Started as a B2B men’s apparel brand, SNITCH went the D2C route amidst the pandemic

Harry Potter may have spent most of his time on the Quidditch field looking for the Snitch, but this Bengaluru-based fashion brand wants to ensure that no man ever has to look for SNITCH!

Founded in January 2019 by Siddharth R Dungarwal as a B2B brand, Snitch‎ crafts clothing for the “fashion-forward modern man”. However, in the midst of the pandemic the men’s apparel brand decided to take the D2C route to reach more customers and now delivers to more than 20 states in India.

“The pandemic hit us hard and we were stuck with a huge inventory as our B2B business was down. We wanted to make the best of this opportunity and immediately went online and started operating as a D2C brand,” says Founder and CEO Siddharth.  

Now, SNITCH operates across both channels, D2C and B2B. Encapsulating inspirations from around the globe, the startup offers shirts, T-shirts, trousers, jeans, shorts, co-ords, boxers etc. for men in the age group

of 18-35 years.

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“Our company’s name means to snitch on trends and deliver pep, mostly to Gen Z and X, who tend to be money conscious but are eager to be trendy. Apart from that, the objective is to consistently deliver trend-right products plus finest quality at appealing prices,” says Siddharth. 

Started with a team of four members and 40 products (100 SKUs) on the website, SNITCH today has a team of 50 members. It now offers more than 1,000 products (8,000 SKUs) and sells online via its website which was launched in June 2020.

“We had our first sale within one hour of the website getting live. And we hit 70 orders per day in a week. It's been 10 months now. We have more than 1,000 products live, 20,000 visitors per day, a conversion rate of 3.5 percent, and an average of 900 orders per day with 35 percent returning customers. We are looking to double the order volume within the next six months,” Siddharth says.

“We started with a 200 sq ft warehouse in our current office and within a few months of inception moved to a 15,000 sq ft warehouse, which is solely handled by our team. Orders are mostly shipped within 24 hours,” he adds.

Siddharth, who has 10 years of apparel manufacturing experience, was earlier involved in his family business - jewellery retail. The CMO, Chetan Siyal, has eight years of marketing and advertising experience, and was previously associated with communication and design agency The Otherside. Both have been friends for over 10 years.

The funding and revenue

Snitch was bootstrapped by the founder, with backing from his family. To date, nearly Rs 5 crore has been invested across the past 10 months.

SNITCH started the first month with Rs 31 lakh in sales and grew to around Rs 4 crore in March 2021. The startup is currently at a turnover of Rs 23 crore from its D2C channel and looks to grow 20-25 percent from here on monthly.

“The month-on-month sales growth has been consistent at 25 percent since inception. The average order value grew from Rs 1,200 per order to Rs 1,600 per order,” Siddharth tells YourStory.

According to Siddharth, in the first month SNITCH had received a little over 2,000 orders. This went up to 24,000 orders per month in March 2021. “In order volume, the month-on-month growth has been over 20 percent. RTO and returns constitute to 30 percent of total orders,” he says.

The future and way ahead

The market for men’s fashion and grooming is growing fast. According to research and analysis platform Statista, the market value of the men's apparel industry in India is estimated to be about Rs 3.3 trillion by 2028, a significant increase from Rs 1.6 trillion in 2018.

The industry is dominated by a few well-known brands such as Raymond, Peter England, Woodland, Van Heusen, Louis Philippe, and Allen Solly, but smaller players are gradually making their presence felt and giving bigger brands a run for their money.  

Going forward, SNITCH plans to scale up, both online and offline, and reach out to new groups of customers, nationally and internationally. 

At present, it receives the highest orders from Hyderabad and Bengaluru, which account for 17 percent and 8 percent of the total revenue respectively. “Pune, Mumbai, and Delhi hold five percent each of the total revenue while cities like Ahmedabad, Patna, Lucknow, Chennai, and Indore contribute 3 percent each,” Siddharth says.

In the next 12 months, Siddharth wants to make SNITCH available on more recognised platforms and increase the order volume by 2,000+ per day. The company also plans to launch the offline model, with about four to five flagship stores across metro cities by 2022.

“We are also focusing on strengthening our B2B business. We are building an app via which retailers can buy our merchandise with just a few clicks. The expected sales for fiscal 2021-22 are about Rs 50 crore through D2C and B2B channels,” Siddharth says.

Focusing on men’s fast fashion, SNITCH plans to add new products in the next quarter, including inner wear, fragrances, accessories like caps/belts/keychains, and a lot more in the plus-size category.

On funding, Siddharth says: “The company is currently sustaining. We will explore raising funds in the near future.”