Gujarat-based Rocha Fashion, a new entrant in the Indian online jewellery market
Rocha Fashion, a new entrant in the Indian e-Commerce market focused on the designer jewellery market, has been set up by Sagar Shah. Shah returned to India in search of a business opportunity after completing his graduation and working in Australia for 2 years. It all started when the product samples, which he bought on his fiancée's suggestion, were appreciated by all his relatives, who were ready to pay him more if he could get this type of designer jewellery in India.
Shah mentions that the product designs are their USP. He also adds that such designer jewellery is used by daily soap television actresses. Lower prices is something, he specifically mentions, differentiates them from other competitors.
Shah is supported by his brother, Varun and fiancée, Rutu. Varun, who is still in college, takes care of the customer service. Sagar specifies that even after having no programming background, he was determined to take this forward and developed the website of Rocha Fashion in one day.
They tell us that they've learnt a lot about the Indian market. According to them, the biggest risk they've faced is the cash on delivery (COD) method. They initially offered COD method along with all other options, but it didn't work well. Hence, they removed the option
They're looking forward to triple orders this year, facing many challenging moments. But their major headache was to get their initial customers. They noticed that even when they were spending money on advertisements and on sourcing products, a lot of people did not complete the sale. In order to solve this, they started calling clients personally, who had not completed the payment, but had it in cart. They started to grow using a bond of trust.
Another hardship he mentions is the time when they had a sudden surge in orders. Being a team of three, they had to manage supply chain management, order handling, customer services and marketing.
At the end of the day, Shah feels amazing when the client is happy and amazed after the product is delivered. They are now planning to expand in Australia and New Zealand. Sagar mentions that he is already in talks with Groupon Australia. He believes that the graph of learning is increasing as they progress towards growing big. He tells that, good traction on the website helps them keep good relations with their clients and suppliers.
Though the organized sector of the Indian jewellery industry is quite small (about 6% of the overall jewellery market), it is expected to grow at 41% CAGR over the next 4 years. According to a McKinsey report, the market for branded jewellery was worth USD 2.2 billion in 2010 and it is expected to grow further over the next few years.
