Re-Commerce today needs innovative and out of box solutions to cater to the ever growing demands of the customer. These solutions needs to be quick, adaptable and futuristic keeping in trend with the times and technology. Kiabza.com is providing the Re-Commerce website for people to Buy and Sell Branded Pre-Owned Fashion.
In Candid Conversation with TBF, Nohar Nath, Founder and CEO, narrates the story of Pathfinder.
1. Kindly brief us about the company inception and the overall journey to date.
Kiabza.com, launched by Kayman Ventures Pvt Ltd in May 2017, is a Re-Commerce website for people to Buy and Sell Branded Pre-Owned Fashion. Due to the reach of technology and social media, youngsters have started to appreciate Fashion Brands and aspire to buy them. India being a value market, Kiabza enables people to own Branded Pre-Owned Fashion, in excellent condition, on the click of a button at a 70-90% discount of their original prices. Also the new generation is completely open-minded about Pre-owned clothing if Hygiene, Quality and Authenticity is assured and Kiabza takes care of all these 3 aspects through its curation process. Kiabza procures its supply of Branded clothing from well-placed and fashion conscious individual Consignors by encouraging them to earn some money for de-cluttering their wardrobes of such unwanted clothing. Kiabza has an approved list of around 1500 international & domestics brands. In addition to being a commercially viable business in the long-term, Kiabza drives the circular economy leading to Sustainability of Fashion. The business also has a social side to it whereby unapproved Products are given away to the underprivileged through various partner NGO’s. As per its mission statement Kiabza endeavors to respect Brands by extending the lifecycle of their products. As a company it is also committed to gender diversity within its workforce. The Journey to date has been very exciting as people in India are generally amazed by our Company’s concept and are enjoying engaging with Kiabza either as a Buyer or a Seller or Both. Resale of fashion is a very big business abroad and global fashion Re-Commerce companies like ThredUP, TheRealReal, Poshmark, Vinted etc. have been operating successfully since the last few years with hundreds of million dollars in funding proving that this concept is one of the fastest growing businesses and here to stay.
2. Please tell us something about your Founder/CEO and his/her contribution towards the company and the industry.
The Founder & CEO of Kiabza, Nohar Nath is an MBA in Marketing from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Mumbai and has 20+ years of experience in the Textile and Fashion Industry having run Kishco Group’s global business which is primarily based on recycling/upcycling of producer and consumer textile wastes of all types. He has presented papers and delivered speeches on various forums including the World Recycling Conference in 2015 and 2017. He has also been a national level golfer with many laurels, including winning the World Corporate Golf Challenge in 2008 in La Manga, Spain.
3. Your perspective about the Startup world.
Start-ups in India have immense opportunities available to them and are positioned to benefit from our country’s young population and the burgeoning middle class. The widespread access to Internet has also propelled startups into growth stories. The average age of startup founders has changed dramatically in recent years from the dreamy twenty something to the experienced forty something and the investor community has also realized the value of revenue earning companies as compared to those at concept stage.
4. What has been your game of plan to tackle the challenges in terms of changing trends, market players and innovations happening in the Startup industry?
The re-commerce industry itself is at a very nascent stage in India. However, it is positioned to benefit from various favorable market and consumer trends, including, the accelerating shift of retail to digital channels, the increasing acceptance of pre-owned fashion, value consciousness and the desire to embrace sustainability. The pre-owned concept has grown in leaps and bounds in the last few years thanks to companies like OLX, Quikr, Cars 24 etc. and is now well accepted in this market for almost all product categories. Due to burgeoning usage of Social media, branding and fashion trends have picked up in a big way in India. The brands that are famous abroad enjoy the same limelight here as well. Re-commerce also encourages circularity and therefore reduces the strain on the environment and the precious resources that go with it. People nowadays have become more mindful and are therefore looking to find alternatives, such as adoption of sustainable fashion. Pre-owned branded fashion being available at a small fraction of the original prices on Kiabza seems to provide them with an ideal solution.
5. What is the USP of your business? Key features and highlights.
Kiabza deals only in Branded Pre-owned Products and has a 100% curation process which differentiates itself from its competitors. Kiabza’s curation process consists of Authenticity, Quality Checks and a robust Hygiene methodology which includes a wet wash or a dry clean of each product. The company’s business model is based on Re-use, Circularity and Sustainability leading to minimum wastage. It has a unique Loyalty & Referral programme for all of its users with Tier levels. Kiabza is a C2B2C Model as per design whereas a few others have tried C2C Models in this space but this model has led to customer dissatisfaction, high return ratios and an eventual loss of confidence in the Re-use/Circularity model.
6. Kindly share us with your Vision and Mission of your organization.
As per Company’s mission statement, Kiabza endeavors to respect Brands by extending the lifecycle of their products. It is also committed towards supporting Sustainability, adopting gender diversity within its workforce and satisfying the needs of the underprivileged. Kiabza’s vision is to grow the Industry in India and be its leaders in terms of product range and Sales.
7. Enlighten us about any new advancements and technologies that have had a huge impact on the Startup industry.
Start-ups, especially in Fashion, have started adopting AI technologies in India in their work processes. To support its growth and enhance its user’s experience, Kiabza also plans to introduce AI technologies such as Body Shape recognition, Consumer Behavior deciphering models, Algorithms for accurately predicting inventory to reduce wastage etc. which will help personalize customer experience and reduce costs.
8. What is your advice to the young entrepreneurs in the Startup Industry?
We would advise young entrepreneurs to carry out lot of research in whatever they are trying to achieve and then to carry out a test run for a couple of months to check the proof of concept & the business model. They should also invite lots of feedback from users and tweak their model accordingly. They must make sure that their model is financially viable by doing a unit cost analysis. Once they are fairly confident about the said aspects, then its time go out and take risks and not be afraid of the results. I also have 2 unique bits of advice I give all –
- Hire people smarter than you.
- Be ready to work 10x harder than you expect.
