Despite their proliferation in the recent years, there remain significant opportunities to build large and profitable Direct to consumer (D2C) businesses in India.
Raymond is a leading fabric and fashion retailer largely operating in men’s categories, and owning apparel brands like Raymond, Ethnix, Park Avenue, Color Plus, & Parx. All the brands are retailed through a network of over 700 direct retail outlets across, and a large number of indirect stores. The company wished to expand its presence in digital channel (D2C) and deliver an additional stream of revenue and profits for the company.
The company needed answers to many strategic questions, viz:
Is there an opportunity for a D2C platform for men
What capabilities will be needed to build a D2C business
How long will it take for the D2C business to become cash positive
What value will D2C business add to the Raymond company
What the branding choices would be
They engaged with Val-More to help answer these questions and make a business plan.
We conducted in-depth research with millennial men across large and small cities of India to understand their current behaviour, aspirations and need gaps. We also interviewed a smaller set of women to understand how they act as influencers.
Based on the insights, we profiled the bulls-eye consumer (muse) and identified a big need gap to serve the market. Using The Val-More Framework© we developed the value
proposition, brand and product architecture, and the customer experience journey for the
D2C business.
Subsequently, we worked on the go to market strategy for the D2C offering. This included sourcing and commercial strategy, product rollout plan, sales and marketing plan, and the capability development plan. The operational capabilities needed for the D2C business were very different compared to the traditional brick and mortar business.
We identified the critical people roles and designed a standalone organization structure for the D2C vertical in the company.
All these inputs helped us develop the 5-year business plan, which included revenue and
profit forecast, cashflow projections, and funding requirements. We also benchmarked with other D2C companies and estimated that the plan when implemented will add significantly to the overall value to the company.
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