Koovs targets Rs 91-cr GMV this year

28 Jan '16

3 min read

Fashion e-commerce portal Koovs.com plans to increase gross merchandise value (GMV) to 9.5 million pounds (Rs 91.59 crore) by end of this year from three million pounds (Rs 29 crore).

Koovs, which runs an inventory-led model, believes that it has an edge over its competition such as Myntra and Jabong as they are more of a fashion curation portal.

“We are a fashion house. Our private label is exclusive to us designed by our designers in London. We provide affordable western wear for the Indian market. We are not a marketplace we act like a personal shopper. We curate our apparel. While last year our GMV last year at three million pounds. This year we are on a trajectory to deliver 9.5 million pounds,” the Business Standard quoted Mary Turner, CEO, Koovs Plc as saying.

Koovs hopes to break even by 2019. “Over the next three years we are looking at raising another 30 million pounds. The plan is break even in the next three years, by 2019 we should be at net profitable level. At gross level we have been profitable,” Turner added.

The company recently posted a threefold jump in sales and has raised 4.5 million pounds (Rs 43 crore). Over the next three years, it plans to raise another 30 million pounds (Rs 289 crore). The e-commerce venture is part of Koovs Plc which was founded two years ago with 22 million pounds (Rs 212 crore) through a float on AIM, the London Stock Exchange's international platform for smaller companies.

Koovs, which started its operations in India in 2014 has seen a hike in sales thanks to its brand awareness campaign. “Our brand awareness has been quite low at sub one per cent but now it is up at eight per cent. Sixty per cent of orders come from top five metros. We are going to advertise more in Tier II and III cities as well,” she said.

Currently, Koovs has around 20-25 creative designers based out of its London office while it has 200 employees in India. “We will add more people as our operations expand but we will not do it just for the sake of expanding,” she added.

Turner said its strategy is to access this growth market and to become India's top destination for affordable western fashion by 2020. (SH)

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