Festive Tayyari 🛍️
Meme Marketing, Kiddy Looks, CCI, Rufus
Hi Surgies 👋
OK. Let’s get started.
This is the Tayyari week for the upcoming biggest sale event of the year which begins in a day. Marketplaces have scaled up their operations and fired up their war rooms, D2C folks are pushing in last-minute inventory and negotiating deals, and marketing folks are warming up their campaigns. Here’s a neat trick that works well!
🗞️Marketplace Buzz
Flipkart announced the launch of a dedicated mobile app for sellers of refurbished goods under the name “ Flipkart Reset for Business’. Starting with refurbished smartphones and accessories with warranty benefits, the app will cater to retailers across India who are looking to buy refurbished phones and accessories. The launch comes on the back of surging demand for refurbished products particularly in tier 2 and 3 cities. “But what about the product product quality?” you ask. Flipkart has a QC checklist, a warranty and a service network in place
Myntra is tapping into GenZ’s aspiration of becoming an influencer ( aka side hustle ) by launching a creator program called The Ultimate Glam Clan. The initiative allows customers to act as creators, showcasing their fashion preferences while earning rewards. Myntra's Gen Z-focused platform, FWD, has seen its customer base grow from 8 Mn in mid-2023 to 16 Mn in 2024. The company expects to add another 20–25 Mn Gen Z customers in the coming years.
Amazon India rolled out its AI chatbot Rufus recently. Rufus offers natural language conversations within the app, making the customers receive product recommendations, product-related queries and compare products. Sounds interesting but early days niggles are popping up on social media suggesting that the product needs a bit more Indian context. In other news, Amazon boosts influencer commissions ahead of festive sales.
The regulator always tries to make things interesting whenever the party is on. The trade promotion department has flagged concerns regarding quick commerce platforms Blinkit and Zepto to the CCI. Allegations include predatory pricing and anti-competitive practices that disadvantage local retailers. This follows commerce minister Piyush Goyal’s recent warning about the social disruption caused by e-commerce platforms and the risks of predatory pricing that can harm local retailers.
Offence is Defense: Speaking of QComm, facing heat from them, Nykaa has scaled its same, next-day deliveries to 110 cities. The company said that nearly 60% of all its order volume from these cities is delivered within the next day.
The beauty and personal care segment has seen unprecedented growth in quick commerce channels in recent months. Nykaa will have to push harder to defend its turf. Since Qcomm is the flavour of the season, here’s another retailer throwing its hat into the ring.
🍟D2C Snippets
Kiddy Looks: D2C kids personal care brand Tuco Intelligent raised $2 Mn to scale operations. Founded by Aishvarya Murali in 2023, Tuco Intelligent offers a range of natural and sustainable personal care products only for kids. The range includes soaps, lotions, creams, makeup and deodorants.
D2C ayurvedic nutrition brand Kapiva raises $10 Mn from existing investors. During the fiscal year ending March 2023, Kaviva registered 87% year-on-year growth to Rs 116.48 crore with a loss at Rs 64.5 crore in the same period. Kapiva is yet to file its annual results for FY24.
All Done: Nykaa has completed the acquisition of an additional 39% stake in the Kolkata-based skincare brand Dot & Key for INR 265.3 Cr. Founded in 2018, Dot & Key offers differentiated skincare solutions and has seen impressive growth since its acquisition. The brand’s revenue surged by 244% in FY24, reaching INR 198.3 Cr, up from INR 57.7 Cr in FY23.
Design and lifestyle brand DailyObjects raises $10 Mn. The Gurugram-based company was founded in 2012 by Pankaj Garg and Saurav Adlakha. It has witnessed over 3x growth over the past four years
📢Power Talk
Get the latest on what D2C Founders and Leaders had to say this week!
“What War?” - Albinder Dhindsa, CEO, Blinkit
📖Reads and Recommendations
🧐Tiktok is throwing Shein and Temu under the bus to defend itself against a ban.
🌌Amazon and its services are going to be showing up in a lot more places that aren’t Amazon
📋Here’s a list of YouTube features from last week’s 'Made on YouTube' event. Learn how these updates can empower creators and enhance community growth.
😾How to Do Meme Marketing, according to Memelord Jason Levin
🎤Coldplay Tickets and VC musings
That’s all for this week! Bye!
Stay tuned for more.
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