E-Commerce is the fastest growing market segment in India. With telecom partners subsidising internet prices, a further 320 million users are likely to adopt the internet by 2023 in India, with a majority of them coming from the Tier II and III cities. This will enable growth and evolution for all players in the online market.
Are you also bored with wearing that Denim jeans but it still looks new and neither you can throw it nor you want to wear it. No worries. Sell it on Coutloot ! Founded by Jameet Thind, Vinit Jain and Mahima Kaun this is the first mobile C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer) tech platform users can buy and sell new as well as preloved fashion.
Couture and Loot makes Coutloot
The Start-Up has derived its name from ‘Couture’ and ‘Loot’, which together aims at making style cheap and accessible to all. It aims to empower everyone to start selling online, be it first-time sellers or a small business owner, its mission is to create 25 Million Entrepreneurs by 2022.
The Eureka Moment !
The idea of selling unused fashion apparel struck to the co-founder Jasmeet, while shifting his room and due to lack of space had to face the situation where he didn’t want to throw away his branded but unused clothes, he couldn’t use it either, because of reasons like changes in size, clothes being out of fashion, etc. It was then that he looked up for a website, but they weren’t fashion specific.
Taking inspiration from the US-based Poshmark and South East Asia based Carousell, Jasmeet, along with Mahima and Vinit, thought of developing a similar platform in India where the millennials could not just promote and sell their branded unused clothes but can also buy pre-owned clothes and keep up with the fashion trends, dirt-cheap pricing being the crowd puller.
Coutloot’s Business Model:
Targeted Audience –
The Start-Up is relevant and specifically targeted towards the age group of 17–25 years which also constitutes 90% of their customers.Income Strategies –
It charge a pick-up fee of Rs.35 on every product that is sold as well as take a commission of 15% per product. Along with this quality check of the product, repackaging and delivering to the buyer are done at a delivery charge of Rs. 80Major Challenges
1. Constant eyes over quality of products :
Being a C2C platform, checking the quality of the products that are being sold and bought on their portal is the most crucial part of Coutloot’s business.Solution : Delivery person carefully checks the product for quality defect or misrepresentation and if not satisfactory, it is not picked up. Further, the product doesn’t have a standard quality, the seller loses their cash and is charged a fine of Rs.200 before listing other products on the platform.
2. Overcoming the taboo of buying pre-owned clothes :
They had to make sure they only offered good quality products that were fashionable and at a hugely discounted amount than the original cost.Solution : A quality-controlled and heavily-monitored inventory and a strict quality check on all the items. Getting bloggers and celebrities on board has further increased in breaking taboo.
In the last 3–4 months, the business has grown to 500K active users per month. More than 500 pickups a day are performed and over 19000 products are being sold every month.
Some of the amazing features of CoutLoot
No Nonsense Inventories :
Fashion experts in collaboration with logistics partners, ensure that the products dwell in no nonsense inventories. The app’s algorithm also checks the image quality of the products the sellers list on the app. If the image is blurred or is directly pulled from Google or any other source, it is automatically rejected.Complete Transparency :
When a seller lists any product on the app, they are given a clear break-up of the earnings. Such transparency with the users helps in gaining their trust and they keep coming back to list more of their products.Regional languages :
The platform facilitates buyers and sellers to bargain and converse in their respective regional languages. CoutLoot has also hired an in-house language translator that enables users to chat in 12 different languages.Meet & Buy through CoutLoot :
A model where sellers and buyers can meet and transact offline without having to share their phone numbers, the CoutLoot chat can schedule and track offline meetings.Association with Celebrities :
One of the major reasons for popularity and rising user base is the association of many TV celebrities and social media influencers with the brand.Obeying the customer feedback with new innovations :
The founders keep making alterations to their product based on customer feedback and continuously develop their portal to serve its users better.Services in ongoing Covid-19 pandemic
CoutLoot has added a service 'Essentials' category on its platform that will leverage its offline seller network to deliver or pick up essential goods sold through its platform.
With India currently undergoing a protracted lockdown to contain the spread of the Covid-19, essential goods are more accessible and available to consumers across the country. It has more than 4 lakh sellers on their online platform and is ensuring that supply chain disruptions remain minimal.
Future
Coutloot has opened doors to the $12 Billio worth of quality goods kept in the Indian houses and also taken the other $30 Billion offline lifestyle market, online.
More than a re-commerce business, the Start-Up wants to advance as a social platform where people can discuss, bargain, sell and buy inexpensive, high-quality clothes and accessories. It want to focus on the five main things that millennials will always look for online:
1. Fashion 2. Phones 3. Credit 4. Finding rooms 5. Ticket, general items