🚀Shopify's Black Friday Rocketship
Brand Apathy, IPL Khichdi, Zepto's Ad Cash Splash, Blume's PMF Framework
Hi Surgies 👋
This was the week of Black Friday. Let’s start Monday with an interesting stat.
Shopify merchants made $5 billion in total sales. Shopify merchant's Black Friday sales growth has been rocketing over the years:
2018: $1.0B
2019: $1.5B (⬆️ 50%)
2020: $2.4B (⬆️ 60%)
2021: $2.9B (⬆️ 21%)
2022: $3.36B (⬆️ 16%)
2023: $4.1B (⬆️ 22%)
2024: $5.0B (⬆️ 22%)
Meanwhile, here’s some Monday Black Friday Etymology Trivia to get you going. After an entire year of operating at a loss (“in the red”) stores would supposedly earn a profit (“went into the black”) on the day after Thanksgiving because holiday shoppers blew so much money on discounted merchandise. Hence. Black. Friday. However, the first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping but to financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the U.S. gold market.
🗞️Marketplace Buzz
Ad Cash Splash: Advertising is a major revenue churner for marketplaces. Flipkart and Amazon advertising verticals have delivered stellar numbers. There’s ample innovation happening on the marketplace advertising platforms. Zepto recently introduced Jarvis, an advertising solution designed to improve ad performance and ROI for brands selling on its platform. The tool focuses on helping sellers enhance product visibility and increase sales through data-driven campaign management. The platform is
projected to reachan annualised run rate of Rs 1000 crore by the end of FY25. It looks like they’ve already crossed this.
Meanwhile, Zomato loaded up the tank with a billion USD with its QIP. A significant portion of the proceeds will be directed towards expanding the operations of Zomato’s quick commerce unit Blinkit, particularly through investments in dark stores and warehouses.
D2C e-commerce solutions provider ShopDeck has raised $8 million. The company competes with Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce in e-commerce enablement space. Founded by Rishabh Verma and Harmin Shah, ShopDeck helps sellers create their e-commerce store or website, and manage logistics & payments for a business to sell products online.
One More: PhonePe’s Pincode is piloting a 20-mins delivery service to enter the quick commerce space. Pincode doesn’t have a dark store model unlike most quick commerce players. It has a marketplace model that brings together neighbourhood kirana stores and buyers. Looks like a difficult path to the quick commerce game.
Close to 200 Amazon warehouse workers and delivery drivers gathered in New Delhi on Friday, protesting against low wages and poor working conditions. The walkout on Black Friday, which starts one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year, was repeated at Amazon warehouses in other countries as workers called for higher wages, better working conditions, and union rights. Amazon, in a statement issued, accused the workers of "intentionally misleading and continuing to promote a false narrative."
🍕D2C Snippets
Sleepy AI: It’s AI to the rescue again for a sleep-deprived nation. After Wakefit launched AI-powered sleep solutions (mattress temperature controller, contactless sleep tracker) back in June, The Sleep Company announced a pillow with AI capabilities that can provide personalized sleep insights. The company reported a surge in revenue in FY 24 with Rs 312.33 crore, compared to Rs 127.14 crore in FY23. PS: If we just sort out our city traffic woes and save coupla hours on the daily commute, this will get the sleep time back.
Nykaa has acquired a majority stake in the homegrown clean beauty brand Earth Rhythm. Founded in 2019 by Harini Sivakumar, Sivakumar Varadarajan, and Arun Kumar, Earth Rhythm is an internet-first brand offering a diverse range of organic beauty products. Its portfolio spans skincare, hair care, makeup, and lip care, featuring face masks, toners, hair oils, shampoos, conditioners, lipsticks, and lip balms. The brand is known for its vegan, cruelty-free, biodegradable products made without artificial fragrances.
Baby Boom: Mother and baby products platform All Things Baby bagged Rs 30 Cr to expand its omnichannel play. The company intends to expand its distribution network by onboarding additional brands into its portfolio while enhancing the depth of its assortment.
Candytoy Corporate raised Rs 110 crore in series A funding. With a production capacity of 10.5 million Candy Toys per day, the Indore-headquartered company currently exports Candy Toys and promotional toys to over 40 countries. The company was founded in 2019 and has more than 250 machines at its six manufacturing units in Indore, Delhi, and Hyderabad, India and Dubai.
Marico’s male grooming brand Beardo reported 62.4% yoy growth in the 2024 fiscal year as revenue from operations touched Rs 173.2 crore. The impressive increase in scale and controlled cost especially on advertising and employee benefits helped Beardo return to profits which stood at Rs 3.63 crore in FY24 as compared to a loss of Rs 6.1 crore in FY23.
MasterChow has raised $6.5 Mn in its Series A round. Founded in 2020 by Madan and Kataria, MasterChow is a ready-to-cook Asian cuisine brand that offers a range of premium Asian pantry staples like noodles, stir fry sauces, dips, among others. The D2C ready-to-cook Asian cuisine brand recently onboarded renowned chef Ranveer Brar as its brand ambassador
Beyond Appliances, a smart kitchen appliance brand has raised $2 million. Founded in 2024 by Eshwar K Vikas and Rakesh Patil, Beyond Appliances claims to have pioneered breakthrough products including the Android-powered chimney featuring a 7-inch display that doubles as a kitchen management system. Beyond Appliances allows users to access OTT apps, music, set reminders, and create grocery lists through integrated apps like Zepto and Blinkit.
📚Reads and Recommendations
Attention future MBA Jocks: The Ken has launched a case competition “How will you create a winning strategy for a real-world quick-commerce company using a billion dollars?” Prize monies at stake Rs. 10L. Case junkies, Go get em!
The case of a brand once considered untouchable in its space and now grappling with the realities of technical growth and brand apathy. Sounds familiar?
IPL Khichdi: The IPL- Reliance- Jio- BCCI khichdi. How does the money flow?
Blume’s PMF Framework: PMF is not a singular fit but two sequential fits. First, you need to achieve Product to Problem Fit or PPF and then you need to achieve (Go-to-Market) Motion to Market Fit, or MMF
The answer to all your SEO queries. Tools, agencies, trends, what works?
That’s all for this week! Bye!
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