The journey of Ruhe as a D2C brand for kitchen and bathroom fittings
Ruhe has created an identity in the kitchen and bathroom fittings category as a D2C brand. From making videos to offering premium products, this is how it gets customers within its door, bagging a Rs 40 crore turnover along the way.
Most sceptics would say that products like kitchen and bathroom fittings do not fit the direct-to-consumer (D2C) mould. Unlike other products bought online, customers prefer picking out such furnishings in person.
Kapil Gupta, Founder of D2C brand , seems to disagree. “There is a general perception that these items cannot be sold online but I believe this segment has been untouched by online business models,” Kapil says.
While Ruhe was set up in 2020, the idea came during an unexpected trip to India. When Kapil returned from the US, he noticed that floor drains in his house were faulty. This led to his home being filled with a filthy odour. At this moment, Kapil recalled how effective these drains were in the US. To him, the solution lay in manufacturing such products with high quality in India and thus began selling them online.
Its D2C strategy was precise. To emulate the feeling of picking products in person, it began producing videos to reassure customers about product quality. Besides this, Ruhe also offers a 30-day return policy for any of the products sold—no questions asked.
Manufacturing unit of Ruhe
How this Made in India smart lock brand is securing its position in an industry dominated by Chinese players
It also ensures that customers get their products within the span of a couple of hours.
There is no doubt that Ruhe has a large market awaiting it. According to a report by Blueweave Consulting, the India sanitary-ware market was valued at $1,060 million in 2020 and is expected to reach $1,651.9 million by 2027, at a CAGR of 6.7% over the forecast period 2021–2027.
According to Kapil, the potential for growth is immense given that the kitchen and bathroom fittings market is largely unorganised with only a few large brands and numerous smaller players.
What he believes will set Ruhe apart is quality. For example, it claims to be the first to introduce a marble insert shower drain channel—a gadget equipped to handle large volumes of water and trap any insects. Besides this, it also recognises the nuances of this industry. This is where Kapil’s decade-long experience as an OEM comes into play. He recognised that if someone orders the steel kitchen sink online there is a high probability that it would come damaged due to lack of proper packaging. To avoid this, Ruhe ensures that its products are packed appropriately, as a result, it has only about a 7% rate of return.
This Walmart supplier went from manufacturing kitchenware to sanitiser dispensers after coronavirus
Besides being available on marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart, its products are also available on its website—where it gets nearly 50% of its sales. At present, it has nearly 1,000 products in its portfolio.
Now, Ruhe has moved on to also be an omnichannel brand as its products are available in close to 4,000 offline dealers through its partnership with Udaan, a leading B2B trading platform.
According to Kapil, Ruhe has no direct competition. So far, it has an annual revenue of Rs 40 crore at the present. This brand was started with Kapil’s own capital of Rs 35 lakh.
“We are a completely bootstrapped business,” says Kapil. According to Kapil, Ruhe’s target is to reach a Rs 1,000 crore turnover in the next three years. It looks to achieve this through expansion across the country with its own sales and marketing team.
Ruhe also wants to expand its existing dealer network. Towards this end, it has partnered with , for warehouses to stock inventory. Kapil says it has introduced certain premium products like coloured sinks and showerheads with filters in its portfolio where it sees demand.
“This business is all about trust and quick delivery. It is a category which has a huge potential,” says Kapil.
Edited by Akanksha Sarma