Fashion and You reaping in on e-retailing in India

Fashion and You, India’s leading online private sales club and a leader in the online fashion and luxury space, is keen on undertaking various projects for the upcoming years. The co-founder and CEO, Pearl Uppal says, “We are expanding our

catalogue every day. Our sourcing team is working on getting more international brands for our audiences.” Fashion and You partners with high fashion and luxury brands across fashion apparel, accessories, footwear, watches, jewelry, fragrances, home décor, and lifestyle experiences and holds private sales events for these brands on www.fashionandyou.com

The site works on a strategy where it offers huge discounts. As Uppal says, “Everyday sharp at 11 am, four to five new sales go live bringing fashion and lifestyle products for women, men, kids in electronics and home. Each sale lasts only for three days and members who log in early get to grab the best deals first. We alert our members on the new sales through email and SMS. Usually the best products sell out soon after the sale starts. Fashion and You now has over 1.5 million members and is delivering fashion and lifestyle products to 500 cities across India.”

Fashion and You is also the online retail partner with Lakme Fashion Week. Uppal adds, “We have a wonderful relationship with their designers and are a very successful alternate sales channel for them.” The site is an invitation only shopping club. Therefore, the only way to become a member is through invitation. Members can share an invitation link with their friends or one can request an invitation by filling up a form on the website. The portal claims to offer up to 80 per cent less than the MRP. The site has a standard payment option of Cash on Delivery (COD). Shipping and delivery times depend on region and availability.

Uppal feels that shopping for fashion is a very personal affair. There is a strong need for consumers to try out the look, feel the fabric etc. Also, people are still not very comfortable transacting online. “We tackled this by having standard sizes, elaborate catalogues with high resolution images, and extensive descriptions of each product. We introduced COD and a no questions asked return policy.” According to a report the current market size for e-retailing was Rs 2,050 crores (in 2010) and is expected to grow to Rs 2,700 crores in 2011. Uppal says, “The e- retailing market in India is in its nascent stages. Internet penetration and bandwidth is quite low as compared to other countries. This directly affects all e-commerce models in the country. However, these things change daily. Introduction of 3G and improvements in internet access will help maintain the growth of e- retailing in India.” Nearly 35 to 40 per cent of their business comes from Tier II-III cities. “Up to 80 per cent of our members are women. It’s the first time so many women, so strongly dominate the brand image of a shopping club.”

According to Uppal, the biggest challenge for them was about being accepted. “We started our operations in January 2010 and are literally doubling our revenue every month. We are targeting Rs 500 crores turnover in three-years.”