JAIPUR KURTI - INDIA'S TOP WOMEN ETHNIC WEAR BRAND
How did we embark on this journey?
Humble and smart minds lead to great beginnings. Going by this quote, the owner, Mr. Anuj Mundra, who worked at meagre wages of 1400 rupees per month, realized the opportunity at hand. At that time, the Kurti brand began as a small online store with quite limited resources.
In fact, did you know that the initial phase, i.e., 2012, began with Mr. Anuj’s wife designing the apparel in-house? These apparels were thereafter stitched, manufactured, dyed and more at an industrial area in Kartarpur, Jaipur. Mr. Anuj had left his job as a helper in a saree showroom in 2003, after which he sold suit sets to sustain himself. It was followed by block and screen-printing units owned by Mr. Anuj himself. Anuj's visit to Delhi in the year 2012 gave him the vision of where he could use his skills and mindset to enter the e-commerce sector, leading a brand of his own.
Anuj returned to Jaipur with a clear aim to begin an E-commerce setup with Kurtis designed and created at his own units. Thus began the journey of Jaipur Kurti, as an offshoot of Nandini Creation Pvt. Ltd.
One of the aims that Jaipur Kurti strongly believes in is that no woman should feel left out due to a lack of size availability. As a result, the brand now offers a diverse range of collections in sizes ranging from small to plus sizes to accommodate all body shapes and sizes. Jaipur Kurti has been actively involved in the promotion of size inclusivity for all.
The Heights of Success in the E-Commerce Sector
During those times, it was quite difficult for e-commerce stores due to many factors. It includes struggles to understand user-intent, a lack of trust and public awareness, and limitations of the platform and its credibility. Anuj borrowed some funds from close friends and got a loan from a bank and became one of the early entrepreneurs to enter the e-commerce industry.
Anuj directed his efforts in the right direction; Jaipur Kurti earned a whopping 59 lakh rupees in turnover, which also helped list the brand on Snapdeal and Jabong. In this manner, Jaipur Kurti went through its maiden flight to reach the high altitudes of success and fame in their e-commerce venture.
In the year 2016, the brand was listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) under the SMEs banner, and later on, in 2021, it was listed on the main board of NSE. Today, Jaipur Kurti has become an international brand, selling its products in the UK, USA, Australia, Malaysia, and many other countries.
There are a total of five stores of the brand operating in India currently, of which four of them are in Jaipur itself, while one is in Sri Ganganagar. Not to forget, the brand has also acquired the "blue tick" on Instagram due to its brand image and following.
The majority of the brand sales are done through e-retailing websites such as Ajio, Paytm, Tata Cliq, Meesho, Limeroad, Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, Snapdeal, and Nykaa, which sell their products.
The Code to Become a Multi-Billion Brand
There is one code that Mr. Anuj often mentions, which is, "Either forget everything and run, or face everything and rise." Anuj believes in choosing the latter, which has eventually helped him make his mark in the online shopping industry.Some of the very early challenges in this sector that were encountered by Anuj were:
- Logistics and barcoding for shipping
- high return rate and lack of public awareness.
Some of the major positives that helped Jaipur Kurti navigate through these challenges include:
- The emergence of major brands such as Adidas in the e-commerce sector
- Discount Coupons
- Offline pamphlets and hoardings
Customer care and enquiry numbers for online shopping queries.
The Logo Changed
The changing times of the present era require a proportional change in the styles, designs, and mindsets. Keeping that in mind, we at Jaipur Kurti have rebranded our logo to include more design-centric features, as used in kurtis, lehengas, and other apparel.
Our logo consists of a royal blue color with traces of a leaf motif. The brightness of the logo envisions our sight towards the bright future that lies ahead, not just for the brand we run, but also for the bright smiles that we wish to see every time our customers receive a parcel with the name Jaipur Kurti printed on it.
Milestones During This Journey-Past & Future
Mr. Anuj strongly believes in the power of envisioning future demand, due to which he has now begun investing in the offline market. He believes that this sector is going to see a boom in the coming years. Today, the return rate for Jaipur Kurti has dipped from 50 percent to less than 35 percent.
The offline stores of JaipurKurti.com are more crowded than ever now. Even without putting conscious efforts into marketing on the web, Anuj observed that more online traffic was now directed towards their own web portal, as compared to other portals selling the same products. The fact that COVID boosted the online industry was actually true for Jaipur Kurti since it earned a turnover of nearly half a billion in the financial year of 2020 through sales online. The brand now aims to achieve a turnover of Rs 100 crores in the financial year 2023, via both online and offline platforms.
