Matches are made in heaven and this was a match between passion and dream for the fashion industry when it found the perfect partner with a keen interest in the e-commerce business.
The founders of Berrylush, Anusha Chandrashekar and Alok Paul, also married each other’s interests and thus evolved a brand that makes every woman look beautiful at an affordable price with authentic Indian products.
Since its inception in September 2018, the Noida-based e-commerce startup for women’s apparel has sold over 3 lakh units of products in the period leading up to January 2021.
The duo successfully steered Berrylush to a turnover of ₹15 crore and is inching towards ₹35 crore this year. Berrylush has increased its net worth by 233.29% within 4 years of its journey.
Berrylush – The Journey Where It Started
It all started in a small 300-square-foot space with four tailors and four machines in New Delhi. With a dream weaving in her eyes, Anusha Chandrashekar left her high profile, secured an IT job, and took the plunge into where her heart lies.
The power couple met on the campus of B-School where they did not know when cupid struck as they were so deeply engrossed in thinking about their future projects and business and spent hours talking about it.
After taking the vows at the alter, Alok Paul too left his well-paid job and joined the co-founders of Berrylush with his business bent of mind. It was the perfect marriage of ideas and monetization of ideas.
Anusha worked in the e-commerce space before founding Berrylush, which helped them build the D2C platform for women’s western wear, and they sold their products through e-commerce sites and the brand’s website.
The supportive families of the duo helped them taste success. While Anusha’s father invested ₹30 lakhs in the company, Berrylush also managed to raise a bank loan of ₹2 crore and a non-performing loan of ₹2 crore with a property network.
The initial journey of Berrylush witnessed hiccups as there was either a mismatch of the material from the sample shown to the customers or a faltering of delivery dates from the fabricators’ end until Anusha approached a person from the Myntra site.
Who liked their designs and decided to go ahead with Berrylush even though they were at the budding stage, which proved to be a turning point.
Berrylush hasn’t looked back since, with a 26,000 sq ft, five-story building in Noida housing 300 machines, 65 employees, and its team of designers, production, and warehousing personnel.
Founders of Berrylush
Berrylush is co-founded by Anusha Chandrashekar and Alok Paul. Anusha Chandrashekar, an engineer, and an IIM graduate turned fashionista, weaved a dream of making each woman stylish with her impeccable knowledge of fabric, design, and patterns, yet at an affordable price, which is the driving force behind Berrylush.
Alok Paul, an IT engineer and IIM graduate with his eye for details and niche business acumen, provides valuable insights for business development and manages the online channels, digital marketing, and operations for Berrylush.
Berrylush & its Business Model
Berrylush follows an asset-light model with a D2C retail strategy. There was a market gap where upmarket women’s apparel was sold at a premium price while the less expensive alternatives were of poor quality. This is where Berrylush evolved with a unique idea to sell quality products at an affordable price.
The raw materials are directly procured from the mills of Indian fabricators, which aids in keeping a low production cost. The products are solely crafted in India, thus employing the local community and especially the female workforce.
At the moment, they have 14 local fabricators exclusively working for the brand, which has helped to alleviate the speed bumps that initially slowed the brand’s growth.
Being asset light, it helped to pass on the benefit to the consumers directly and the party wear, which is sold for ₹4000 — ₹5000 by established brands, Berrylush sells the same quality product at ₹999, which is claimed to be the brand’s best-seller.
The brand has also built its trustworthiness through repeated sales to the same customers, which speaks volumes about the product quality and services of Berrylush.
With an infusion of funds at the crucial stage, Berrylush proved to be a successful and profitable model, operating successfully and reinvesting the revenue in the business.
Future Plans of Berrylush
As published by Statista Research Department in March 2022, Indian fashion practices have witnessed a gradual transition to the latest global trends.
It impacts the market size of women’s western wear, which is expected to reach ₹625 billion in 2033, as against ₹235 billion in 2018.
Berrylush’s products are advertised online through various channels and have started operating exclusively in certain markets.
Berrylush’s founders want to expand beyond the country’s borders, looking into markets in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
To Conclude
The dream, woven in the eyes of the power duo, cast its net on the web world through which it reaches out to the potential customers, making each of them beautiful and building a startup that yields a revenue of 15 crores in three years and is expected to go 2x by 2022.
As the nation’s women say, – Mirror, mirror on the wall, who made us beautiful of them all?”
And the answer unanimously is – Berrylush !!
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