Zivame eyes growth with new products, initiatives

Zivame.com has recently introduced its exclusive fast fashion range, across the globe with contemporary styling showcasing the latest trends from fashion runways. Also as a part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, the platform has

initiated ‘Gift a bra’ program which will provide lingerie to less privileged women in one’s household or neighbourhood.

The brand has grown 50 percent year-on-year since its inception and with this initiative, they hope to reach out to women who are less privileged in India. “We plan to reach out to many more Indian women through our offline and online marketing efforts. Focus will be on building depth within each category,” explains Richa Kar, CEO, Zivame.com, divulging details on the growth strategy.

Growth through new initiatives

The latest fast fashion collection varies from sheer and lace tops, coloured pantyhose, tank and spaghetti tops, harem styled pants and leggings and a luxurious velvet selection of comfortable turtlenecks which is made from fine silk stretch fabric that ensures high sheen and comfort. And through the ‘Gift a bra’ program that kicked off end of August, the company encourages its customers to give the gift of right fit to underprivileged women who are an important part of their lives. Customers can gift lingerie to their household help/cook or care taker as a token of appreciation for the contribution these women have made in simplifying their lives.

“Earlier this year, Zivame.com tied up with the well-known social enterprise Goonj to address the basic need of clothing for rural India and with ‘Gift a bra’ initiative the brand hopes to give the gift of right fit to each and every Indian woman. Zivame strongly believes that every woman deserves the right lingerie and the brand is constantly striving towards empowering women,” avers Kar.

Zivame features over 2,000 lingerie styles to choose from: bridal lingerie, plus size lingerie, every day wear, shapewear, leisure wear, nightwear and swimwear for women. Elaborating on the brands on offer, Kar said, “We retail more than 40 national and international brands. The extensive collection is from the top national and international lingerie brands like Enamor, Wonderbra, Triumph, Ultimo, Lovable, Plié, Jockey, Amanté, Bw!tch, Curvy Kate, Hanes and many others.

Brand building efforts

Talking about the name Zivame and the purpose behind launching a lingerie portal, Kar states that the word ‘Ziva’ in Hebrew means ‘radiance’ and ‘Ziva’me is 'radiant me'. “Lingerie as a category in India is under served. Sizes are not available, social discomfort, and very poor market penetration. Offline retailers stock only the fast moving sizes, tail ends sizes are under-served. People manning the sales counter concentrate only on pushing sales, rather than consulting on the right fit and style. There is so much of a social discomfort that lingerie shopping gets reduced to a 5 minutes hurried chore. That is when Zivame was conceptualized to become a lingerie store where women can understand their lingerie needs, browse through styles, order for their right size and get the order delivered at their doorstep without any embarrassment,” she adds.

On investment front, the company has got funding from two Indian VC firms after three months into operations. A robust supply chain is the backbone of a successful e-commerce business that has an own inventory business model. Zivame is able to ship out products quickly to customers in an intact state as inventory is held in-house.

Website betters the offline shopping experience for lingerie by offering detailed product pages with in-depth descriptions and images, allowing users to understand the look and feel of lingerie. “We also allow our customers to return merchandise in case they want to exchange it for an alternate size. We are a full price retailer and discounts are season based like any other fashion retailer,” Kar sums up.