They stop, you shop

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They stop, you shop

Monday, 20 January 2020 | Chahak Mittal

They stop, you shop

Entrepreneurs are launching flexible, cost-saving fashion trucks, loading their inventories with accessories and apparel, which deliver door to door and halt at high-traffic areas across cities, says Chahak Mittal

After food trucks, which have redefined the way millennials eat on the go, it is the turn of fashion trucks. Mobile, eye-catching and a smart business model in stressed times, it is slowly capturing the youth market.

Pune-based Ravi Yadav, an IIT-Kharagpur  alumnus and founder of Fabulo Fashion Truck, says that the trend is on the rise because other than being convenient, it is also unique and catchy. He adds, “It attracts more customers because of its conceptual novelty.” Experts also claim that while one would have to take out separate time off their regular routines to visit a complex or showroom to shop, a fashion bus beside the street would just make them stop and look at the collection while on the go.

Ravi had earlier talked about why he chose to start the venture, “The idea came to me post a poor experience at online shopping. I had ordered t-shirts from a shopping website, which turned out to be of very poor quality. Post that, exchanging them became a hassle as it took more than two weeks.” This was when he thought about creating smoother delivery options and zeroed down on the idea of a fashion truck through which deliveries to people’s doorstep could become hassle-free and viable.

“Initially, we thought of having a doorstep shop idea, where the customers can try and purchase at their home or office but due to its grand size and structure, we faced the challenge of reaching into narrow lanes and areas. Hence, we started parking and covering different locations of an area,” adds Ravi.

Ankit Shukla, co-founder of Truck and Mortar along with Roopika Srivastava, points out that the trend is also on the rise because fashion trucks help them reach out to a larger audience. “You are not located at one place or limited to only the kind of crowd who visit your store frequently,” says he.

Experts say that fashion trucks carry a good potential to cater different kinds of audience. The sellers are able to sell a variety of clothing — from representing the local designers’ fashion to your organic line of apparel.

Ankit, who is also the founder of two London-based high fashion brands — Adamo London and Evah London — under the English Closet, has stocked the truck with Adamo and Evah apparel too along with other top brands. It is an AC store complete with bright signage and changing rooms, which delivers at the doorstep. “Fashion trucks will go to people unlike a physical store. Also, our fully equipped retail trucks can be hired by the brands to do their offline sales, which isn’t possible in other physical stores. The truck is also equipped with technology-driven marketing tools,” says he.

Kolkata-based Gravity Gearr’s fashion truck is another example of how wheels have brought style and fashion brands to the busy Mirza Ghalib street (near the Park Street).

Talking about how a portable fashion studio is different from a physical store or even online shopping, Ravi says, “In today’s world, where everything is going digital, at mobile studios, the customers, most importantly, are able to touch and feel the clothes physically before purchasing. They will get new apparel after every visit at any particular location because we are constantly on the go. Fashion trucks can categorise their kind of collection as per location requirements. But in studios, categorisation depends only on one location.”

Ankit highlights some drawbacks of studios, the top one being the high investment and fixed monthly expenses in opening and running physical stores. There are also long-term commitment requirements with shops; the risks of not achieving the minimum sales to cover the expenses; financial and logistical challenges of operating at multiple demographic locations; the challenge of not getting desired space in premium malls or important spots. On the other hand, fashion trucks allow flexible working hours and less walk in over the weekdays.

Even though founders of mobile fashion studios may argue that they have a unique feature of combining the online and offline sales, which helps promote sustainability too, there are certain challenges which can’t be ignored. For instance, the space restrictions. As compared to an apparel showroom or a studio, a fashion truck has less space for customers to roam and look around for their choice of garments.

However, the Truck and Mortar team have made sure that this doesn’t become a challenge for them. Ankit tells us, “Our truck is not very small in size. It is 20x8 ft with smart displays, through which customers can explore more options if they want. And they will be delivered to them next day.”

On the other hand, Ravi looks at keeping a huge collection in a confined space as a bigger challenge. He says, “The first challenge comes when there are more customers inside the truck than it can hold and sometimes, also waiting for their turn outside. The next comes while showing the variety of clothes, which could get difficult at times. But the positives are many. It enables the customers select a dress faster as compared to wasting hours at malls.”

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