Lingerie e-tailer Zivame returns to growth path, narrows losses in FY18

After two investor-led pivots in its business model, online lingerie retailer Zivame appears to have turned the corner as it managed to shore up revenues while narrowing its losses in the financial year 2017-18.

The Bengaluru-based firm posted net sales of Rs 86.6 crore for the year ending March 2018, according to its filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). 

This marks a significant increase from its operational revenue of Rs 52.9 crore in the previous fiscal - the first time its revenue had dipped since being founded in 2011.

Run by Actoserba Active Wholesale Pvt. Ltd, Zivame also arrested its losses for the first time. Its net losses nearly halved in 2017-18 to Rs 32.1 crore, down from Rs 57.6 crore in 2016-17.

Total expenditure was also contained, increasing a tad to Rs 126.3 crore for the year ending March 2018 from Rs 117.8 crore in the year before that.

The company’s total income in 2017-18 rose almost 56% to Rs 94.25 crore compared to Rs 60.25 crore the previous fiscal.

Email queries sent to Zivame seeking comment on its financials did not elicit a response till the time of publishing this report.    

The company’s earnings indicate a return to stability after a changes in business model and leadership in 2016-17.

After starting out as an aggregator, Zivame pivoted to a private label business in the middle of 2016.

In early-2017, it reverted to a marketplace model after founder Richa Kar stepped down. Kar, who previously worked with German software firm SAP, remains on Zivame’s board.

The company deals in lingerie, lounge-wear, swimwear, nightwear and allied categories. It recently added categories like fashion apparel to its offerings.

Zivame has a number of private labels including Penny and Coucou and over 60% of its revenue comes from its in-house products.

It is a dominant force in the lingerie e-commerce space and claims to sell more than one bra per minute. 

Rival e-tailer Clovia was fast catching up with Zivame in terms of net sales for 2016-17, though its latest financials are not yet available. Besides Clovia, Zivame competes with Buttercups, Pretty Secrets, Cilory, and Shyaway, among others. 

The firm is the best-funded player in the lingerie e-tailing segment, having raised more than $50 million till date.

In September 2015, Zivame had raised Rs 250 crore ($40 million then) in its Series C funding round from Zodius Technology Fund and Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the investment holding arm of the Malaysian government.

In May this year, existing investor Zodius Capital hiked its shareholding in Zivame by buying out the stakes of venture capital firms Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India.

The same month, the company brought on board Amisha Jain as its new chief executive officer. Jain replaced Shaleen Sinha who served as CEO for little over a year after taking over from Kar.