Are you in the CLUB ?

To find world-class brands offered at insane discounts is every fashionista’s dream, and it is now being made a reality by exclusive online shopping clubs

‘A penny saved equals a penny earned’ goes an old adage and the latest fashion spreading like wildfire is pretty much piggyback riding on this wise saying, and on the fact, which researches would have us believe, that urban Indians in the age group of 20-35 spend more time over the Internet than watching TV. These two factors are becoming the raison d’etre for sites selling luxury brands, at discounted rates as steep as 70%! These sites are also maintaining the exclusivity factor attached with premium brands by ensuring the site remains members-only. 99labels.com, fashionandyou.com and brandmile.com are among the slew of online shopping clubs that have opened shop in the past few months, and their members not only include the urban crowd, but also people from small towns and out of India! As I write this, among the several items on sale are Satya Paul saris at a 50% discount, Cadini wallets, shoes and ties at 60% off and Roberto Cavalli and Moschino watches are being offered at half their original prices!

This isn’t a new concept though, and several websites from around the world have been following this model with great success. But when shopping for apparel, how does one gauge the fit and the fabric from photos alone? Divya, a 27-year-old from Delhi, shied away from making a purchase from Fashion and You for exactly this reason. “I was going to pick a GAS Jeans but at the last moment I decided otherwise, cos I wasn’t too sure of the size… GAS was selling according to US sizes, and I didn’t want to take a chance.” 99label’s CEO Ishita Swarup discussed the same issue with us and said, “Not all kinds of apparel work. We’ve realised clearly that fitted items don’t work. So, most bottoms will not work very well. Especially for women, the exact fit is critical. But there are lots of other apparels that have a slightly lose fit, which work very well. We also have a fairly detailed size chart so we have sizes small, medium, large, how they correspond with the UK size, the US size, and, even within that, what does small mean in terms of shoulder, bust, waist, etc. Lastly, we also have a very flexible return policy.”

Most Indians have been rather timid in making online transactions, but that is swiftly changing. While cash on delivery is an option, Ishita reveals that “almost 70% of our members use credit cards or electronic banking.”

These sites have also had to fight a tough battle convincing brands to participate in their sales. While they’re mostly wary about discounting their products around the year, some brands like Hidesign don’t go on sale at all as they don’t want to be known as a discount brand. But being able to liquidate their stocks, save on costs of retail and marketing, the closed-door member-only concept and access to a huge number of clients are all factors helping companies warm up to these shopping clubs.

In less than half a year, several such shopping clubs have sprung up, as the entry barriers are very low for Internet-run businesses. And in less than half a year, people from Mumbai, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Trichy and overseas have logged in and shopped from the comfort of their homes. These clubs are here to transform shopping, and they might even soon displace diamonds and become every lady’s, or maybe even every man’s, new best friend!

Anu Gulmohar

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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