Attracted by the massive untapped potential of the Indian Luxury Market & a growing sense of sustainable consumption in the India psyche, Cossue finally pulled the trigger of bringing the concept of circular Fashion to India in all its might in late 2019.
A Few Excerpts from our Talk with the Force behind, Abhimanyu
- What was the first spark for you to take a look at this segment?
Well to be honest, the first spark came during my time in the US. The Western market has whole heartedly embraced the future of Fashion as a circular one as opposed to a fast one. In fact, the formal resale market is clocking an annual growth rate thrice that of the traditional market & is well poised to reach $50 billion annual revenue by 2022.
Not only that, Asia as a whole too is towing the same line, which convinced me to take a closer look at India which naturally is the next big frontier & my home.
- What convinced you that India is ready for this Fashion Format?
According to our research we do not feel India is simply ready, we believe the Indian market is well poised to lead this segment globally if we keep the horizon generous enough.
Unlike the Developed countries where the attraction of resale comes from a growing affinity towards sustainable consumption, India is not yet at a critical mass to make that a driving factor.
The factor that makes this a perfect fit for our country is cold hard value proposition & practicality. There is a massive value stuck in our fashion closets in form of our Designer clothing, Handbags, watches, shoes, accessories & more. If we can create a liquid resale market for these Designer goods, we bridge two very important consumer classes:
- The Globe trotting populace which has the taste & the means to purchase these products new but like to stay on the forefront of fashion by regularly updating their closet catalogues.
- The Aspirational Bridge to luxury class which would like to experience the same joy of association while keeping an eye on their budget.
We provide a safe ecosystem by the community, for the community to monetize this value and keep their Fashion fluid, ever moving.
- What are the challenges you have faced so far pertinent to your segment &vision?
Though we have received an enviable response from our customers & felt like many were eagerly waiting for this ecosystem to arrive in India, Trust remains a challenge to be addressed.
Indian Luxury Market is grappling with the serious issue of counterfeits & cheap copies, which threatens to steal over 10{c27255e51a72bad2a6cb30fe58330144c0418fbd7e8dd39587873a85d63c5975} of Industry revenue in the coming years.
We understand the anxieties that comes with buying a Luxury Item online, thereby we are deeply ingrained in every part of fulfillment process.
Be it acquiring merchandise from our Global trusted boutiques partners or consigning items submitted by individual sellers we take complete liability for authenticity & accuracy of the products we sell.
To further allay the concerns, we are one of the select few platforms who provide an option of Cash on Delivery to our customers which is almost unheard off among our competitors. Our Singular focus at this point is to build relationships & trust with our customers, business dynamics come next.
- Where do you see yourself in next five years?
Our Ambitions are big but vanity small, we are glad that our business concept has been validated so wholesomely this early in our Journey. We are growing at a QoQ rate of 120{c27255e51a72bad2a6cb30fe58330144c0418fbd7e8dd39587873a85d63c5975} and have achieved operational profitability in the first 5 months of our operations. Our return rate is below 2{c27255e51a72bad2a6cb30fe58330144c0418fbd7e8dd39587873a85d63c5975} which could be an industry benchmark & average transaction ticket of INR 32,000.
We aim to maintain this rate of growth but our first priority is to come forth as the most trusted & reliable Luxury Platform in India, we are constantly investing in our proprietary Digital Authentication Systems, our Team of Authentication Experts & have recently invested in a state-of-the-art Jewelry authentication microscope.
As much as we like to see our business grow, we feel more pride for the trust our customers repose in us & aim to maintain that to the teeth.