Spirit W | Business of gifting: GiftVault's Kavita Chougule

An enterprising and well known face in the Indian business circuit, Kavita Chougule  brings to the table over a decade of cross industry expertise in strategy, design and guiding execution in the field of lifestyle, hospitality and fashion. Kavita is a trained designer having launched International fashion brands, restaurants and exhibitions all over the world. Her professional career kick started with her entrepreneurial venture,  when she jointly launched a fashion label named ‘Chougule and Seghal’, which retails in some of the top fashion houses across the world like, Kimaya (Dubai and India), Amara (India) Fuel (India), Samsara (India), to name a few. Kavita was also instrumental in launching India’s first boutique winery, Tiger Hill Vineyards and designing the elegant interiors of the International award winning restaurant ‘Tetsuma’.

Kavita belongs to the illustrious Chougule Indian Business Family and has accomplished a considerable amount of success during her professional stint. Speaking about her inclination towards becoming an entreprenuer, she proudly said, “As part of a prominent business family, business is in our blood. New ventures and exploring different paths is exciting and is what drives us. I have learnt from my father in law, Sham Chougule all that I know about business and his determination and relentless drive is what I want to emulate. “

GiftVault.com is an online retail luxury boutique and the latest entrant in the ecommerce market of India, with niche, handpicked and meticulously curated products for the discerning customer. It is a platform where users can exchange gift ideas, post stories about their favourite luxury items, and share wish lists with friends. GiftVault showcases carefully selected brands for all occasions, and provides a personal approach to gifting, through the prestigious packaging and impeccable customer service available both online and in their store. The brand offers a unique perspective on the luxury goods market with its collection of products for him, her, children, home and an extensive collection appropriate for corporate gifting. 

While in conversation with Adgully, Kavita Chougule who has recently associated herself with Gift Vault.com as Head India Operations spoke about the buzz the site is creating in the Indian market.

Heading GiftVault.com in India Chougule is responsible for strategic guidance pertaining to local market insights for the company, and will use her global outlook to assist with the brands visual merchandising as well. 

Giving us a sense of the robust market that she is in, Chougule said, “Being a website, our on-line presence is hugely important. We consciously and continuously work towards making GiftVault.com accessible and user friendly. Giftvault.com ranks very highly on all search engines and has a GiftBlog, which is constantly being updated. We have also worked very hard to establish a strong social media presence, confirming a solid existence on facebook and twitter, which have become an integral marketing tool for us. We have invested a lot of time and effort into developing and improving our on-line presence to reach where we are today.”

This venture is a partnership between Giftvault.com and herself, whereby she will be providing the Indian consumers access to their fine services. She believes any business can attract eye balls only if it is fun. Applying this philosophy to  her recent venture, she says, “As an activity gifting should be fun and fulfilling, but often has negative connotations such 

But the question arises how well does the Indian market fit in with the opportunities GiftVault is aiming at? In answer to this Kavita said, “While the traditional approach to shopping has been about physically visiting stores and making your purchase, this is no longer the norm as busy lifestyles and lack of time for offline shopping are coupled with an increase in broadband penetration and easier accessibility. There is also an increase in product knowledge for luxury goods that has opened the doors for online luxury stores such as GiftVault.com.”

According to her the Indian customers are definitely receptive to the e-commerce model as  it is not only of utmost convenience but also often the prices for goods online are cheaper than in offline retail stores. This is due to a range of reasons such as disintermediation, reduced inventory and real estates costs thereby allowing them to make their sales strategy more attractive to clients. Therefore she believes that even though the market is currently in its initial stages, more and more people will turn to online shopping. “I do believe that this market is currently in its nascent stages with tremendous growth potential and over the next 2-3 years we will definitely see a surge in online retail models,” she added.

Where online gifting is concerned quite a few luxury e -commerce websites are available. Sharing her views on that point and how GiftVault.com is a notch higher than those websites  she said, “GiftVault.com is a completely bespoke website that has an integrated  e-commerce platform with social networking to create a unique gifting experience. This, combined with an extremely high level and personal service makes GiftVault.com completely distinctive. This platform creates a synergy whereby the act of gifting becomes a fun, stress-free and a gratifying shopping experience. The down-side of gifting is completely eliminated: the giver finds buying experience pleasurable, while end to end customization leaves the  receiver ecstatic with what they receive.”

In terms of key clients, Giftvault.com also has a wide range of products from some of the favourite and well acclaimed  brands such as Missoni Home, Christofle, de Grisogono, Crows Nest Jewels to name but a few. These wonderful gifting products are sourced from around the world and handpicked to provide the best of the best to their clients. 
Speaking about marketing and growth plans in India, Chougule said, “We will be promoting GiftVault.com extensively not only through PR but web based marketing as well as key niche events for our select potential clientele.”

Today, Kavita Chougule, brings diverse experience to the table, having worked across multiple sectors in different countries. Her strength lies in her sense of aesthetics, which is evident from the attention to detail in her work.  In addition to this, she also holds keen interest in charitable endeavors and has volunteered at  the National Association of the Blind (NAB) .

Kavita Chougule on an end note says, “We are delighted to announce the entry of GiftVault.com in India and deliver our products to this market. Indians today are well travelled and evolved and prefer the concept of personalized gifting options to make their near and dear  ones feel more special. We source gifts from round the world, handpicking and providing the best of the best in every category to our guests. It is the next booming market catering to the busy lifestyle people lead today.”