of
their own and can, thus, work profitably on lean- Less than `2 lakh
er profit margins. Besides, to start as an e-com- `2 lakh-`4.99 lakh
47%
merce store, an investment of about `5-10 lakh `5 lakh-`6.99 lakh
is all that is needed to get the website running.
`7 lakh-`9.99 lakh
No wonder the e-commerce model in re-
tailing high-end fashion lines is being repli- `10 lakh-`14.99 lakh
cated across the country. More than `15 lakh
Bangalore-based theprivatesales.com
ensures every member is notified 6% 10%
27% 5%
through an ongoing e-mail campaign 5%
in which an in-depth overview of the
product line to be showcased during TOP CITIES
the sale is presented through images
and text descriptions. “The merchandise FashionandYou.com
available for members is 100 per cent original Mumbai (11%)
and backed by the company with an iron-clad New Delhi (11%)
guarantee. There are no factory seconds, man-
Bangalore (7%)
ufacturing rejects or returned merchandise in
the daily product line-up,” claims Jitendra Hyderabad (7%)
Gautam, general manager (marketing), The Pri- Chennai (5%)
vate Sales. Launched just two months ago, the Others (59%)
site now counts over 100,000 users as mem-
bers who get exclusive access to over 175 Eu- 99labels.com
ropean lifestyle brands and fashion designers.
Bangalore (10%)
NRI customers of theprivatesales.com use the
site to send discounted designer gifts to their fam- Mumbai (10%)
ily and friends in India. According to Gautam: “We New Delhi (8%)
expect to ship large volumes of merchandise dur- Hyderabad (8%)
ing Diwali and the wedding season.” Chennai (8%)
Others (56%)
Indian designers need to log on...
Building a strong online sales channel is often vi-
tal to the success of an emerging fashion business. theprivatesales.com
But, because the task can seem daunting, many
Mumbai (19%)
young designers delay developing their own
e-commerce sites and, instead, outsource their in- New Delhi (10%)
ternet sales to online retailers. Chennai (8%)
“Designers can present their collections di- Bangalore (5%)
rectly to customers and they can save money Gwalior (5%)
on advertising (shooting catalogues) — a cru-
cial consideration since most fashion houses have
Others (53%)
trimmed their marketing budgets,” says Payal
Singhal, a leading fashion designer. She has seen
quick sell-outs for her collection on www.exclu-
sively.in, a website that retails Indian fashion, trav-
WHAT MADE FASHION
el and home decor brands to western customers. CLICK ONLINE
Singhal, who is also contemplating an e-commerce

Younger demographics, higher education
portal of her own to retail directly to customers in levels, global cultural awareness and
the US and UK, adds online sales is the fastest increasing affordability have changed the
way to grow your customer base and also the spending behaviour of Indian consumers
cheapest route to retail.
Fashionandyou.com has joined forces with
India has around 81 million Internet users
Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) and has intro- and the retail e-commerce market is currently
duced two exclusive retail lines – ‘Launch My Line’ a tiny fraction of the total retail market —
and ‘LFW Pret Collection’ – from the Indian de- about 0.5 per cent. E-commerce is expected
signers on the portal. Sujal Shah, vice-president to reach $1.4 billion in 2010.
and head of fashion, International Management
E-commerce is set to grow 50-55 per cent
Group India, says: “By collaborating with Fash- in 2010
ion and You, we are taking the lead to embrace Source: Caris and Company
the future and reality of business in India, which
is online, and provide a direct sales channel for
all LFW designers.”
But, for the moment, online retailers may be
PRÊT-À-PORTER:
better off focusing their efforts on delivering FASHION VICTIMS
the best possible service. “We need to continue fo- CLICK ONLINE TO
cusing on taking the pain and cost out of delivery
and returns. This is an area where work is always
GET THE BEST DEAL
‘in progress’,” says Uppal of Fashion and You. E-commerce portals Registered user base
Others, like 99Labels, claim that sold items can Fashion and You Half a million
be returned by customers if they are received in
99Labels Over 100,000
a damaged condition or inaccurate size. “Being
an online shopping portal, goods return and de- The Private Sales 180,000
livery measures are critical in establishing the BrandMile NA
site’s credibility,” argues Swarup.