Yepme losses climb 73 per cent

Online fashion retailer Yepme posted 73 per cent higher losses in 2015-16. Gurgoan-based Yepme is a private label brand, which typically fetches 30 to 40 percent higher gross margins than other online marketplaces that depend on branded apparels. It opened in 2011 and sells private labels under the brand name Yepme in ethnic Indian wear and western wear for men and women.

Footwear contributed 50 per cent of the total turnover in fiscal 2015-16, followed by 34 per cent contribution of accessories and 16 per cent of apparels and garments. In January 2016 Yepme opened its first physical store in Gurgaon. Going the franchise route, the company is targeting 1,400 stores in three years. Yepme currently has 21 stores across cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Agra, Gwalior, Noida, Meerut and Gurgaon. It has expanded to the UK and since 2014 has been selling in the US. Yepme also sells through marketplaces such as Jabong, Snapdeal and Amazon.

The company, which makes its own brand of products, is aiming to clock revenues of Rs 280 crores this fiscal. The software unit will be hived off into a separate entity since software is seen as a large business ensuring high margins.