Blissclub founder Minu Margaret’s passion for movement and active living collided with the limitations of the Indian market. Faced with a dearth of functional, technical apparel that truly met her needs, she decided to rewrite the narrative. In a conversation with Fibre2Fashion, Chief Revenue Officer Soumen Samanta sheds light on the brand’s transformative journey in revolutionising the activewear market for women in India.
Users expect bespoke user experiences. Some prefer online, some offline. How can brands sync this insight to provide tailored product recommendations to engage users both online and offline?
Synergy begins with identifying hot spots of user availability and demand pockets for store openings, leading to personalised customer interactions based on past behaviour. This facilitates cross-selling or recommendations, synchronising loyalty programmes or curated offers, and ensuring seamless return and exchange policies between online and offline channels. Retail can significantly drive trial and increase penetration while enhancing category share of wallet through distribution strength.
What are some retention use cases for your campaigns to drive repeat purchases?
Repeat users are categorised into three buckets:
A. Newly acquired users in the pre-habit formation journey, requiring registration of the value proposition across the brand promise and offerings beyond trial barriers.
B. Habit-formed users, requiring constant engagement and exclusive value creation to maintain their loyalty and potentially turn them into brand ambassadors.
C. Churned-out users, who should be encouraged to give the brand another chance through targeted reacquisition efforts.
People are going gaga over AI, how is AI is reshaping user engagement in retail fashion?
AI can significantly enhance the flywheel by better understanding the levers of Product Market Fit (PMF) and utilising them across various touchpoints with improved efficiency and lower costs. Potential areas of focus include:
A. Generating content at the size/variant level to cater to individual preferences.
B. Automating product and information delivery based on real-time user interaction signals.
C. Personalising offers and communications, and continuously learning from user responses to refine strategies.
What was the inspiration behind starting Blissclub?
Blissclub’s journey began with our founder Minu, a former frisbee player during her B-school days. She kickstarted Blissclub in 2020 because she could not find the perfect activewear in the Indian market. The struggle was real – comfy clothes lacked stretch, and the stretchy ones were too compressive. Feeling the need for super functional, technical, and innovative activewear that embraced the joy of movement, Minu decided to create her own solution. That’s how Blissclub came to life, with the friendly mission of offering activewear that is comfy, stretchy, and perfect for those who love to #KeepMoving.
What role does customer feedback play in the development and refinement of your products? How do you ensure that Blissclub’s activewear caters to the diverse body types and preferences of Indian women?
At Blissclub, our customers are central to our activewear evolution. We actively seek and value their feedback. We even have an exclusive ‘Wearer Trial’ programme to refine our product development. What sets us apart is our commitment to inclusivity; our sizing is based on real women, not mannequins, ensuring our activewear caters to the diverse body types and preferences of Indian women. We are proud to be part of our customers' fitness journeys, crafting technical and functional activewear that resonates with their unique individuality.
How do you balance the need for functional, high-quality activewear with affordability for your customers? What do you believe are the key elements that make activewear appealing and functional for consumers? How do you see the activewear market in India evolving, and what future trends do you anticipate?
At Blissclub, we prioritise top-notch, affordable activewear by actively incorporating consumer feedback. Our technical activewear, such as The Ultimate Collection – Lite, emphasises functionality and comfort at an affordable price. Anticipating future trends, we observe a shift towards greater comfort in 9-5 outfits, with more women incorporating activewear into their work attire.
What is the loyalty programme landscape like? What are brands doing in this arena to bring users to the inside circle?
The key principles for constructing a robust loyalty programme flywheel involve providing unique rewards that instil a feeling of exclusivity and continuously evolving these rewards or access to offerings as customers advance in their brand journey.
At the level of experience and brand promise, it is crucial to engage users on matters that are important to them, fostering community building around the discovery of relevant information and connecting with like-minded users. All these investments are made with an eye on maximising the Lifetime Value (LTV) relative to the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).
What does your roadmap for 2024 look like? What would you start, stop & continue?
We are focused on crafting brand messaging that resonates deeply, whether it is amplifying the women’s movement or launching exciting new products. Our goal is to capture attention at the top of the funnel. We are doubling down on identifying untapped market segments and investing resources smartly to maximise returns. Our commitment to data-driven insights ensures our communication feels tailor-made for each user, guiding them on personalised journeys across all channels, especially as we grow our retail presence and expand our app.
Interviewer: Shilpi Panjabi
Published on: 16/02/2024
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
