boAt sees offline sales growth trump online this year

“This year, our growth from offline is going to be much bigger than our growth from online. Offline will be a third of our sales – which is like a big thing for us, because 90% of India still shops offline today,” he said, while speaking at a session at Startup Mahakumbh.

boAt Lifestyle
Speaking about building an electronics brand in India, Gupta noted the need for more brands in the country, that are willing to innovate on distribution, marketing, as well as products. (Representational image: boAt)

Wearables unicorn boAt Lifestyle, a market leader in audio devices and smartwatches, expects to see its sales growth from offline channels exceed that of online channels such as its own website and marketplaces this year, as more consumers still prefer to shop in-person, said its co-founder and marketing head Aman Gupta.

“This year, our growth from offline is going to be much bigger than our growth from online. Offline will be a third of our sales – which is like a big thing for us, because 90% of India still shops offline today,” he said, while speaking at a session at Startup Mahakumbh.

One of the main strategies that has popularised boAt in the audio devices market, particularly in the Truly Wireless Earphones (TWS) and neckband segment, is affordable pricing and attractive discounts on online marketplaces such as Flipkart and Amazon.

However, offline sales of several direct-to-consumer businesses are picking up post pandemic, including that of boAt, as most of them have invested heavily to adopt an omnichannel distribution strategy where they sell in retail stores and exclusive brand outlets, in addition to e-commerce marketplaces and quick commerce apps.

Other than replacing imported components by ones manufactured in India, boAt also doubled down on expanding its physical presence across India since 2022. It currently enjoys a 18% market share among wearable devices or smartwatches and a staggering 42% among audio devices.

In FY22, it had clocked sales of Rs 2,873 crore on a profit of Rs 68.7 crore, while in the last financial year the company had clocked in sales of about Rs 4,000 crore, it had said last year.

Speaking about building an electronics brand in India, Gupta noted the need for more brands in the country, that are willing to innovate on distribution, marketing, as well as products.

“Back when we started nobody was investing in us, there wasn’t much funding in the India electronic sector. The market was majorly offline, however with the advent of digital platforms and social media, brand building and reaching the consumer has been much easier than every before,” he said.  

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This article was first uploaded on March twenty, twenty twenty-four, at forty-one minutes past seven in the morning.
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