Private labels to be the main focus of online retailer Koovs

Online fashion and lifestyle segment space is over-crowded in India. Nearly 60 per cent of the market share is with Myntra, Jabong and Flipkart, equipping them with a potential leverage over the other competitors.

Fashion e-commerce player Koovs recently registered 87 per cent growth in sales. This is a 100 per cent increase in units, claimed the e-tailer which is modelled on the successful UK online retailer Asos. The company, whose India headquarter is located in Gurgaon, is hopeful of generating gross positive margins by the financial year 2018.

But keeping in mind the gamut of competition in the fashion and lifestyle online space, every player has to come up with something special to retain consumers. Koovs plans to focus more on private labels now. In a recent media interaction, Manisha Rana, Chief Marketing Officer, Koovs said, having a private-label online is becoming critical as it brings the differentiation factor in a brand's product offering. She emphasized, building business on just discount offering is not a sustainable model in the long-term.

Koovs currently has a 4 per cent market share of the online western fashion market in India, and recently signed a partnership with Souq .com to sell its private label line in the Middle East. Waheed Ali, Chairman, Koovs says, the brand will further enhance penetration of it’s private labels. They are also planning to come up with innovative marketing campaigns and at the same time is trying to strengthening their logistics and supply chain too. Currently, 40 per cent of the online retailer's sales come from its private label. The company sold 1.3 units for the financial year ending March 31, 2017.