Our goal is to establish Beyoung as a staple in wardrobes
Founded in 2018, Beyoung is a dynamic e-commerce brand based in Udaipur, offering a diverse range of trendy and affordable fashion and accessories that resonate with the youthful spirit of India. With a commitment to customer satisfaction and innovative designs, Beyoung has successfully delivered over 20 lakh online orders, making its mark in the Indian fashion and retail industry. In a conversation with Fibre2Fashion, Founder Shivam Soni discusses pricing strategy, design process, customer feedback integration, handling returns and more.
What inspired you to start Beyoung, and what gap in the market were you aiming to fill with your brand?
In 2018, when the Indian market was going through a digital shift, many brands were focusing on the niche market. We wanted to create something for the mass market. Inspired by the saying about the three necessities of life—Roti, Kapda, and Makaan—we chose Kapda (clothing) as our focus. We identified a significant gap in tier 2, 3, and 4 cities across India—a lack of aspirational and value-for-money fashion options. This gap motivated us to explore the mass market, which constitutes nearly 95 per cent of the apparel segment. Our goal was to offer branded products to consumers in these cities, providing them with both aspirational choices and affordable prices. That is how it all began.
Beyoung offers a wide range of products. How do you ensure consistency in quality across all product categories?
At Beyoung, we focus on making aspirational clothes for the masses; therefore, ensuring the exceptional quality of our products is our utmost priority. Our dedicated Quality Assurance team meticulously inspects each product to uphold our high standards. We collaborate closely with our production partners to guarantee that quality is never compromised at any stage. We are always attentive to our customers’ feedback and promptly address any product issues.
Can you share insights into the design process behind Beyoung’s products? How do you ensure your designs resonate with your target audience?
We study the psychology and behaviour of our target audience. We often conduct surveys to understand customers’ fashion aspirations and demands. We consistently experiment with styles and designs based on these insights and then launch them. This approach ensures our designs resonate with our target audience and meet their expectations.
How do you stay updated with the latest trends in fashion, and how does this influence the products you offer?
Staying abreast of current fashion trends is essential for our business. Our team diligently monitors popular styles and emerging trends on social media platforms. We also conduct thorough research and development to identify new market trends and gauge customer preferences. Additionally, our merchandising team actively explores the offline market for styling and inspiration to discover new styles and the latest trends. Essentially, our focus remains on understanding and meeting the desires of our customer base by directly approaching them via calls, polls, and other channels.
What strategies do you employ to keep Beyoung’s pricing competitive without compromising on quality?
We recognise the importance of offering our customers both value and aspirational products. In response to this demand, we draw inspiration from leading international fashion giants. By conducting thorough analysis and collaborating with our team, we leverage forecasting data to tailor these products to our customers’ preferences and make them available at competitive prices. We modify these products by simplifying certain features to offer them on our website at a more affordable price range, thus enhancing their accessibility for our customers.
How do you approach customer feedback and incorporate it into improving your products and services?
Customer feedback serves as a valuable source of insights for businesses, particularly within the fast-paced fashion industry. Continuously gathering feedback is vital to improve products and meet the needs of our audience. We utilise various methods to collect customer opinions, including our website, social media platforms, and interactions with our customer service team. We dedicate significant resources to deploying cutting-edge technology to analyse behavioural patterns and incorporate these insights into enhancing our products and services.
In what ways does Beyoung engage with its community of customers beyond just selling products?
We maintain an active presence on social media to have a direct communication channel with our customers and nurture a sense of community. We value customer input and use surveys, polls, and reviews to continuously enhance our offerings. Our social media efforts are focused on fostering strong relationships with the people we cater to. Additionally, we conduct physical surveys where we approach people directly to gather their perspectives regarding our products.
What challenges did you face in scaling Beyoung from a startup to the established brand it is today, and how did you overcome them?
Scaling Beyoung from a startup to an established brand involved navigating several challenges, which we overcame through strategic planning and innovation. Entering a highly competitive market as a bootstrapped startup required maintaining a continuous working capital flow and implementing technology-driven solutions to avoid dead stock and ensure quality control.
Integrating technology to enhance operational efficiency and adopting user-friendly e-commerce platforms further improved the customer experience. Financial management was critical, so we balanced expenditure with strategic investments in internal SOPs to support growth without compromising profitability. This multifaceted approach enabled us to scale Beyoung effectively and establish it as a trusted brand in the market.
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for Beyoung, and how do you plan to achieve them?
Simply put, we aspire to fulfil our customers’ fashion aspirations. Our goal is to establish Beyoung as a staple in wardrobes. When customers purchase 10 clothing items, our aim is for Beyoung to be chosen at least 7 times. To accomplish this, we are committed to providing a diverse range of products and consistently introducing new, fashionable designs without compromising on affordability.
How do you see the e-commerce landscape evolving in the fashion industry, and what trends do you anticipate shaping consumer behaviour in the coming years?
The way users interact with brands has evolved. With a population of 1.4 billion people, the Indian fashion industry is poised for significant growth, projected to reach 289.6 million users by 2029. This forecast underscores the substantial potential and competitiveness within the market. To excel in such a cutting-edge competition, Beyoung is focusing on establishing an omnichannel presence.
Over the next three years, our goal is to expand and be present in your neighbourhood. Not just that, we aim to go beyond India and become a brand with global presence. We strive to be the primary choice for our customers, making fashion easily accessible through our technological advancements and trendsetting styles on our platform. These efforts will allow us to engage with and serve the mass market efficiently.
Influencer marketing has become increasingly prevalent in the fashion sector. How does Beyoung leverage influencer partnerships to reach and engage with its target audience?
Influencer marketing is an integral part of our marketing strategy, and we are very prudent in our approach. We engage with influencers who resonate with and are trusted by our customer base. Whether working with micro or macro influencers to showcase our products, we prioritise individuals who share a similar vision or narrative. This approach allows us to provide our customers with authentic product feedback and visual demonstrations of how our products can be styled. Our primary objective is to enhance brand recognition, spark interest, and ultimately cultivate aspirations and desires among our target demographic.
Returns and exchanges are common challenges in online fashion retail. How does Beyoung approach and manage these aspects to ensure a positive customer experience?
A major challenge in logistics, particularly with handling returns, is associated with Cash on Delivery (COD) orders. To address this, we verify orders with customers via direct calls to reduce returns. Furthermore, we manage Return to Origin (RTO) issues by closely monitoring the effectiveness of our delivery partners and systems in various regions.
By taking proactive measures and consistently following up, we have successfully reduced our return rate from 30 per cent to 15 per cent. We are dedicated to further refining our RTO processes. In smaller towns, reaching specific PIN codes presents a significant obstacle. To tackle this, we are working closely with our long-standing logistics partners to improve coverage and accessibility.
