Key Highlights
- Q1 FY23 Revenue at INR 483 cr – a growth of 204% YoY, with an EBIT of INR 34 cr
- 3 year Revenue CAGR came in 56% exhibiting a healthy growth despite macro challenges
- Total retail footprint stands at 143 stores across 53 cities pan-India, with 5 new stores (net) added in Q1 FY23
- Launches ear piercing service to capture “first jewellery gifting” moment
India’s leading omni-channel direct-to-consumer jewellery brand, CaratLane continued its strong performance in Q1 FY23, with markets fully open after nearly a 2-year gap of Covid disrupted quarters in the same period. CaratLane delivered a revenue (NSV) of Rs. 483 crores for the quarter (204% growth over Q1FY22). The EBIT margins were healthy at 34 cr (6.9%%) and PBT of 26.7 cr (5.5%) for the quarter.
CaratLane’s customer-centric focus on design solutions for customers rather than on being a plain vanilla jewellery company has led to new initiatives for customers across all age groups. With this approach, “Ear Piercing” services for kids in Delhi, was launched in Q1 FY23, one of the biggest markets for the Brand. The idea is to own all milestones in the customers’ lives starting with owning the first piece for jewellery for baby girls. The initial response has been quite encouraging and service would soon be expanded to cover more stores. CaratLane is well known for its unique designs in the kids' category – and this service beautifully compliments the catalogue while solving a consumer need.
CaratLane is fast being associated as a gifting brand for all “intimate relationships”. Over 50% of the orders continued to be for key gifting occasions like birthdays & anniversaries. With a focus on creation of micro-occasions for gifting, the ‘First Salary’ Gifting Campaign was successfully launched in the quarter. The campaign was very well received with #MyFirstSalary trending on Twitter at no. 2 position nationally. The campaign reached over 190 million users and garnered 2.5 million views at an engagement rate of 1.4%.
During the quarter, the brand saw a significant growth in demand as well as customers, with brand searches increasing by 105%, and customers increasing by 148%. While new customer growth has been a key thrust area, a focused promotion for existing customers resulted in a contribution of 45% to the revenue. Keeping the festive season in mind the key marketing communication was built around the launch of the hero collection Borla - inspired by the classic Rajasthani maang tikka. Apart from the hero collection, keeping the festive season in mind 200 new designs were launched across price points and business segments, with focus on occasion wear, studs and neckwear.
Continuing on its aggressive retail expansion, with the objective of making the brand accessible to more number of customers, CaratLane launched 5 new stores in the quarter taking the total number of stores to 143 spread across 53 cities, covering a total area of 1.42 lacs Sq. Ft. The brand is strategically opening stores in cities like Hubli, Cuttack and Srinagar to tap on to the existing online demand for its designs.
The International business, Q1 FY23 was led by marketing innovations. The US business which forms 95% of the international operations delivered best ever booked revenue of 1.6 Mn USD (up from 1.4 Mn USD Q4 FY22). 75% of the orders in the US market are now being shipped from the New York fulfilment centre (up from 70% in Q4 FY22) reducing the delivery time for customers – which is a big lever for growth.
Shaya closed Q1 FY23 with Revenues of INR 7.2 cr, a 122% growth over Q1 FY22. The retail business now contributes significant portion of Shaya’s overall revenues within 6 months of launch. The brand achieved a new high of INR 3 cr revenue in a month for the first-time during AT. The total retail footprint now covers 13 stores across all formats.
Mithun Sacheti, Founder & MD of CaratLane commented:
“Our results in Q1 FY23 saw a very good growth after a gap of 2 years of very difficult Covid impacted first quarters. On the back a robust festive demand during Akshaya Tritiya combined with the strength of our hyperlocal omni strategy and campaigns targeting micro-occasions, we have had our best Q1 ever. Our focus this quarter has been on reducing the missed opportunities and increasing conversions, by aligning city level inventory to online browsing, opening fulfilment centres in new cities, taking the total to 11 cities enabling 12/24 hour delivery in key markets.”
“We are also making a strategic shift in the way we define our business – we are shifting from being a jewellery brand – to a brand that enables customers to express their emotions through jewellery. While jewellery and our design leadership remain at the heart of the brand, we are focussing on creating solutions for customers to enable them to discovery the right designs, try easily and buy quickly. With this vision we remain optimistic going forward and expect a strong demand from customers in the coming festive season and hope to cater to their self-purchase as well as gifting needs.”
