For Fashionandyou India Pvt Ltd, a private shopping site offering luxury brands and focusing on designer apparel, home décor and home & kitchenware, the current year has been earmarked for strengthening its existing 12 categories and four verticals, without foraying into new ones.
Unlike others, it is one of the e-commerce portals which leverages the power of social media to a great extent. In fact, even before the launch of the site in January 2010, the brand had entered the social media ring (in November 2009) with a series of creative initiatives, intended to build brand awareness across online space. The e-tailer, which has a 70:30 female-male ratio in terms of buyers, intends to triple its growth by the end of this year and break even in a couple of years.
The firm raised $40 million in a second round of funding in November last year, where Norwest Venture Partners, Intel Capital, Sequoia Capital India and Nokia Growth Partners took part. It was one of the biggest investments in the Indian e-commerce space. The company had also raised $8 million from Sequoia Capital India In December 2010. Right now, the e-tailer is cash positive and has no intention to raise money in the near future.
In a candid conversation with Techcircle.in, Fashionandyou CEO Pearl Uppal spoke about the strategies that had helped the firm emerge as the largest fashion e-tailer in India. She also discussed its clear path to profitability, the challenges of dealing in flash retail and the company’s method of managing inventory, logistics and supply chain. Watch the Video interview to know it all.
