Online ecommerce platform Jaypore launches offline store in Bengaluru

Delhi-NCR based online retail brand Jaypore has set up its offline store in Bengaluru. The platform features curated collections of handmade, handwoven and handcrafted apparel, jewellery, home textiles and accents, traditional and contemporary art and more from all over India. The company had raised Rs 50 crore from Aavishkaar and Haresh Chawla in March this year. Jaypore already has an offline store in Delhi. 

The platform was launched in 2012 by Shilpa Sharma, Puneet Chawla and Arti Jesrani for the US market, and a global launch soon followed. 

In 2014, the platform launched its own private label. With in-house designers, it produces contemporary apparel exclusively using traditional, handwoven fabric and textile embellishment techniques like dabu resist-dyeing, fadat prints, leheriya, Bagru and Sanganeri block-printing, natural dyes like indigo and hand-painting techniques like Kalamkari.

Speaking of foraying into the offline space, Puneet says, the Jaypore audience skews towards an older demographic. He says, 

“We saw a lot of traction with our open houses, where we visit different cities with trunks full of Jaypore merchandise and realised the kind of instant feedback we got at these events was extremely valuable, and therefore venturing offline seemed like the natural thing to do. We’re looking at opening 10 stores by the end FY20.” 

Jaypore’s key areas will be metros and mini metro cities and its major focus will be on clothing and jewellery. It is also looking to expand its private label representation.

“Jaypore has built its business on a platform aimed at bringing Indian heritage and quality craftsmanship to the fore, through well-curated collections, authenticity and a unique design aesthetic for a delightful all-round customer experience. Our USP continues to be quality and innovation through design, and this is what customers know and love about us,” says Puneet. 

He explains there is definitely an overlap between what’s available online and in-store, but they are also looking to launch exclusive, high-end collections only for the store. 

Puneet explains, unlike retailers such as Urban Ladder, Jaypore has a more traditional retail approach, in that you can immediately buy what you see, instead of trying, selecting and then waiting for delivery fulfillment.

Apart from Jaypore, there are several platforms like The Label Life, Pepperfry, Urban Ladder, Lenskart, Zivame, Caratlane and Myntra’s Roadster. Myntra is also set to launch 50 brick-and-mortar stores for its private labels across cities in two years. This is Myntra’s latest effort in pushing omni-channel retail, by enabling offline stores with advanced tech for better customer experience.

Puneet believes tech tools allow the team to create a seamless transactional experience for customers, as well as an integrated product offering across channels. To enhance the customer experience, the Jaypore store will integrate technology with retail experience through use of tablets and digital screens across the store.

“Customers can view the collections and variations through the tablets and also understand how to mix and match apparels and jewellery with the help of our stylised shoots and curations,” says Puneet.

However, he also knows that the task is going to be difficult - “Some of the more obvious challenges are of course finding the right location, knowing the target demographic well, getting people to walk-in, on the whole, however, we haven’t really had much trouble,” says Puneet.

The team is currently working on an omni-channel strategy. Currently, the average order value is Rs 5,000, while the product cost is in the range of Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000. 

“Obviously, walk-ins will vary from city-to-city, but on an average, we expect conversions to be upwards of 50 percent,” says Puneet.