Voylla

Voylla Fashions Private Limited

Type of site	E-commerce (Online shopping)
Available in	English
Headquarters	Jaipur, India
Area served	All India
Owner	Vishwas Shringi[1]
Key people	Vishwas Shringi - CEO Jagrati Shringi - co-founder
Industry	Fashion
Slogan(s)	Always Beautiful
Website	https://www.voylla.com/
Commercial	Yes
Launched	April, 2012

Voylla Fashions Private Limited, also referred to as just Voylla, is an Indian e-commerce platform headquartered in Jaipur, India. Voylla began as a designer apparel selling portal, and later diversified into a full-fledged e-shop that provides jewelry and accessories from designers under categories such as fashion jewelry, silver jewelry and precious metal accessories, to its customers across India. In 2015, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut signed up as a brand ambassador for the brand.

Overview

Voylla was founded in 2011 by an ex-Amazonian, Vishwas Shringi, after he quit his job to start his own business.^[2] Initially, it was an online portal for designer apparels but over time, the company added fashion jewelry which was received better than apparels. Following this, Voylla officially positioned itself as an online retail destination for fashion jewelry.

Fashion jewelry market in India is highly fragmented and the size of the opportunity is estimated at USD 2.4 billion. The growth rate for fashion jewelry is forecasted to be higher than that of precious jewelry at 22% CAGR in the next three years.^[3]

Funding

The company raised funds close to US$200,000 in 2012 and 2013 from Snow Leopard Technology Venture^[4] and others. That was followed by another round of funding in October 2015 of USD 15 M (INR 98 crores) which was led by private equity firm Peepul Capital.^[5]

Business model

Voylla uses an Omni-channel retailing model, also called multi-channel retailing, offering the customers multiple platforms to buy its products from. Voylla applied the model into its business strategies and ventured into website ordering, mobile app selling as well as offline store. The company derives an overall business of about 12% from its international e-commerce tie-ups and intent to touch a 20% mark by 2017. Also, the company aims to shift its business model to retail offline selling to generate at least 50% of the revenue from this segment, in addition to the current online channel.^[6]

While the multi-channel retailing has worked well for the company thus far, the recent budget proposal involving the imposition of 1% excise duty on branded jewellery has led to concerns and will affect the fashion jewellery market manifolds.^[7]

Corporate social responsibility

Voylla has been known as a women centric brand for not only the feminine products they offer but also for their constant approach towards women empowerment and women leadership. On the 10th of May 2016, Voylla initiated a women welfare activity in the Bassi sub-district, near Jaipur. The event which was conducted together with the Family Planning Association of India (FPAI), aimed to empower and generate self-dependence in women. For the purpose, the participants were given lessons on the art of ‘meenakari’ or intricate jewellery designing. The designed pieces were made a part of the Folklore jewellery collection by Voylla.^[8]

In a digital interview with Techgig, technology arm of the Times Internet group, the Voylla co-founder, Jagrati Shringi revealed that the brand has tied-up with various women-welfare NGOs in order to provide them employment opportunities. Further, the cofounder communicated an intention of starting up her own NGO.^[9]

Growth

In the last three years, Voylla has made sustained efforts to understand its customers, and has set up a robust back-end support backed by technology and finely detailed curating. Its current customer base is over 5 lakh customers, making it one of the top jewelry sites in the country.

Voylla started its journey in 2011 as an Online Portal for designer apparels and shifted to selling fashion jewelry more actively in 2012. The brand, extending its promotional efforts, released its first Brand Television Commercial (TVC) in 2013, following another one starring Kangana Ranaut in 2015, soon after the actress became a brand ambassador for the company. Kangana Ranaut, who is a Bollywood celebrity followed by the country’s youth, turned out strategic for the brand and Voylla successfully opened its first Offline Store in New Delhi, India, in 2015.^[10][11] That was followed by their first physical store in Kolkata in September 2016 in the Acropolis Mall, a number which has now grown to 68 country-wide outlets.^[12] There are also plans in the pipeline to soon add Siliguri and Agartala to the list of cities on Voylla’s mark, which may help the brand capture the topical audiences of Durga Puja in these regions.^[13] Since the launch of its first brick-and-mortar store six months ago, they are already generating 40 percent of their sales from offline stores now.^[14] Subsequently in the same year, the company launched an Android mobile application along with a new revamped website. One of website advancements includes the virtual trial feature on the website. This will allow the user to upload their image to virtually try the jewellery piece on and know if it will suit their face in real.^[15] In 2016, it launched its iOS Mobile App for Apple users and expanded their warehouse and office space.

The Voylla app showcases more than 10,000 variety of fashion accessories, latest fashion trends of the season and styles of jewelry from celebrity favorites to the latest runway trends. With the android app gaining popularity, Voylla launched its iOS mobile app as well in 2016. It also expanded its warehouse and office space in 2016. Further extending its reach and elaborating its audience base to places outside India, the jewellery e-retailer started selling its jewellery through international marketplaces like Amazon.com, Ebay.com and Jadopado.com in US, Germany and Dubai under the brand name ‘Voylla’.^[16]

International expansion

Voylla already has around 20 stores in India, aiming to raise the number to 100 by the following year, 2017. Apart from multiplying the number of offline stores across India, the company plans to expand its offline business abroad in countries including UAE and the US.^[17] With an aim to establish itself as a renowned international name, Voylla will be setting up its first retail store in one of the malls in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Ras al-Khaimah, by the end of the first half of the year 2016.^[18]

Products

Voylla’s online store and mobile application features collections inspired by the upcoming and latest jewelry and accessory trends from Bollywood and Hollywood, from high-street to global runways.

It offers about 20 different categories of Earrings, Necklace sets, Necklaces, Rings, Bracelets, Bangles, Toe Rings, Maangtika, cummerbund, nose-pins, anklets, studs, paasas, shoulder-duster earrings & many more in different styles - traditional, fashion, modern and chunky.

The omni-channel retailer also has a separate section for men featuring kadas, studs, rings, bracelets, leather bracelets, chains, brooches, tie pins, key chains and a lot more. In addition, the website also features a wide range of jewelry for kids featuring black-bead bracelets, small earrings, little charm chains and more. V Voylla’sapp features app-exclusive offers on select exclusive jewelry It offers viewers the opportunity to browse according to color, design, theme, occasion, price range preferences.

Another feature on the app ‘Match-the-dress’ gained popularity with young consumers. It allows them to upload an image of their outfit and find jewelry that matches the colors.

With a firm hold on manufacturing, technology led design, curation and demand forecasting, Voylla has seen steady and consistent growth in the online fashion jewelry segment, through its exclusive jewellery collection launches every month. Some of the most well-recognized jewellery collections by the brand that took rounds on the internet and gained popularity through the social media include the Valentines’ collection, the IPL inspired range of jewels and the Royal Meet collection. Taking inspiration from the Maharanis and Begums of the Mughal era and the noble Mughal architectural designs, the Royal Meet Collection gives a true 18th century feel. The collection; consisting of pearl woven, delicately cut paasas, maangtikkas, rani-haars, naths, chandbalis, bors, pazebs, jhumki earrings and rings, are sold online.^[19] The company manufactures and sells jewelry under the brand name ‘Voylla’ itself, and has multi-channel retailing strategy, selling their jewelry through the website, online marketplaces, mobile application and recently through brick & mortar stores. The company launched its first offline Fashion Jewelry & Accessories store in Rajouri Garden, New Delhi in India in 2015, followed up by a second store in DLF Mall of India, Sector 18, Noida.^[20] This Jaipur based brand now has an offline presence in Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Pune & Nagpur and plans to set up more than 100 exclusive stores by the end of 2016.

Jewellery collections

With a firm hold on manufacturing, technology led design, curation and demand forecasting, Voylla has seen steady and consistent growth in the online fashion jewelry segment, through its exclusive jewellery collection launches every month.

Some of the most well-recognized jewellery collections by the brand that took rounds on the internet and gained popularity through the social media include the Valentines’ collection, the IPL inspired range of jewels and the Royal Meet collection. Heavily inspired by the Maharanis and Begums of the Mughal era and the noble Mughal architectural designs, the Royal Meet Collection gives a true 18th century feel. The collection; consisting of pearl woven, delicately cut paasas, maangtikkas, rani-haars, naths, chandbalis, bors, pazebs, jhumki earrings and rings; are sold online.^[21]

In July 2016, Voylla launched another jewellery collection inspired by the great Indian warrior princesses, launched as an ode to the modern- day struggles of contemporary women, which are no less than a warrior’s. The rings, earrings and necklaces contain filigrees shaped like swords and armor.^[22]

Online presence

Voylla has been very active in digital media advertising and promotion since the start. It has run numerous campaigns online, which have proved to be of substantial benefit.

• Introduced love-themed special collection of bracelets, earrings, charms, pendants & rings to celebrate Valentine’s Day in 2016. The brand unveiled three campaigns ‘First Love’, ‘Popping-the-question’& ‘Celebrating Valentine’s Day’ on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ & YouTube handles to target customers of different age groups.
• Then, following the IPL wave in the country, Voylla introduced its new cricket inspired collection of jewels that included bat and ball-inspired bracelets, helmet pendants, stump cufflinks and famous cricketers’ quotes like “I-love-Kohli!” and many other quirky accessories for both men and women.
• Voylla didn’t leave any stone unturned to make mothers feel special all over the world. It launched silver-plated ‘MOM’ pendants and other butterfly, flower motifs that celebrate the spirit of motherhood. The main attraction was ‘MAA’ (in Hindi) pendants and the designs that depicted mother and child. At Voylla’s offline stores in Delhi, Nail Art service was offered for free to all the mothers.
• Voylla launched a special AkshayaTritiya jewelry collection for its customers where one could buy Lakshmi-inscribed gold coins, Ganesha pendants, and gold & Swarovski jewelry. The collection was launched online as well as at all the offline stores. The customers could make the most of AkshayaTritiya offer as they got silver coins free on jewelry worth more than Rs 1000.

Voylla also runs contests on Social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest and Roposo. Voylla acts as an ultimate fashion guide with its style tips on its blog.^[23]

Awards and recognition

Voylla’s achievements in a nutshell:

• Zee Marudhara Women Empowerment Award - Voylla’s co-founder, Jagrati Shringi^[24] was awarded a women empowerment award from honorable minister Kiran Maheshwari, honorable minister Anita Badel and princess Diya Kumari.^[25]
• Google SME Award - VOYLLA.com has been awarded ‘Google SME Hero Title for the Region’ in the REGIONAL category at the Google SME Heroes Challenge 2014.^[26]
• Voylla’s CSR initiative at Bassi (PR TO BE RELEASED)

References

External links

• Official website