Zapyle: Building a revolving wardrobe for young India

Startup Showcase

As a platform for buying and selling luxury fashion online, Zapyle has created a revolving wardrobe of sorts for the millenial consumer.

Zapyle started off as a marketplace for pre-owned luxury, however, noticing the kind of money that sellers were able to make off of their sales, the company opened its platform for brand-new sales with an intent to offer users an avenue to further invest that money.

With brands like Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Gucci, Moschino and Fendi, Zapyle now lists 70% brand new products, while the remaining is pre-owned.

Talking about the product spread on the platform, Zapyle Founder and CEO Rashi Menda says, “With branded pre-owned goods, while the demand is high, supply is not as consistent in India. Therefore, to bridge this gap, we introduced the category of brand new products,” adding that sales numbers justify the move for the company. “This month, we saw 55% of the total sales happening in the brand new category, and we expect it to rise,” she says.

Going forward, the company plans to launch high-street fashion, with brands from the UK and the US, in the Rs 1,500 to Rs 6,000 price range, which it has found to be the sweet spot in terms of consumer spending.

The 16-member strong company is set to close its Series A round of funding by March, in which it hopes to raise about $2.5 million. “We plan to invest a major chunk of this money in technology and customers acquisition,” Rashi says. 

Subscribing to fashion

One of its many innovative solutions for its customers — subscription model — is due for launch within this months across Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. “Since fashion is dynamic, youngsters may not have the kind of money to make huge investments in bags and accessories every now and then. Therefore, we are introducing a subscription-based model wherein the consumer can rent a product for a month at 20% of the original price of the product,” she says. “Through this, when the consumer becomes aware of the brand, it makes it easier for them to make purchase decisions,” she adds.

While the company’s ultimate aim remains the creation of a fashion community, technology remains at the core of its initiatives.

“We are making products smarter. With artificial intelligence and data analytics in the picture, we intend to introduce fashion intelligence by 2018, wherein by tracking user’s buy-and-sell history, we are able to make apt recommendations in terms of their style, favoured brands, sizes and price points,” she says.