High-end fashion comes to the virtual ramp

An exclusive online fashion store. That’s the best way to describe www.99labels.com. This members-only retail store was set up on the internet by Ishita Swarup, Anchal Jain and Anup Prakash. The portal was conceptualised in May 2009 and went live in December last year. As Swarup explains: “The concept behind 99labels was to build an exclusive online platform that organised private, online event-based sales of well-established luxury and premium brands.” Swarup is candid enough to admit that it’s not a new idea globally. But, since no one in India was doing it, she thought it was a territory worth venturing into.

While membership is free, it is strictly by invitation only. There are three ways through which you can become a member, explains Swarup — an invitation by 99labels, a reference by an existing member, or a limited-time invitation from 99labels.

Convincing luxury brands to channel their merchandise through the portal was no big deal, according to Swarup, who managed to rope in a handful of brands along with her 22-member team. Ritu Kumar, Rina Dhaka, besides international brands like Guess, Esprit, Police, etc, have had their products and accessories listed on the website. Swarup adds more than apparel, it’s the accessories that are preferred by the portal members. And a lot of people are buying stuff as a gift option, since the site offers great discounts.

“It’s like a 24x7 shopping experience and we make sure that members get a heads up on all sales two days in advance,” she adds. The e-retailers have tried to bring some real shopping details into their virtual venture — like detailed product descriptions with relevant images, in addition to flexible payment options like cash on delivery, net banking and, of course, credit card.

Swarup and her partners were discouraged while conceptualising 99labels.com. But they ignored critics, who reasoned “people are still wary of online transactions”. She says: “We felt that, if given the right products, people would buy online.”

So far, she has been proved right.

The site has about 30,000 members. But Swarup refuses to take this as a marker for success. “The number of customers who have made multiple order bookings is what encourages us the most,” she says.

As for the future, she is hopeful that the number of members and transaction sizes will grow. “With the population of young brand-conscious netizens scaling month on month, we estimate a huge potential for a website like ours. Tell me who’s not looking out for great deals, especially when it comes to big brands...?”

She has a point.