India’s online retail market has got an interesting twist with one of the biggest conglomerates of the country, Aditya Birla venturing into the online marketplace with Abof. The e tailing firm launched in October 2015 has tapped into the market which, at the moment, is fiercely competitive.
In positioning itself separately the platform has focused on fast fashion as is trending in India’s fashion scene. And Prashant Gupta, President, Aditya Birla Retail group’s online arm points out the venture is focusing on quick turnaround of merchandise and its platform has become the fastest website in the country.
The company has been firmly positioned as a brand that offers fast fashion. Hence, to keep up with the fast changing fashion trends, the website typically introduces 200 to 300 new products every month. Analysing the sales pattern and customer preferences, the company updates its merchandise everyday. Gupta said that they have a shorter cycle with vendors. Typically the cycle is six-nine months to make a product, but Abof is trying to make a product within six weeks.
Abof’s phenomenal growth story relies heavily on innovation and tech support In the 10 months since launch, Abof has doubled gross merchandise value to Rs.200 crores with about 2.5 lakh daily visitors. It has a 50,000 square feet warehouse in Bangalore and is opening another one in Delhi NCR. That pales in comparison with Amazon and Flipkart, both of which have more than 15 warehouses each.
Innovation plays an important role as the firm is constantly adding new features and facilities. Also, they have introduced at-home alteration services in metros like Mumbai, Delhi and Pune.
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