Fashion startup newme aims to beat competitors Shein, Urbanic in India.

-By Ankita Dutta

India is at a crossroads where 52% of the population is made up of millennials and Generation Z, which is greater than the global average of 47%. A greater variety of brands, both domestic and foreign, have started lining up to catch the interest of these consumers with the newest fashion trends due to the extraordinarily high demographic dividend of the country.

Many competitors are continually raising the stakes in the garment and accessory area in an effort to win over this particular group of buyers in order to meet their needs in the constantly changing world of fashion.

Shein, a Chinese online shopping platform, has just assumed the position of market leader. However, none of the current participants has been able to fill the void since its ban by the Indian government due to security concerns. Organisations like London-based Urbanic have taken advantage of the enormous chance to expand into India in order to reach the Genz customer base, but given the market’s rapid change as well as consumer preferences, disruption is inevitable. Newme, a Bengaluru-based startup, is seeking to create a domestically produced fashion brand with an emphasis on GenZ, comparable to Urbanic or Shein, in response to this difficulty.

Speaking about the target market, Newme’s cofounder and CEO Sumit Jasoria claimed that when it pertains to fashion, today’s generation looks for items that not only show their originality but also the latest trends, including clothing. Jasoria claims that newme is attempting to fill this gap since online stores like Myntra, Ajio, and others only sell mass-produced designs. He continued by saying that, in contrast to the prevailing wisdom, GenZ tends to purchase products with fewer user evaluations.

Newme, which debuted in August 2022, is concentrating on western wear designs since it has a keen understanding of the needs of new-age consumers. The firm releases 500 new designs each week and soon hopes to reach 1,000 weekly. The site adheres to a minimal inventory approach and maintains inventory for only two weeks as opposed to the three months that most fashion brands do.

At the moment, newme solely sells clothing to female customers. The platform communicates directly with its users; it does not offer its products on online stores like Ajio or Myntra. Newme relies on their internal workforce for everything from supply chain to designers. In order to introduce new ideas each week efficiently, it makes investments in data science and constructing a software stack.

Jasoria highlighted that while Urbanic is one of its main rivals, it mostly serves Tier 1 cities, while newme is heavily focused on Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where the majority of the current western wear businesses are also focused. Jasoria pointed out that non-metropolitan areas account for 70% of the company’s orders, demonstrating a high desire for fashionable yet reasonably priced clothing in these areas.

Jasoria claimed that the reason a buyer would pick newme over Urbanic is because the latter caters to people who are more westernised. Newme, however, pays particular attention to the fashion choices made in India’s smaller cities.