New Delhi: Menswear brand Blackberrys is looking to clock a revenue of Rs 1,500 crore by the end of this fiscal year as it continues to focus on product, category, and innovations, Rajesh Sethuraman, vice president – brand experience at Blackberrys Menswear, told ETRetail in an exclusive interview.
The company shared it has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 35 per cent year-on-year as it has been expanding offline. It had opened close to 75 stores in the last year and plans to add 100 more stores this year.
Speaking on the growth and expansion of the brand, Sethuraman said, “We are looking at three to four times growth in the next four to five years. During this period, we want to open about 400 stores across the country.”
The brand currently has a presence in over 350 cities in India with more than 1, 250 touch points that help it to access the entire geography in India. Last year, the brand also entered the Nepal market for the first time with the launch of two stores in Kathmandu.
Sharing about the online discovery of the brand, Sethuraman said, “Post Covid, we have dialed up our online activity with Blackberrys.com because we realized that about 80 per cent of our consumers discover us online even for offline purchases and to know what’s happening with the brand.”
However, in its online channel, the brand faced challenges in increasing customer engagement and retention and also saw a high number of abandoned carts with the challenge of converting visitors into customers.
Partnering with WebEngage, a retention automation platform, it used data-driven insights for better customer engagement and retention metrics.
Sharing views on this partnership, Surbhi Juneja, director – strategy & growth, WebEngage, said, “We created unique customer journeys, which helped them increase their customer engagement and build loyalty and trust among their customers. As a result, it became easier for the brand to communicate with its customers, which resulted in higher conversion rates.”
The abandoned cart rate decreased by 25 per cent, the conversion rate increased by 15 per cent, and the customer lifetime value increased by 10 per cent, Juneja said while sharing the data.
Cautious call on e-commerce push
In terms of e-commerce expansion, Blackberrys is doing things differently as compared to the other players in the industry.
“Out of all serviceable pin codes in India, we’ve taken a cautious call to sell in 3,000 pin codes only,” said Paritosh Bindra, vice president, e-commerce at Blackberrys Menswear.
However, the brand sells through key marketplaces and is discoverable on channels including Meta, WhatsApp, SMS, e-mail, and more.
Bindra shared WhatsApp commerce is one channel on which they have worked to increase customer interaction.
