Visual Merchandising and Retail Design – July 2019

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to an extremely strong connect with our

customers, leading to creation of a brand

on the back of experience and not pure-

play marketing.

Since you leverage technology so much,

can you elaborate on how technology

has enabled you to scale up your venture

and connect with the customer better?

Being majorly online has given us an

edge to use technology extensively for

our customer choices. We are based on an

amalgamation of fashion and technology.

We have built a proprietary technology

engine known as ReX (or ReqS, i.e. short for

Requirement Simulator). We have patent-

pending algorithms that help us gauge the

customer purchase pattern through our

sales channels and track their feedbacks

fast. It helps us know which product,

design and color are being purchased more

and also more importantly, which products

have a high satisfaction score. This helps us

provide better products and also plan our

inventory accordingly. And like I said, we

also use smart technology and big data

analytics for smart management of our

inventory, ensuring we have the industry

‘Innovation is the only word relevant

t o d ay ’

In a tête-à-tête with VM&RD, Pankaj Vermani, Founder and CEO, Clovia, shares how the brand is making a dent in
the $ 4 bn lingerie market through a strong focus on technology enabled retail strategies.

What’s your assessment of the lingerie
market in India? What’s the growth rate?

The current $ 4 bn market (which is
expected to be $8 bn by 2020) is still
so nascent that the top 10 brands put
together are not even addressing 8% of the
overall market. It’s a market with enormous
potential, waiting to be tapped. While the
overall apparel is growing at 8-9% CAGR,
lingerie is pegged to grow anywhere
between 15-22% annually.

So what’s Clovia’s retail strategy to beat
the clutter in an overcrowded market?

Clovia uses smart technology and big
data analytics for smart management
of inventory ensuring that they have a
highly consumer-relevant range all times
with high sell-through rates resulting in
industry best inventory holding.

Clovia has set up a unique distribution
system (both online and offline) which is
based on direct interaction with customers,
getting their direct feedback and using the
same in planning the next product range.
Big data played a big role here and this led

best inventory holding, one of the most

critical parameters for scaling an apparel

business. The term fast fashion is a fact

now. With the speed with which trends

are changing, one needs to leverage

technology to the fullest. It’s a brave new

fashion world and the brands that are the

fastest in listening to the end customer

and acting on it have the best chance

of winning. Innovation is the only word

relevant in today’s ecosystem.

Shopping for lingerie online could be

tricky. How do you make it easier for

customers to purchase the right style

and size?

Women have traditionally discussed

lingerie in hushed tones. We ask - why

shouldn’t women talk about it in a much

more open and confident manner?

What is so embarrassing talking about

innerwear? Rome wasn’t built in a day -

some things don’t change overnight. But

we have consistently tried to use all our

platforms to break the stigma. The lack

of knowledge about various sizes and fits

makes it difficult for a client to choose the

perfect size and design. Clovia has come

Pankaj Vermani

Founder & CEO, Clovia

July 2019