Startup mattress brand
He looked around and found a handful of players in a high demand market. This was 2017 and Delhi-headquartered mattress brand Shinysleep spread itself out to lure the budget-sensitive and demanding consumer. Founder Tarun Chugh discusses the how, why, what, where and what next at Shinysleep.
What was the inspiration behind founding of the brand?
When I was working in a tech company, I was fascinated by the technology used for making a comfortable mattress. With solely a few mattress brands in the Indian market back in 2017, I got inspired to make a similar kind of NASA-technology inspired mattress.
What is your growth story in the last three years (excluding 2020)?
Since starting our operations, we have generated a revenue of ₹15 lakh and now we have a turnover of Rs 5-7 crore annually. We sold around 70 mattresses in the first quarter of 2017, thereafter, we sold over 1,000 products per month, both online and offline. Currently we are focused on customer requirements and needs.
What has been the impact of Covid in terms of sales, staff cutdown, rentals, stocks etc?
At the start of the pandemic, our sales were hit as was the case with almost all industry segments. However, after 2 months, sales picked up and then it grew at least by 3 times of its original growth. We added 7 more employees from March to December. Our rentals didn't have any effect as such.
What is the USP of your products?
Shinysleep is a company which is customer needs oriented. Here we sell products based on individual needs, and not on individual pockets. Furthermore, our mattresses are available at factory price. So, overall, it's approximately one third of the price of what other brands are selling in the market.
What steps do you take towards brand building?
In order to build a strong, successful brand, one needs to have a brand mission. So, we have moved ahead with our mission to serve good sleep to everyone across the nation through our products and have targeted different platforms. Also, quality is our topmost priority. After all we are a customer-focused company which makes its product for its people.
Which category of mattress sells the most?
Orthoplus Mattress is one product which is highly used and bought by our customers as it is the perfect balance of softness and support.
What is the price point of your products?
The average cost of our mattresses is between Rs 10,000-15,000
What is your retail presence like?
Currently, we have our EBOs in Faridabad, Noida, Bangalore, Chennai and Vadodara (total 5). We are targeting to set up 20 more EBOs till next financial year.
What is your brand's online presence?
We sell our mattresses on our website and other e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon.
Which are your major markets in India and abroad?
We are all across India in every metro like Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.
Which other product categories do you plan to move into future?
Furniture and home décor.
If you are looking for vendors, what are the top 3 qualities you are looking at beyond the givens of quality, lead time, compliance, etc?
The vendor must have passion to sell and give proper explanation to the end user. He should understand what the customer needs before pitching any product.
How does your supply chain network work? What regions of the world is part of your supply chain?
We work pan India and for online models we have partnered with a logistic company through which the delivery is made to our customers. However, for offline stores, we provide real time customer experience.
How is the supply chain expected to change with increasing digitisation, AI, VR etc? And how is this going to impact the business of sourcing?
The pandemic came unannounced for us and the rest of the world. However, after a couple of months, we picked up the pace and went back to do R&D of our products. Now, our products are better than ever, and we can make a customised mattress for any individual. Thus, we are seeing a growth in the post Covid time.
Where are your manufacturing facilities based at?
We have manufacturing facilities in Delhi/NCR.
What is the annual production capacity?
2,00,000 plus mattresses per annum.
What kind of machinery does your manufacturing facility boast of?
We use high-end machines which are used to tappages the end product that gives more comfort to the end user. For clothing, the quilting machine is used to quilt the fabric to increase its life and to give it more strength and for designing of the fabric as well. Along with this, we use bidding, stitching and cutting machines.
How much is spent on machine up-gradation and maintenance annually?
Till now we have spent around ₹1.5 crore on the upgradation of our machinery. Our maintenance is not more than five lakh annually.
What are your future plans?
We desire to be the choice of everyone across the nation through our products. We are steadily expanding our current business. We have six models, and we are launching a few more new models based on customer demands. We have already expanded our brand through the franchise model and multi-brand stores; we have added more products like pillows, comforters, bedsheets and mattress covers etc to our existing range of mattress protectors, dual comforters, pocket-spring mattresses, orthopedic memory foams, ortho plus memory foam mattresses, fibre pillows. As of now we are addressing most of these products offline. However, we are going to launch them in online model soon. (PC)
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