Shobitam’s vision is to “Democratize Ethnic Fashion Globally” – ensuring that the authentic Indian handlooms, arts and crafts are accessible to customers across the globe.

The brand believes in constantly innovating, be it in terms of unique designs, fabrics or services. We strive to blend the elements of handmade weaving and create unique outfits, not just sarees, but also ethnic gowns, jackets, dresses, jewellery etc.

To know about the brand we spoke to Aparna Thyagarajan, Co-Founder, Shobitam to discover her passion behind launching this brand and her plans for future expansions. 

Are you a brand that is now synonyms for its designs? Tell us in detail about your consumers?

Yes, Shobitam as a name has become synonymous with unique selections.

Our 5 Strategic pillars are - Authentic Silk Mark Certified quality, vast selections from the length and breadth of India that are refreshed daily, easy ordering on our website, fast global delivery for convenience and world class customer experience.

Our target group has been primarily the 18 million Indian diaspora across the globe looking to connect with their roots with authentic clothing and jewellery. We have rapidly grown (12X in 3 years) and as we expand through positive word of mouth, we now have tens of thousands of customers and have shipped to over 41 countries.

Our evangelical base of customers has grown to different countries globally where they know we provide authentic high-quality products that are both unique, best value and comes with a 5-star service.

How important are innovations and its investments in this field for Shobitam?

We have innovated in several ways with deep investments in technology, processes and products. These are made both in the backend by connecting our 540 plus weavers through our fast product designs and vertically integrated supply chain. Nevertheless, our front end solutions enable easy ordering system, bespoke ethnic wear solutions, providing a seamless and hassle-free experience to our customers. Our system includes automated checkout workflows for our repeat customers and the industry’s first innovative custom blouse measurement and stitching solutions.

Our customer obsession with innovative solutions has been a key driver for rapid launch of new products with unique designs on a daily basis, agile cycle times and fast delivery globally. We deliver in just 4-7 days across the globe, and because of this we have garnered over 7000 plus, 5 star customer reviews. In short, we are building the Zara model for Ethnic Fashion- from India, for the world!

Can we know about your sustainability quotient and its initiatives?

As a brand, we believe in not only preserving our craft but also recognizing areas where we can contribute to the community at large. One of the ways that we do this is by ethical sourcing of our raw materials for our apparel. Another good example for this initiative is our very popular vegan silk sarees range that uses agricultural residues to create eco-friendly products. We have received rave reviews from both customers and industry organizations like Vegan First.

Owing to the nature of our products, and the fabrics used, we are helping people to make conscious choices by encouraging the generational art forms of Indian weaving.

Technology is changing the very face of the Indian Fashion Industry. How has your brand evolved on this term?

We recognize the advent of online shopping, especially for the Indian fashion industry. On this end, we have gone from selling on marketplaces and having our own website. This ensures, a strict control over our policies and operations giving best experience with shopping. 

We are two Co- founders, myself, Aparna and my sister Ambika. We come from a deep technology background. I have been a former Microsoft Executive with over 10 years from Seattle and Silicon Valley and similarly, Ambika has worked for over 10 years in California, USA. We changed our careers into the world of fashion carrying our deep passion in this stream.

We have built several custom technology solutions, apps and solutions across the customer value chain to drive unique products, rapid launches and personalized customer offerings with recommendations driven by artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) and automated custom blouse stitching solutions. We are working on disrupting the vast handlooms, arts and crafts industry by leveraging technology in everything we do.

Describe in detail about your products and its expansion plans? 

Our key product categories for women are sarees, blouses, gowns, jewellery, and all of these have been our bestsellers. We recently launched menswear and kids wear, which are getting wonderful reviews with adoption by customers. 

Our products have been priced fairly so that we are able to fulfill our mission of ‘customers first and weavers first’. This ensures not only do the customers pay the right price for the products, but the weavers also benefit from each sale. We started with only selling sarees, but today we have expanded into different categories like jewellery, men's ethnic wear, footwear, kids wear, etc. We intend to add a few more categories in the coming months to cater to the growing demand.

What is new for the upcoming season?

We are introducing new styles and fabrics in our upcoming season that is targeted to attract the younger audience to our Indian weaving styles. We are also introducing new bridal collections and Indo western wear like jackets, trench coats etc.

Are you inspired by a theme while planning for a new collection?

Our collections have mostly been topical, but we do love to experiment with different designs - such as bringing together Kanjivarams and Kalamkari, Chikankari with Kanjivaram style borders etc. This unique industry leading fusion styles of different weaves from across India has been well received by customers globally. It has also made our weavers collaborate and innovate by working together across India and delivering for customers. We would love to become a world class brand, well known for our product innovations and amalgamations of cultures in our collections.

What is the present state of fashion market? What are the key challenges that a brand is still facing?

The fashion market currently is plagued by fast fashion and unfortunately, power loom makes low quality fakes. In this fast-paced industry, the key challenge is to justify the need for authentic handmade and handloom pieces that are painstakingly woven on looms across India by master weavers.

Another challenge that is often not talked about is the rampant fake products that are sold in the name of silk sarees. For this reason, we ensure all of our silk sarees come with a silk mark certification to help our customers make a conscious choice.

Is your brand social? Tell us about the strength of your followers and channels you are present?

We recognize the need to be present on social media; not just to promote our products, but also as a channel that our customers can reach us.

Our followers have been our family and they have shown their support throughout our journey. They have shown nothing but immense love for us on Facebook and Instagram. We currently have over 64K followers combined on both platforms. We also see a lot of queries on Pinterest as well, which is an area we have just started to explore.

What’s your loyalty score? What are the key promotions that you run?

We believe the quality of our products and Shobitam experience known for its world class service. It attracts our customers to be loyal towards our brand and come back and shop again from us. Having said that, we have a great relationship with our most frequent customers, and we have personalized products, offers and experience for them that make them happy. Our repeat rate is well over 39 percent, have received over 7000 plus- 5 star customer reviews and our net promoter score (NPS) is 91, which is leading in industry.

Tell us about your key markets? Mention their names and define their retail spread?

Our key focus has always been the 18 million Indian diaspora staying overseas - mainly the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Singapore and UAE. However, over the years, we have gained a foothold in other countries as well and are now looking to get majorly into India.

How important are regional markets for your brand? Do you plan something differently in accordance with its taste?

Since we primarily target the South Asian community across the globe, our strategy remains the same across all markets. Having said that, we do keep in mind what works best for which region and create our collections accordingly.

How many retail points do you have currently with its share of business?

We currently have two retail points - Etsy, and our own website built on Shopify. Our website generates over 85 percent of our revenues and Etsy caters to the remaining 15 percent. We are currently one of the fastest growing direct-to-consumer (D2C) ethnic fashion brands, grown well over 12X in 3 years and rapidly expanding with current annual recovering revenue (ARR) of Rs 22 crore.

How well have you scored online? How has this changed the business for you?

From just over 20 products when we began, to over 2000 plus products on our website, we have come a long way in our almost 4 year journey. We have customers from over 40 plus countries and continue to grow. This has helped us understand how different markets have different nuances about shopping, and each day is a new learning.

We are on our way to become a one-stop shop for all Indian ethnic wear needs globally.

What are your future retail expansion plans?

We plan to add more categories and product lines to our existing range in the near future. We are on our way to become a one-stop shop for all Indian ethnic wear needs.

Is there anything extra you wish to share that I haven’t asked you?

We are deeply mission led with a sense of purpose as we build Shobitam. This is why, we have setup the Shobitam GIVE and CARE programs to both support our hundreds of weavers & artisans across India and also help children through our programs for education, financial literacy and enablement.

We are also a women led startup where we deeply care about supporting and enabling other women entrepreneurs. We have recently setup the ‘Shobitam Center for Women Entrepreneurship (SCWE)’ in collaboration with Birla Institute of Technology And Science (BITS, Pilani), with a personal donation of Rs 1 crore.