Exclusive | Catering to all the possible fashion needs of a woman, FabAlley's Tanvi Malik

​​With shopping becoming convenient thanks to e-commerce or rather thanks to the advent of digital, we see the e-commerce space getting bigger and better; be it due to the entry  of new players or new brands getting associated with already existing fashion portals. The Indian market has an appetite for lot more e-comm players however each has to have a differentiated offering. Keeping this thought in mind , a name that came forward to cater to  the growing need and demand of the ever growing need of the consumer was fashion apparel and accessories player  FabAlley.com which is touted to be  the ultimate online fashion portal for fashion-forward, indie-chic girls.

A fashion brand specializing in creating and retailing clothes and accessories for girls who really know their fashion and aren't afraid to experiment, FabAlley.com has grown to become a mecca of globally trendy, seriously stylish merchandise in a few short months. Be it jewelry or tops or even the zaniest hair accessories, if they’re new and now, you’ll find them at FabAlley.com long before you find them anywhere else.  A robust blog keeps the conversation between FabAlley and its customers alive through trend reports, styling tips, fun contests and street style captures.

Very recently, FabAlley.com was in the news about when they launched their first of its kind campaign -#Unfollow. The campaign ensues from the idea of being the Girl Uninterrupted which is about empowering women everywhere to be comfortable in their own skin.

Starring the vibrant and audacious stand-up comic – Radhika Vaz, the Faballey #Unfollow Campaign challenges the stereotypical notions of Improper, Unprofessional or Inappropriate dressing for a woman. It encourages being Un-everything and Un-following every fashion trend. It aims at challenging every stereotype and convention that impedes a woman’s pursuit of freedom.

In a path-breaking and clutter-breaking video, a confident and nude Radhika Vaz showcases a woman who is finally standing up to the fact that she is not going to conform to the rules laid out for her or by everyone around her.

To know more about the journey, campaigns and way forward, Adgully caught up with Tanvi Malik, Co-Founder, Faballey.com.

Speaking about the latest campaign, she said, “The objective of the campaign was to get traction from women. It was not a direct product campaign but to communicate our core brand proposition. We designed it as an empowering campaign for the Girl Un-Interrupted urging women to challenge stereotypes.  Our campaign aims at encouraging young women everywhere to be Un-Everything. We want them to not be bogged down by what’s considered right or wrong in life and in Fashion. We wish to assure her that nothing is worth her peace of mind or self-esteem. We want her to #Unfollow”.”

Inception:

As we know online is becoming a competitive space, so when asked the rationale behind launching FabAlley, Malik said, “There was a need for reasonable brands and no Indian brand was present with a customized Indian milieu-oriented offering at affordable prices at the time.”

They conducted a survey with 500 Indian women, split between age groups 21-25 and 26-30 to see if they were in the same boat as like others. The key finding which emerged from the survey was that there was a lack of trend-centric fashion brand/shop in India which could keep up with global brands and yet remain affordable for average Indian women.

“With that insight, we started working on creating India’s first fashion brand that could take on global behemoths such as Zara, Asos & H&M in terms of design differentiation and fast-fashion, while keeping Indian style sensibilities in mind and being easy on the pocket. And that’s how FabAlley was born,” she added.

Competition/challenges:

Not only online but fashion industry in itself is very fragmented and with so much of competition there needs to be a strong uniqueness in the product that is being sold. One of FabAlley’s strong and unique selling points is their differently designed products; hence their design process starts from identification of key trends for the upcoming season and then adapting them in the distinctively bold and differentiated style.

“Our designers scour the runways and streets for the next big trends. Simultaneously, we identify the categories and price points we need to populate as per our sales analysis. Once the need-gap has been identified and trends mined, a brief is sent out to the designers to create products in identified categories and price points. Our own sales data gives us valuable insights as well and for example. If a product is doing phenomenally well, we design and manufacture more of the same product in different colours/fabrics. We ensure that our pricing remains extremely competitive vis-à-vis our online competitors and significantly lesser than offline high-street retailers,” she added.

Malik feels that breaking away from the clutter of fashion commerce and creating a distinct brand image is certainly a challenge as is ensuring that they scale up at a rapid passé, in terms of both front and back ends.  

Marketing Strategies:

Today’s e-commerce environment is so cluttered that any brand needs to have a distinct personality and needs to be targeted in its outreach so that one gets the optimum results.  FabAlley is an online fashion destination for taste-makers and trend-breakers all over the country. An array of design differentiated, bold and quirky products ensure that we resonate with girls who have strong points of view when it comes to fashion.

“We are a cool girls’ brand. Girls who know their fashion, but aren't slaves to it. So for us, marketing plays a very important role. Establishment of our brand values, reaching out to customers who resonate with our values and our approach to fashion, these are all key aspects that we address with our marketing plans,” she added.

Having understood the importance of brands in the segment and realizing that FabAlley needs to be the top-of-mind brand for Indian women when it comes to fashion, all their marketing efforts are focused on brand-building.

Having been advertising through the usual digital marketing channels; Google, Facebook, affiliates, etc, and since a chunk of their audience comprises of fashion-forward women, they also reach out to them via associations with fashion bloggers, fashion websites, magazines and through the monthly look-books. “We are also heavy on Content Marketing through our popular AlleyGal blog, which we are re-vamping currently to include some cool new features,” she added.

Content Marketing is a very important strategy for them, as they have positioned FabAlley as not just an online shop, but a fashion destination, where girls come to read, discover, engage and shop, by the way.

The recently launched #Unfollow campaign has done wonders for the brand. So many people from different walks of life came forward and appreciated it. It has helped create an emotional connect with the FabAlley brand and also furthered the brand differentiation.

Growth and key markets:

FabAlley is clocking more than Rs. 2 Crores of gross revenue per month, and is growing at a break neck pace of 20-25% month-on-month. Since FabAlley targets professional women in their early to mid-twenties, who are living in metros and Tier 1 cities, their customers are mostly young working women either in their first jobs or in the last stages of education.

The brand talks to women like every girl, who is easily bored and is always looking for new and diverting ideas to sartorially express themselves, who are a little quirky, a tad unconventional and always confident of their choices.

Investment:

The founders boot strapped the company themselves for a good year and a half. And then the Indian Angel Network invested in FabAlley in October 2013. When asked in terms of gaining more market share are they looking at getting a fresh round of investment, Malik said, “We will be looking at both external and internal sources to fund future growth.”

Way Forward:

Interestingly, 2015 is an important year for the organization and they want to continue the #Unfollow campaign. It is their road ahead and in terms of the product categories, FabAlley will be seen catering to the entire spectrum of women’s wear, so a massive horizontal and vertical expansion is on the cards.

Riding strongly on the USP of Design-differentiated and fashion-forward products available at pocket-friendly prices,  FabAlley picks the latest in the global fashion space to provide the Indian consumer with an option to buy fashion-forward products which are at least 50% cheaper than international brands. With such straight and strong vision and mission, the company has a long way to go. | By: Aanchal Kohli | Twitter: @aanchalkohli