Sujata Biswas

Is collaboration the key to unlocking sustainable growth? Over the weekend, Qaushey Handlooms participated in #NICESamanvay, the first-of-its-kind event organised by NICEorg - Network of Indian Cultural Enterprises Samanvay was all about passionate entrepreneurs - young & seasoned all driven by the desire to create impactful cultural brands. What inspired me most was the magic of a supportive spirit. We shared experiences, challenges and solutions, all bought in mutual support and created an ecosystem where everyone was eager to help each other. Thanks to NICEorg - Network of Indian Cultural Enterprises for creating such an ecosystem and opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach. And to Sanjay Anandaram and Kanchana K V to have put in a massive effort to pull off such an amazing 2-day action-packed event. Here are my key takeaways from the event: - Right business ethos: The unanimous shout-out was sustainability and responsible growth is two sides of the same coin. Balancing impactful practices with financial health creates a thriving ecosystem for all. * Sustainability right from the word go: There were discussions about equal wealth distribution across the value chain. Ensuring long-term benefits for everyone, from skilled weavers and artisans to business visionaries, is crucial. * Masterclass by Industry Experts: Gaining insights from seasoned professionals who have scaled businesses from scratch was invaluable for entrepreneurs like myself. - Collaboration is Key: The camaraderie at #NICESamanvay was inspiring. Entrepreneurs shared their journeys, offered advice, and brainstormed solutions to common challenges, fostering a strong support network. * Contribution to Culture: NICEorg - Network of Indian Cultural Enterprises's commitment to highlighting cultural enterprises is commendable. Their platforms enable these ventures to reach wider audiences and gain the recognition they deserve. The event's energy was nothing short of motivating, and enriching our entrepreneurial journey. I'm forever grateful for the insights and contributions from everyone I met. #Entrepreneurship #CulturalEnterprises #Collaboration #BusinessGrowth #Sustainability #Innovation #NICE

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𝑬-𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒋𝒐𝒃𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 India’s e-commerce landscape has grown significantly over the past decade, becoming a crucial part of the country’s retail ecosystem. As consumers increasingly turn to online shopping, the sector’s expansion raises questions about its impact on employment and consumer welfare. A recent report of Pahle India Foundation (PIF) 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 (𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐄) offers insights into these effects, based on a survey of consumers, online sellers and traditional offline retailers across urban India. Check out the full article here. #PRICE #Economy #ecommerce #consumerwelfare #indianeconomy #research

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Thoroughly enjoyed speaking with Anurag Goyal on his show Sip to Success. He's running a great business in packaging and interviews founders from fmcg, retail and d2c industries. In this podcast, we talk about: 1. My decade long journey in #entrepreneurship, how after 2 failed tech startups, I went #offline and I founded New Shop with Charak Almast and Mani Dev Gyawali as we saw a $40 Billion opportunity in standardising modern convenience retail in India. 2. India is an Entrepreneurship obsessed country and 83% Indians choose to become entrepreneurs as against the global average of 53%. but, 90% of them fail. We know How being a failed #entrepreneur feels like, and that's why we are on a mission to empowering and democratising business ownership in India, by having built a breakthrough #franchising model that's already empowered 100s of #franchiseowners of New Shop. 3. How New Shop's #franchise model works and how we plan to empower 10,000 successful business owners by 2030. 4. The future of franchising, estimated to become a $150B industry by 2028. 5. The future of retail industry is pegged at $2Trillion by 2032, and there will be many players in different types of #modernretail, #ecommerce, and #qcommerce solving for different consumers needs - like how it has happened in evolved consumer markets like USA, China. 6. There will be a consolidation in #traditional retailers, driven by new age consumer demands, infrastructural developments and franchise aspirations. 7. Our experience of working with #d2c brands, and how they can improve to better position for offline retail. https://lnkd.in/gXRp83XH

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"Armani Exchange, Superdry, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and US Polo Assn are said to be running out of local shoe stocks as the government wants factories they are made in to be certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). These plants are mostly based in China, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, and BIS has not certified any overseas footwear factories. India’s regulatory environment has affected the industry since production capacities are limited in India, Skechers global CFO John Vandemore said during the company’s earnings call on April 26. Many of the brands have been forced to take footwear off the shelf — online and offline — or are selling a much smaller range with old stock, industry executives said. The BIS Quality Control Order (QCO) mandates compulsory certification for factories making the final product and some specified key components, such as rubber, PVC or polyurethane soles and heels. The QCO was implemented in July last year for leather shoes, while for sports shoes, sandals, clogs and slippers, it was to come into effect from January this year. That deadline was subsequently extended in March to August but the companies say such piecemeal extensions hamper supply chain planning. They also fear the goods may not reach their stores on time since it takes five-six months from production to custom clearance, experts said. Reliance Brands, which operates Armani Exchange and Superdry in India, and Arvind Fashions, which sells Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and US Polo Assn, did not respond to emailed queries. The regulation will push companies to set up production facilities in India, according to executives. There will always be challenges in the initial phase of implementation because the supply chain gets disturbed, said Anupam Bansal, director of retail at Liberty Shoes, adding that these issues will get resolved. “The negatives are very temporary in nature,” he said. “The positive is that the Indian footwear industry will get developed, people will have more effective production in India, in fact it will reduce their supply chain cost.” Abhishek Ganguly, CEO of homegrown footwear manufacturer Agilitas Sports, said global brands need to have a distinct supply chain strategy for India in the present environment or they will not be able to operate. “The large global sports shoe brands have already crafted a make in-India strategy with India now having the capability to manufacture even the expensive range,” he said. “Only those brands for whom shoes are a small part of the business are suffering.”" Full report: https://lnkd.in/gjWtc7V2

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🌱 **Coast Fund: Empowering the Future of D2C Brands** 🌱 We're thrilled to announce our latest investments in three incredible brands: **Dorjee Tea**, **Brown Living**, and **Urban Scissors**. Through the **Coast Fund**, our vision is to empower D2C brands with the resources, expertise, and support they need to scale further and make a lasting impact. At Coast Fund, we're passionate about fostering innovation, sustainability, and growth in the D2C space, and these brands embody those values. Together, we are driving a new era of digital-first consumer experiences. 🚀 The future is bright, and we’re just getting started. https://lnkd.in/dv2bbfdU #D2C #Investment #BrandGrowth #Empowerment #Sustainability #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #CoastFund

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India's D2C fashion space is booming like no other, with the country's growing middle class, increasing discretionary spend online. More than 40,000 D2C fashion brands have emerged in just the last two years, creating a vibrant and competitive market. utsav and I are building in the D2C fashion e-commerce x AI space. We are addressing discoverability challenges for both users and brands by enabling multi-modal search and comparison, making it easier for: (a) users to find and compare fashion items, and (b) for brands to be discovered Alongside Tech roles such as AI researcher, ML scientists, we're also looking to grow our business team and are hiring for roles in our Growth and Partnerships teams. If you’re passionate about fashion and want to be part of the coolest start-up in town 👀 😎 , apply now using the links below - a. Partnerships (CTC: 20-30 LPA): https://tally.so/r/3N0Y0W b. Growth (CTC: 25-40 LPA): https://tally.so/r/wA8DxW note: the CTC ranges are indicative and might vary basis experience and fit for the role. #hiring

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Community is at the core of indē wild’s focus and success! Yes, we know. Every brand calls themselves ‘community-led’. And if there was another word we could use, we would. But 'community-led' is who we are. Over the past decade, Diipa Khosla built a global audience through her hair, beauty, lifestyle, and women empowerment content, amassing a community of 2.1M. As a socially native and founder-led brand, social media is our core strength. Unlike many DTC brands, we focus on content over performance marketing. Our content, and our community’s, drives our growth. We have built our distinct avenues: 👉 Inde Wild: In two years, our Instagram grew to 96.5k followers, reaching 6.2M accounts in the past 30 days. Our TikTok has over 270k followers and 6M likes, thanks to engaging content like our Dewy Lip Treatment video with 11.4M views. 👉 Community-Generated Content: From reviews explaining the traditional Indian practices to unboxing, and from step-by-step to nostalgic content with kids and their grandmothers, husbands and wives, husbands and husbands, and proud dog owners with their pet – you name it and we have content of them doing “the Sunday Champi”. Similarly we have been overloaded by a copious amount of beautiful reviews since our Dewy Lip Treatment (bio-mimicking the healing properties of Ghee) went viral and our Bakuchiol serum saw a huge spike after fear-mongering around retinol made customers look for a natural alternative (which Ayurveda offers with this highly studied ingredient) 👉 Products and Feedback: Everything from our products to our branding is shaped by our community. We’ve held over 45 focus groups in the US, UK, and India, where Diipa listens to the community’s needs and feedback. They are the reasons we have the products that we have and why we have till date have not launched a moisturiser or cleanser (two products that are technically easy and often used to launch beauty brands for that reason). We haven’t yet because our community told us: “I have a good moisturiser, I have a good cleanser, but what I don’t have is a top of the line 15% Vitamine C morning serum with the best form of Vit C (and not some 1% marketing claim). One that does it all and is stacked with Niacinamide, Hyaluronic Acid, Turmeric, Ashwagandha and all the ingredients a dermatologist would recommend all in their optimal percentage. And this week, we re-launched our new AM Sunrise Glow Serum in India (after US and the UK last month), and the response has been incredible. Again this reformulation was the result of our community’s feedback on the first AM serum and the product of a strong connection and collaboration between our community and us as a brand. What does community mean to you? Share your thoughts below! #indewild #CommunityBuilding #Growth #Business

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India's first platform is dedicated to offering plus-size clothing from multiple brands all in one place. Nibban Agarwal shared his journey of creating a fashion revolution, addressing the lack of options for people with different physiques in the Indian fashion industry. Watch his startup story here: https://lnkd.in/dMQeRQ9R Startup Steroid - Deal Flow | SPVs | Demo Day Platform || Startup Game Changer

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Looking Beyond The Lens of Luxury I have been thinking about this article for the last few days as it has been circulating around in the professional networks quite a bit. As a sustainable handbags and travel accessories brand owner, it makes me wonder why it took so long to discover the truth behind these big brands that undermine so much of what we do. When you enter these beautifully set up stores, the minimalism, the tastefully done decor, you are immediately taken on a journey of pure luxury. A stark contrast to its environment right outside the store. But go 50 steps further and check the supply chain, the materials, the journey the products took to reach those luxurious shelves - it is a whole different BALL GAME. But have you ever heard any of these big brands talk about the hands behind the artistry of these products? RARELY, if ever. Some brands pay a fraction of the retail price for these creations. It's like buying a masterpiece at a garage sale! Leave alone basic wages, they are not even working in hygienic conditions and their health is almost always compromised. Additionally, many high-end brands breed animals solely to use their skin or fur for luxury products. And the worst part is that their customers don't even hesitate at the idea of purchasing these products. As someone who really cares about sticking to what's right, this article comes as a great wake-up call for consumers who do not put much thought into their purchases. When consumers come to me and ask why are Green Hermitage products expensive and they are priced anywhere at INR 1800-INR 18000 - I turn back and ask, do you think these artisans deserve fair wages? Health? Hygiene? Good working conditions? Mental health uncompromised? No hidden markups, just quality craftsmanship with a heart. ✨ This is what we're all about at Green Hermitage, we are absolutely transparent about such practices. Leave alone sharing the hard work the artisans put in with our customers, we celebrate the artisans we work with. We push back clients for unreasonable timelines but never compromise on the work-life balance of these underrepresented heroes. Next time you set foot in a store for a branded product, check what the brand stands for - sustainable supply chains, material sourcing, labour rights and then think about the brand value - is it cause somebody famous wore it, OR, is it cause someone made sure you had a quality product made with ethics and love for humanity and the planet. Imagine a world where luxury isn't just about extravagance, but about compassion and accountability. It's within reach. #SustainableFashion #EthicalFashion #BusinessWithAHeart You can find the article here:

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A Global Voice for Environmental Sustainability & Circularity  As climate change accelerates, the urgency to rethink fashion and consumption has never been clearer. The #fastfashion industry significantly contributes to pollution, landfill waste, and carbon emissions. It’s time to #coolitdown for the planet and future generations.   At Bunko Junko, we champion #upcycling breathing new life into discarded textiles. This approach not only reduces waste but aligns with the principles of #circularfashion, creating value from what would otherwise be trash. ♻️  #Sustainability is no longer optional; it’s essential. Every small step whether by brands, designers, or consumers can help reduce environmental impact and slow climate change. Let’s join forces and commit to more conscious choices. From repurposing fabrics to empowering communities, every action matters. Together, we can redefine fashion and promote a climate-resilient future. 🌍 #Sustainability #ClimateChange #CircularEconomy #Upcycling #EcoFashion #FastFashion #BunkoJunko #GreenFuture

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I analysed the relative search share for four major retail fashion brands in India over the past six years. Zudio’s search interest is growing sharply, consistently capturing consumer attention, while brands like Reliance Trends, Pantaloons, and Max Fashion India are seeing declines. This can be further explored to assess the brand's search share across specific regions or states. However, search interest alone isn’t enough to build a growth strategy. To get a clear picture, brands need to look at search data alongside other data points: 🟣 Core Revenue & Customer Data: Analysing revenue and customer engagement—online and in-store—reveals insights into brand loyalty and buying behaviour. 🟣 Marketplace Performance vs. Competitors: Comparing the brand’s relative sales on e-commerce platforms relative to competitors highlights gaps in content, pricing, and product variety. 🟣 Geographical Data: Location-based insights reveal customer density, affluence, and interests at catchment level. With this holistic view, brands can pinpoint where consumer interest turns into sales and where it doesn't and work on the following key areas: 🟧 Product Range Expansion: Identify product range gaps and expand offerings to cater to evolving preferences. 🟧 Market Expansion: Spot high-interest regions with limited availability and guide store openings or targeted online efforts. 🟧 Pricing & Promotions: Use price sensitivity insights to refine strategies 🟧 Content & Messaging: Develop impactful product content based on analysis and learnings from competition. 🟧 Targeted Outreach: Engage identified customer segments where the brand has both trending merchandise and availability, but sales are poor. At MAAVRUS , we help B2C businesses achieve profitable OMNI growth, by using Data Insights & AI enabled digital solutions, that span customer loyalty & engagement, product & expansion strategy, and shopping experience. If you are interested in knowing more, please get in touch with us at 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭@𝐦𝐚𝐚𝐯𝐫𝐮𝐬.𝐜𝐨𝐦 #RetailInsights #BrandGrowth #DataDrivenStrategy #SearchData #marketplacedata #locationdata #customerdata #internaldata #d2cbrands

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Shein is expected to disrupt the USD10 billion fast fashion market in India, facing competition from domestic and global players. Fast fashion in India is expected to grow 30%-40% in the last fiscal, contributing 25-30% of the overall fashion retail landscape to cross USD50 billion in sales by FY31. The collaboration between Reliance and Shein aims to compete with value labels and premium labels, focusing on effective consumer engagement and unique positioning. The partnership involves utilizing India as a supply source for Shein's global operations and building a network for local garment manufacturers to boost exports of textile from India. The strategic partnership between Reliance and Shein came after the Indian government banned Shein and other Chinese apps from selling in the country, following geopolitical strife between the two countries. The arrangement also entails that Shein will provide technology to RRVL to integrate a network of over 25,000 MSMEs to create a parallel global supply chain from India. “This will create a potential export opportunity of approximately INR50,000 crore from India, even if only 25% of the existing global demand of Shein is sourced from India,” said one of the executives. #shein #reliance #strategicpartnership #fastfashion

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Zero understanding of "what is activewear or performance apparel" has failed to deliver a single successful D2C brand in India in this category. We buy activewear/athleisure from brands that talk about comfort (see IG stories of most brands) and can transform one's appearance from AM to PM (read post office parties). In short, we want clothing meant for high performance fitness to be comfortable enough to wear everywhere! Lately, I have seen a lot of conversations online from founders and buyers of activewear/performance/athleisure brands in India. Brand founders: >> busy peddling their brands as the best alternative to xyz without providing any clear evidence of why they are better than xyz >> complaining about how the market is driven by pricing, making it difficult to meet Lululemon quality standards >> category is very crowded and hence most of the money is spent on marketing Customers complain: >> there are no high-quality athleisure or activewear brands in India >> brands source the cheapest products and focus more on PR >> I have not found a SINGLE great athleisure brand in this country. The disconnect between what brands are selling and what customers want is crazy. The one thing every brand founder in India agrees with - 'It's a price sensitive market". The one thing every customer is saying "there are no good quality brands in this category" Good quality products (not luxury) cost money to make, but the customer is not willing to pay that price. This has led most brand founders to go round in circles, selling avg quality products at low prices, promising the sky but falling short of even getting to tree tops! Would love to hear more on the category from the founders and the users. lululemon Alo Yoga Decathlon Sports India Jockey International, Inc. #activewear #fitness #health #athleisure #performanceapparel #gymshark #D2C #founder #startup #fashion #yoga #clothing #apparel #retail

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New report says Indian apparel sector needs US $ 6.5 billion to achieve 2030 emission targets 1) In order to meet the 2030 target of 50% reduction in absolute emissions set by the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Change, which is run by the UN Climate Change Secretariat, the apparel sector must make large investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. 2) One of the biggest producers of apparel in the world, India, has been identified in a recent report as a key area for effective decarbonisation initiatives. The country alone has to spend US $ 6.5 billion to meet the industry’s 2030 emissions reduction goal.

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Wrote this article on Clean Labelling for afaqs! as part of my monthly guest column. Shining a light on some amazing founders and brands that are driving the way of clean labelling in India. Marketing in 2010 was all about community and I have made some ads myself on how a community can be brought together through the power of mobile - one song strung together by people living in different geographics collaborating on phone. Marketing in 2020 is about affinity , advocacy and advancement says Kotler dubbed Marketing 5.0. If you have read the story of corn overproduction and how that drove the sugar era - Supply seeking demand- this one is the other way round. In an era of conscious Consumerism , consumer is driving trend in a bottom up approach of driving supply basis changing demand . Shashank Mehta | Simran Khara | Koparo | Minimalist

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Fascinating read - Investor Tassos Stassopoulos of #Trinetra has been using #ethnographies to inform his investment strategy. These global in-home exploratories have been a part of Consumer Eyes innovation work since our founding over 30 years ago and we still find them supremely insightful. For a number of days, I rose before the sun in #Jakarta Indonesia to participate in breakfast preparation and eating which took place after morning prayers. This was coupled with similar research outings in #KualaLumpur, #MexicoCDMX and #NYC. The consumer understanding we gained had a significant impact on creating a global breakfast strategy and offerings. Glad to see at least one investor understands the value of real-world, in-situation #humaninsight mining. #innovation #consumerinsights #qualitativeresearch

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How to build a brand in 2024 ? especially when there are so many of them !! That's what I explored with ZYOD. The answer is "Micro-Niche". My own journey at Fabriclore inadvertantly led us to create a micro-niche in the fashion industry. Today Fabriclore is synonymous with Fabric. I and Barsha Agrawal explore what goes into building a micro-niche. Is it the messaging, marketing, product or the production? What's the order of priority for a brand to create micro-niche? who are some of the consumer brands in India that have made their mark creating a micro-niche for themselves ? 💡 Your Turn: What micro-niche brand has caught your eye recently? Drop your favorite in the comments! Let's decode the art of standing out in a crowded marketplace. 👇 #BrandStrategy #Entrepreneurship #MicroNiche #StartupInsights

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𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬? Urban Indian consumers have massively adopted Quick Commerce over the last couple of years, proving skeptics of the model (myself included) wrong to some extent. The economic viability is still to be established though there are some positive signals on that front too. Moving into high margin and/or high value categories including electronics, apparel, homeware, toys & even gold, is the current big hope for all the QC players to attain profitability.   While there is anecdotal evidence of customers ordering phones, clothes and more, this move will entail a huge shift in their model in terms of location, number & size of dark stores, store-level assortments, and inventory optimization, which they have built & refined for grocery over the last few years. While the math of higher margin and AOV is undoubtedly attractive, the enormous operational challenges arising from differences in consumer behaviour, market structure & practices etc. will adversely impact profitability, and maybe even growth, as they figure out the new category dynamics (and deal with the response of the two elephants in the room!)   On the other hand, it appears that QC has been challenging Kiranas, which account for ~80% of grocery retail, in a way modern retail stores never did in the last 20+ years. With each of the major QC players having about 300-500 dark stores each, across ~ 30 cities, there is huge headroom to grow in grocery itself for several years. High order density and optimized assortments are key to drive profitability for QC, and orders/store seem to be growing, even as new stores open. They are also working on delivery and platform fees, and if customers are truly hooked they may be willing to pay.   𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑸𝑪 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒕?     #quickcommerce #zepto #instamart #blinkit #grocery 

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