Zivame.com: Redefining Lingerie Shopping

In its first-ever TV campaign, lingerie e-tailer Zivame plays the 'variety' card and features women from all walks of life buying lingerie with a simple click.

Lingerie shopping, in India, has always been associated with physical retail outlets where one can try the product before buying it. Now, with the e-commerce boom, platforms like Zivame.com provide an alternative, offering a wide range of products, competitive pricing and easy return policies.

In a bid to improve its reach, Zivame has rolled out its first TV campaign titled 'Explore Yourself'. The 30-seconder is a montage of confident women from different age groups, professions and walks of life sharing what they have found at Zivame.

The ad features characters like a middle-aged lady policeman who found a 'Pink Thong', a pregnant bride who found a 'nursing bra' and a grandmother who found a 'Tummy Tucker'. The campaign aims to break the taboos prevalent in Indian society, while communicating how Zivame has a variety of products available to suit each person's individual needs

Richa Kar, founder and CEO, Zivame.com, says that they want to make lingerie more 'mainstream'. "The intent is to create awareness about the category itself and why women should choose to buy lingerie online. I am sure the TV commercial will help us get many new women to try buying lingerie online," she adds.

Kar says that the biggest marketing challenge in India is the taboo associated with lingerie. "Why should a 'bra' be an uncomfortable word in today's time and age?" she asks, adding that the ad implores women to come out, explore lingerie and be comfortable about it.

Zivame's TG is women across age groups and socio-economic background. The platform, Kar claims, stocks products that cater to every woman. At present, it has over 50 brands, both Indian and international. The site claims to offer over 5,000 styles and more than 100 sizes with around 20, 000 products.

Dubbing 'mom and pop shops' and 'departmental stores' as their competition, Kar believes that it is much easier for a woman to buy a bra online than to go to a store.

"An offline store can never match the kind of category depth that we have in terms of sizes, designs and types," she notes. While the growth drivers for Zivame are metros, the platform is witnessing good traction from Tier II and III cities. "Tier II & Tier III are also important markets with a great business potential as the online platform offers privacy while buying. In fact, we have customers who order on behalf of their entire family or friends," reveals Kar.

The most popular product on Zivame is 'everyday bras'. The platform ships over one 100,000 products a month. Kar says that Zivame's mobile website has been attracting visitors. Conceptualized by Fisheye Creative Solutions, the campaign does not take the conventional execution route, says creative director, Dave Banerjee. "Lingerie as a category has always been showcased either in a utilitarian setting or in an obviously sensuous manner. This campaign negates that aging stereotype by showing women comfortably and confidently exploring lingerie. The product visuals are the cuts of people accessing Zivame.com on various devices - a representation of how Zivame customers are actually ordering lingerie," explains Banerjee.

The TVC is on GECs, music channels, Hindi & English movie channels, youth entertainment, Bollywood and cookery channels. The company will also be targeting HD channels for the campaign. The estimated size of the Indian lingerie market - both online & offline - is Rs 15, 000 crore. Two-thirds of it is in the unorganised sector and the rest is the organised sector, of which online buying is just a fraction.

Zivame (Ziva in Hebrew means 'radiant', hence 'radiant me') was launched in August 2011. The company also offers services like 'Try at Home', 'Fit consultant', 'Discreet Packing (unfortunately, the website calls it Discrete)' and 'Fitting lounge' (only in Bangalore), where women can consult experts to know their perfect fit without any cost.

Zivame has a collection from brands like Anita, Leonisa, Panache, Enamor, Wonderbra, Triumph, Lovable, Jockey, Amanté, Bw!tch, Curvy Kate and many others. It also retails its own brands like Penny and Cou Cou. UTV founder and entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala invested Rs 36 crore in Zivame in December 2013. Its other investors include IDG and Kalaari Capital.

The company competes with other lingerie e-tailers such as StrapsAndStrings, Pretty Secrets, MoodsofCloe and other multi-brand e-tailers like Myntra, Flipkart, Yebhi and Jabong who also offer lingerie products. Global brands like Bw!tch, and Enamor also offer online shopping facility on their websites.

Hooked?

Juhi Dua, editor, L'Officiel India believes that the idea of buying lingerie online is still not 'popular' among Indian women. She states that while women are aware about brands, they still prefer to walk into a store and try the product. "This is a touch and feel category. Women living in metros have enough offline stores which offer a wide range of variety while women from Tier II and Tier III cities are still not exposed to online buying. The awareness is low," she explains.

The only way, Dua asserts, that platforms like Zivame will attract buyers is if they offer discounts on the brands that women have already tried. Meanwhile, Mahesh Murthy, founder, Pinstorm says that platforms like Zivame are an attempt to organise a market and create a category leader is useful for consumers, and can be a good strategy.

However, he asserts that Zivame cannot be compared to lingerie brands like Victoria's Secret that has done well in terms of online sales. "Victoria's Secret is a brand of lingerie, while Zivame is a retail store that stocks many brands - so they are not comparable. Zivame's margins will be lower than any manufacturer's. Also, Zivame won't have the sharp brand focus someone like Victoria's Secret or Triumph has," he explains.

Dubbing the TVC as 'safe, hence unmemorable', Murthy warns that Zivame's use of TV advertising so early in its life cycle will drive it towards sustained losses over long periods of time. According to him, successful e-commerce startups are typically those who never need to advertise in the early years, till they dominate a category - and then may advertise to expand the category. "This is not a TVC that will be talked about or spread virally. This will need lots of media spend behind it - so while it may increase awareness, it is likely to harm profitability," he quips.