The "Make In India" Bet That Paid Off | Neha Kant & Pankaj Vermani (Clovia)

“The customer's head has to be bursting for my product."

This powerful insight from Pankaj Vermani captures the core philosophy that drove Clovia's success. Instead of building a "vitamin" (a good-to-have product), the founders focused on creating an "aspirin"—a must-have solution for the acute "headaches" of poor fit, lack of choice, and a broken shopping experience that plagued the Indian lingerie market.

Neha Kant and Pankaj Vermani are the co-founders of Clovia, the revolutionary innerwear brand acquired by Reliance Retail for ₹950 crore (approx. USD 125 million). Pankaj, an IIT-Delhi graduate and 3x founder , and Neha, a seasoned sales and marketing leader from the India Today Group , built a tech-first brand that serves over 5 million women and sells an item every two seconds.

Key Insights from the Conversation:

• Solving the Product Problem First: The core of Clovia's strategy was to fix the fundamental product gap in the market before anything else, resisting distractions to stay focused on this mission.
• Data-Driven, Agile Supply Chain: Clovia built a proprietary tech stack and AI engine called "Monk" to manage a complex inventory of over 2,000 styles. This allows them to test new designs with small batches (as low as 250-500 pieces) and scale winners rapidly, keeping over 80% of their inventory less than 45 days old.
• A Contrarian "Make in India" Bet: Instead of importing, they built an ecosystem of local, captive manufacturers. This initially difficult path gave them shorter lead times and the agility needed to cater to India's diverse, hyperlocal demands.
• The Power of Retention: With a belief that "retention is business, everything else is marketing," Clovia focused on building deep customer trust through a feedback-led design process and tools like their Fit Test, resulting in an impressive 55% repeat purchase rate.

Chapters:

• 00:01:32 - Pankaj's Early Exposure to Lingerie Retail & Key Lessons
• 00:04:52 - Pankaj's Ed-Tech Startup & The "Aspirin vs. Vitamin" Thesis
• 00:06:56 - Neha's "Aha!" Moment: The Problem with Indian Lingerie
• 00:15:50 - The Contrarian Bet: Building an Agile "Make in India" Supply Chain
• 00:23:51 - Clovia's Tech Backbone: The AI-Powered Planning Engine
• 00:34:23 - Building the Brand: Customer Acquisition & The Philosophy of "Joy"
• 00:50:06 - The Challenges of Scaling & Balancing Ops with Growth
• 00:55:08 - The Omnichannel Play: Why Clovia Went Offline
• 01:03:30 - Using Data Offline: The "Trial to Sales" Ratio
• 01:11:23 - The Future Roadmap: New Categories, Geographies & Brand Building

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