Yepme

Last updated

Yepme (Currently known as Fraud company)
Yepme logo.png
Type of businessPrivate (Fraud)
Type of site
 E-commerce Fraud
Available in English
Headquarters Gurgaon, Haryana, India
Area servedIndia
Industry Online shopping & Online Services
URL www.yepme.com/Yepme.com

Yepme was an online shopping company headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It was established in April 2011. [1] The company specialized in the online retailing of men's and women's garments and accessories. In August 2011, the company positioned itself as a fully-fledged private label fashion brand. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Yepme.com, was launched in April 2011 by Vivek Gaur, Sandeep Sharma and Anand Jadhav. Gaur (CEO) has experience building successful online companies like Bagittoday.com and has also held senior positions in marketing and sales with HT Media Ltd, Living Media and Hindustan Unilever Ltd. [1] [3] Sharma, the founder/COO and CTO, is an e-commerce, technology and operations specialist having held senior positions with Accenture, Sapient, SBI Capital Markets and HCL Technologies. [3] Jadhav (president) is a merchandising and supply chain expert and has worked with leading apparel retailers including Shoppers' Stop, Globus, Pantaloon and Reliance Trends. [3]

According to an interview with Gaur on Bloomberg UTV, in 2010 the founders saw huge growth potential in India's online shopping market, which was then dominated by the online travel sector. [4] [5] Having started its operations as an online apparel retailer, in August 2011 Yepme.com decided to focus on private label fashion-wear instead of branded apparel. [6] Seeing larger brands handing over end-of-lifecycle products to online retailers (purportedly to avoid disparity between shop and online prices) the founders decided to promote the Yepme brand as private label apparel brand. [6]

Funding

Yepme.com raised Series A investment from Helion Ventures Partners, an India-focused, early to mid-stage venture fund. [4] [7] In August 2012, Business Today reported that Yepme has raised 9 million[ clarification needed ] in total from Helion Venture Partners and a California-based investor. [8] In September 2015, Yepme raised $75 million from investors led by Malaysian state fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Operations

The main target customer for Yepme.com is tier 2 and tier 3 towns, where the big apparel brands do not have many retail stores. [1] [9] According to Hindu Business Line , of the 13,000 orders that Yepme.com received in July and August 2011, about 69 per cent were from about 500 tier 2 and tier 3 towns, with the rest coming from six major cities. [9] About 35 per cent of the site orders are from places not serviced by courier companies and can only be reached through India Post. [9]

According to Yepme's COO Sandeep Sharma; since around 70 per cent of Yepme's shipments are going to the smaller towns and the company is providing a Hindi language option on its website. [8] Currently besides Hindi, customers at Yepme.com can also shop in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam & Kannada. [10]

In the October 2011 edition of Business Today , it was reported that Yepme.com attracts over 21,000 male shoppers daily, and of that, about 1,000 visitors place at least one order on the site. [11] In August 2012, Business Today reported that around 49 per cent of Yepme's 200,000 customers so far have gone back to it a second time. [8]

The brand is targeting a turnover of $25 million in its first year of operations and plans to scale the revenues to over $500 million in the following 3–4 years. [1] [12]

As of March 2018 Yepme.com has fired 90 percent of its staff and the company is looking to windup its business and file for bankruptcy. As reported by many ex-employees and vendors their dues are still pending and company is least interested in paying them. A group of ex-employees stated they even reached the labour court and the company provided cheques, which bounced later.

Marketing

In April 2012, Yepme awarded the advertising and creative duties of the brand Yepme.com, to Lowe Lintas & Partners. Following a further multi-agency pitch, Yepme gave its media planning and buying duties to Lintas Media Group. Yepme plans to spend Rs 30-35 crore annually on media and, according to Gaur, plans to advertise on general entertainment channels, movie and music channels. The print campaign will be carried out in the vernacular newspapers. [13] The TV commercials of Yepme.com that began to be broadcast in June 2012, almost tripled its daily page views. [14]

Yepme awarded its performance marketing duties to Tyroo Direct in July 2012. Tyroo Direct is expected to drive transactions for Yepme.com and to cater to its customers across metropolitan areas, tier 2 and tier 3 towns. [12]

Yepme.com became the first Indian online retailer to organize a fashion show. The show was organized at The Ashok Hotel in New Delhi on 13 August 2011, with India's top male models including Dino Morea, Rajneesh Duggal, Rahul Dev and Shawar Ali. [2]

The company gives heavy emphasis to social media marketing and has found good success, having attracted over 4.4 million fans to its fan page on Facebook. [14] [15]

Yepme launched its women's wear collection in the beginning of June 2012 during its fashion show in New Delhi. Kangana Ranaut, the style ambassador for Yepme, launched the collection categorised into office formals, smart casuals, party wear and fusion ranges. [16] [17]

In December 2012, Yepme.com was covered by Forbes, India magazine as one of the top five start-ups to watch out for. [18]

Starcount.com ranked yepme.com on No.14 among online retail brands globally. [19]

April 2014, Farhan Akhtar becomes Brand Ambassador for Yepme.com. He will be featured in a Music Video, to be released soon. This will be used to market the brand across all Internet and broadcast media platforms. [20]

In June 2014, Sonu Sood has been roped in as the brand ambassador for leading online shopping portal Yepme.com. Sonu will be endorsing 'Activewear'- Yepme's sportswear line that includes the latest in men's fashion such as Crew neck tees, Polos, Muscle tees, workout Vests, Tracksuits and Sports shoes. [21]

In June 2014, Bollywood actress Esha Gupta endorsed Yepme's women's wear line in a new television commercial featuring Yepme's latest Spring-Summer Collection 2014.[ citation needed ] Yepme's association with Farhan Akhtar and Esha gupta has contributed in increasing their followers on Facebook to 6 million, which is the highest for an e-commerce website in India. [22]

In November 2014, Yepme is planning to expand and take its home-grown brand global. Yepme entered the US market earlier this year with the launch of Yepmeworld.com and is also selling its products on Amazon in the US [23]

December 2014, the company signed Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan as their new brand ambassador. Yepme has introduced Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador, through a newly launched television ad highlighting #freshfashion as a tagline for its Autumn-Winter collection’14. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H&M</span> Swedish multinational clothing-retail company

Hennes & Mauritz AB or H&M Group is a multinational clothing company based in Sweden that focuses on fast-fashion clothing for anyone, any gender. As of 23 June, 2022, H&M Group operated in 75 geographical markets with 4,801 stores under the various company brands, with 107,375 full-time equivalent positions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PLBY Group</span> US global media and lifestyle company

PLBY Group, Inc. is an American global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Hefner as Playboy Enterprises, Inc. to oversee the Playboy magazine and related assets. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PacSun</span> American retail clothing brand

Pacific Sunwear of California, LLC is an American retail clothing brand. The company sells lifestyle apparel, along with swim, footwear and accessories designed for teens and young adults. As of 2022, the company operates 325 stores in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. PacSun is headquartered in Anaheim, California, and operates a distribution center in Groveport, Ohio. The company's regional directors, district managers and store positions are located throughout the United States. The company went bankrupt in April 2016 and is now owned by Golden Gate Capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provogue</span> Indian clothing and accessories retailer

Provogue is an Indian clothing and accessories retailer based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was launched in 1997 as a menswear fashion brand for contemporary clothing. Over the years the brand has expanded its collection of men’s and women’s fashion apparel and accessories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Group</span> Indian fashion retailing company

Raymond Group is an Indian branded fabric and fashion retailer, incorporated in 1925. It produces suiting fabric, with a capacity of producing 31 million meters of wool and wool-blended fabrics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Barnett Ltd</span>

Arthur Barnett Ltd, trading as Arthur Barnett and often referred to as Arthur Barnett's, was a department store in Dunedin, New Zealand. Established in 1903 by Arthur Barnett the store first began as a drapery for men and boys, progressing over the years to become one of Dunedin's most successful department stores. As well as their flagship George Street store, Arthur Barnett had stores in Balclutha, Alexandra, Oamaru, and Christchurch. They also briefly had a branch in Melbourne which operated from 1970 to 1977. This branch sold mainly carpeting and furniture. The final Arthur Barnett store and its online store was taken over by Invercargill-based department store chain H & J Smith in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mango (retailer)</span> Spanish clothing company

Punto Fa, S.L., trading as Mango, is a Spanish clothing design and manufacturing company, founded in Barcelona, Spain, by brothers Isak Andic and Nahman Andic. It designs, manufactures and markets women's and men's clothing and accessories.

Social commerce is a subset of electronic commerce that involves social media and online media that supports social interaction, and user contributions to assist online buying and selling of products and services.

Future Group is an Indian conglomerate, founded by Kishore Biyani and based in Mumbai. The company is known in Indian retail and fashion sectors, operating supermarket chains Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores Brand Factory and Central, integrated foods and FMCG manufacturing sectors. Future Retail Limited and Future Lifestyle Fashions Limited are two operating companies whose assets are among the top retail companies listed in BSE, with market capitalization among the highest on the National Stock Exchange of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flipkart</span> Indian e-commerce company

Flipkart Private Limited is an Indian e-commerce company, headquartered in Bangalore, and incorporated in Singapore as a private limited company. The company initially focused on online book sales before expanding into other product categories such as consumer electronics, fashion, home essentials, groceries, and lifestyle products.

Jabong.com was an Indian fashion and lifestyle e-commerce portal founded by Praveen Sinha, Lakshmi Potluri, Arun Chandra Mohan and Manu Kumar Jain. In July, 2016 Flipkart acquired Jabong through its unit Myntra for about $70 million. In February 2020, Flipkart formally shut down Jabong to shift focus completely on its premium clothing platform Myntra. The portal sold apparel, footwear, fashion accessories, beauty products, fragrances, home accessories and other fashion and lifestyle products. The company's headquarter was in Gurugram, NCR, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yebhi</span> Indian online shopping portal

trybhi.com is an Indian E-commerce portal for home, lifestyle and fashion, launched in the year 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mindy Grossman</span> American businesswoman

Mindy Grossman is the former CEO of WW International. The Financial Times listed her in the Top 50 Women In World Business in 2010 and 2011, and she was ranked among Forbes' 100 Most Powerful Women In The World for the years 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013. In 2014 she was ranked 22 in Fortune's Top People in Business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lifestyle (department store)</span> Indian fashion brand

Originating in India in 1999, Lifestyle is a retail fashion brand which comes under Dubai-based retail and hospitality conglomerate, the Landmark Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ShopClues</span> Indian online marketplace

ShopClues is an Indian online marketplace, owned by Clues Network Pvt. Ltd. The company was established in July 2011 by Sanjay Sethi, Sandeep Aggarwal and Radhika Aggarwal. In 2015, ShopClues was valued at US$1.1 billion, with Tiger Global, Helion Ventures, and Nexus Venture Partners as major investors. In 2019, the company was acquired by Singapore-based Qoo10 in an all-stock deal valued at approximately US$70 million, representing one of the largest valuation meltdowns for an Indian-based startup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonobos (apparel)</span> American apparel company

Bonobos is an e-commerce-driven apparel company that designs and sells menswear including men's suits, trousers, denim, shirts, shorts, swimwear, outerwear, and accessories. The company was founded by Stanford Business School students Andy Dunn and Brian Spaly, and launched as an online retailer in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arvind (company)</span> Indian textile company

Arvind Limited is a textile manufacturer and the flagship company of the Lalbhai Group. Its headquarters are in Naroda, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, and it has units at Santej. The company manufactures cotton shirting, denim, knits and bottomweight (khaki) fabrics. It has also recently ventured into technical textiles with its Advanced Materials Division in 2011. It is India's largest denim manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolls Kill</span> American online fashion retailer

Dolls Kill is a global online fashion brand. The company was named the "Fastest Growing Retailer" in 2014 by Inc. magazine, which also included Dolls Kill as one of the "top companies in San Francisco". Dolls Kill operates a retail website that sells clothing, shoes and accessories and features six collections showcased by "Dolls", models that embody character personas for each collection's style. Dolls Kill is known for featuring kawaii, punk, goth, streetwear and festival fashions. Since 2018 it has also licensed and operated the 1990s brand Delia's as a sub-label.

Craftsvilla is an Indian e-commerce portal that sells ethnic apparel, footwear, fashion accessories, beauty products, handcrafted home accessories and other ethnic fashion and lifestyle products. The company is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

<i>Highsnobiety</i> Online music magazine

Highsnobiety is a global fashion and lifestyle media brand founded in 2005 by David Fischer. It was bought by German e-commerce giant Zalando in 2022. Highsnobiety is headquartered in Berlin and has offices in Amsterdam, London, Milan, New York, Los Angeles and Sydney.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sai Prasanna. "Online fashion brand Yepme to raise $7-12 mn", Exchange4Media, 8 November 2011. Retrieved on 14 December 2011.
  2. 1 2 Fashion & Beauty correspondent "India's first online fashion brand showcases private label" Archived 25 January 2013 at archive.today , Hindustan Times , New Delhi, 16 August 2011. Retrieved on 14 December 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Company Website "Yepme Management", Yepme.com, Gurgoan, Retrieved on 14 December 2011.
  4. 1 2 Buzzing Businesses on Final Word Segment. "Telecast Video", "Bloomberg UTV", Broadcast 20 October 2011. Retrieved on 14 December 2011.
  5. ↑ Final Word episode on Bloomberg UTV. "About Final Word Episodes", "Bloomberg UTV". Retrieved on 14 December 2011.
  6. 1 2 Anjali Prayag "Private Labels click well with e-tailers", Hindu Business Line, 13 October 2011. Retrieved on 14 December 2011.
  7. ↑ Helion Venture Partners "Helion Venture Capital Portfolio", Helion Ventures Website, Retrieved on 14 December 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 Taslima Khan "If you've got it, flaunt it", Business Today, 19 August 2012. Retrieved on 31 August 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 Anjali Prayag "Bollywood Aspirations Fuel Yepme's Sales", Hindu Business Line , 20 September 2011. Retrieved on 14 December 2011.
  10. ↑ Yepme Home Page , Yepme.com, Retrieved on 31 August 2012.
  11. ↑ Hitani Kaur "Click to the Checkout Counter", Business Today, 2 October 2011. Retrieved on 14 December 2011.
  12. 1 2 "Advertising News, Latest Advertising News, Advertising Agencies Updates and Trending Topics - Exchange4media - Exchange4media". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  13. ↑ Shibani Gharat "Yepme aligns business with Lintas; LMG to manage media duties", Afaqs.com on 30 May 2012, Retrieved on 31 August 2012.
  14. 1 2 Fivepoint5 "YEPME.COM – INDIA'S FIRST ONLINE FASHION BRAND", Fivepoint5, Retrieved on 25 June 2012.
  15. ↑ Facebook Page "Yepme's Facebook Fan Page", Facebook, Retrieved on 8 January 2012.
  16. ↑ Indian Express Videos "Yepme launches its Women Wear", Indian Express, Retrieved on 31 August 2012.
  17. ↑ Images Fashion News "Online retailer Yepme forays into womenswear segment", ImagesFashion, Retrieved on 31 August 2012.
  18. ↑ Rohin Dharmakumar."5 startups to watch", forbesindia, Retrieved on 26 December 2012.
  19. ↑ ."online retail chart", starcount, Retrieved on 29 October 2012.
  20. ↑ "Farhan Akhtar Partners Yepme.com ( Brand Owners: Vas Data Services Private Limited ) as Its Brand Ambassador". Reuters (Press release). 17 April 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014.[ dead link ]
  21. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/news-interviews/Sonu-Sood-turns-brand-ambassador-for-Yepme/articleshow/33561684.cms
  22. ↑ http://www.afaqs.com/news/story/41538_Yepme-grabs-five-million-followers-on-Facebook
  23. ↑ http://archive.financialexpress.com/news/yepme-plans-to-take-its-private-brands-global/1303423
  24. ↑ http://www.exchange4media.com/58493_yepme-launches-new-tvc-with-brand-ambassador-shah-rukh-khan.html
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.