In April 2022, Clovia began a new chapter by partnering with Reliance. Now, more than two years later, the journey has had its ups and downs, but overall, it has been a positive experience. For a startup founder, moving from making quick, independent decisions to working within a large corporation like Reliance is a big change. However, this partnership has proven to be beneficial, especially with Reliance focusing heavily on the lingerie market.

Reliance has been growing its presence in this market, acquiring brands like Zivame and Amante, and working with established names like Marks & Spencer. The goal, as driven by Isha Ambani and the Reliance team, is to make a significant impact in the lingerie and related categories.

“Through this partnership, we have expanded significantly, now being available in 1500 Reliance Trend stores, 100 Centro stores, 150 Fashion Factory stores, and 500 BlushLace stores. The BlushLace concept is particularly innovative, bringing all lingerie brands together under one roof,” said Abhay Batra, Co-Founder & CFO, Clovia.

Brick-N-Mortar Presence

The brand now has nearly 2,500 group outlets and a few others like Smart Bazaars. The idea behind this widespread presence is simple: lingerie should be as accessible as any other piece of clothing whether it’s in a dedicated BlushLace store, where multiple brands compete for attention, or in a Smart Bazaar, where a customer might pick up lingerie while shopping for groceries.

“In addition to these, we have 75 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs), with 5 to 10 new ones opening every month. We’ve reached a point where these EBOs are profitable, allowing us to expand further with franchisee stores—12 of which are already doing well,” he stated.

Clovia has also entered general trade through distribution. Though it only started this distribution network last year, it’s growing steadily.

Online Dominance

The brand started online first because it wanted quick feedback from its customers. “We were interested in knowing how she liked the product after one week, three months, or even six months of use. We’d send out NPS ratings for this; gather feedback on her delivery experience, and more,” Batra noted.

Clovia is present across various marketplaces, including Nykaa, Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, and Ajio, amongst others.

“Offline, which is still relatively new for us, contributes about 40 percent of our revenue. Direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales from our website make up about 45 to 50 percent of our total revenue while 10-15 percent comes from other e-commerce platforms. Our website has always been profitable and has been the biggest growth driver for us since day one, largely because of the supply chain we’ve built around this business,” he highlighted.

Quick Commerce Play

We have launched on Blinkit and Zepto about two months ago. Batra said that working with these platforms is like managing online distribution. They have dark stores across the country, and it depends on how many of these dark stores you occupy. Customers will only see products available at the dark store closest to them. If there's a dark store 5 kilometers away, it might not show up because delivery would take too long.

“The response from these platforms has been amazing. We even doubled our buying budget this month to keep up with the demand from quick commerce,” he asserted.

Myriad of Choices

In terms of categories, Clovia offers a wide range of products. Bras are a key category, with many subcategories like padded, non-padded, wired, non-wired, bralettes, and t-shirt bras. It also has briefs, which include styles like boxers and hipsters. Beyond that, the brand offers nightwear, activewear, swimwear, and loungewear.

Another major growth driver is the brands it carries. Clovia is its main brand, focused on women's apparel. Then there's Skivia, its personal care line, which complements lingerie and comfort wear. “Even without much marketing, Skivia has grown rapidly since we launched it about a year ago, now making up about 5 percent of our sales from stores and our website,” added Batra. It started Skivia with nipple butter, but it has since expanded into hair care, conditioners, creams, essential oils, and more.

The company also launched John Player's men's innerwear around 6-8 months ago, and the response has been phenomenal. “We have high hopes for this brand and are planning to introduce more in the menswear and kidswear categories, which are also key growth areas for us,” he noted.

Brand Collaborations

Clovia has collaborated several times in the past, including partnerships with Emoji, Garfield, Envy, and Hello Kitty. Most of these collaborations have brought in solid returns, often exceeding the minimum guarantees that brands usually require.

“Collaborations contribute about 5-7 percent of our total revenue,” stated Batra.

Beyond Metros

Around 70 percent of our revenue comes from Tier II and III cities, with Tier III and IV making up about 40-42 percent of our total revenue. Most of Clovia’s stores—about 75 percent—are located in Tier II and III cities. “We’re not aiming to be where women might be looking for high-end brands like Hunkemöller or La Senza. Instead, we focus on the everyday Indian woman who trusts Clovia for quality products at prices that don’t strain her or her family’s budget. Instead, we sell bras at Rs 225. While that might seem like a small amount to someone in a Tier I city, however, for a woman in Tier III and IV, that price matters,” explained Batra.

Expansion Ahead

Clovia plans to open around 300 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) over the next 2-3 years. So far, the brand has mainly been concentrated in North India, especially since it started its EBO journey back in 2016. It aims to expand into the Northeast region, where it has strong demand.

“We’ll be opening EBOs in Tier III and IV locations, with plans to open about 120 of them this year, at a rate of 10 to 15 each month,” Batra highlighted.

The brand is also focusing on distribution, which is a relatively new channel for it. “Currently, we’re doing around Rs 4-5 crore a month in distribution, which is small compared to the market demand. We believe this has the potential to grow by 5 times, and we’re working closely with both our internal teams and external experts from Reliance and the industry to make that happen. Expanding our distribution will help us reach more customers,” he added.

This year, Clovia is expecting about a 70 percent jump in revenue.

READ MORE: Top Trends That Are Redefining the Lingerie Fashion Landscape

Testing International Waters

Currently, the brand is present in the Middle East and is among the top 10 brands on Noon and Namshi. It has also recently entered the Japanese, Singaporean, and Malaysian markets. The brand also has a limited presence in Nepal and sells through Amazon to other countries, but that’s also relatively minor at this stage.

“We’re also getting inquiries about launching in Thailand. Interestingly, the amount spent on lingerie by women in Thailand is about 250 times more than what women in India spend. This gap is surprising and highlights a big potential for growth,” he concluded.