Elvy: Selling by all means!

Khosla explained the motive behind Elvy's expansion into brick-and-mortar format: "Looking at the overwhelming response that we received from the very first mail-order catalogue, we rescheduled our long-term plans and moved into retailing earlier than we planned. Both our businesses co-exist along with our website. The motive behind getting into retail is to realise the touch and feel of the products that we sell through catalogue; therefore, we refer to our stores as touch-and-feel shops."

There are over 500 products in various categories, from glass tumbler in numerous designs and coasters to rest them on, to candles and candlestands to match any interior or even the cutlery or the bar sets, adding delicacy and sophistication to the style of living. Also offered is a wide décor range for living rooms, including rugs and lamp shades, and bed furnishings including sheets and pillows. Elvy claims all its products are exclusive as these are not available anywhere else in the market.

About 60 per cent of the products are imported or sourced from various parts of the country, and the balance is manufactured in-house. To maintain exclusivity, Elvy works on its designs and passes these to the manufacturers for translation. Products are designed by a team of professionals in India and abroad, headed by Creative Director Vandana Khosla.

Elvy customers are primarily from Sec A+ and Sec A – customers who have started to experiment with their style of living in terms of design and fashion. “Our customers come from all segments of society. We see celebrities coming in and appreciating these unique products, and we also see businessmen from far-off cities like Ludhiana and Chandigarh drop by and buy our products. Those who cannot visit our stores make their orders through catalogue or on the Net,” said Khosla.

The company claims that it observes 60-70 per cent conversion rate from walk-ins at its stores, and hardly gets returns or refusals from its catalogue that reaches over 10 million homes nationwide.