We all have seen and been through the social discomfort women go through, when it comes to buying lingerie in India, especially in smaller towns. However, those days are gone, and one company has played a major role in bringing this change — Zivame. Founded in 2011, Zivame today is helping women uninhibitedly shop for intimate wear.

Apart from its online platforms, app, and website, Zivame is also present on other online market spaces like Myntra, Amazon, and Flipkart. Furthermore, apart from being the fastest growing brand in this space, it is also the largest online player at present. In April this year, the company hit close to 70% plus growth rate; there is no other player that has achieved this in the category, and it is on track to almost doubling up that this year as well.

In order to know more about Zivame and how the company is battling it out to become the leader in the space, we got in touch with Anuj Gupta, Chief Revenue Officer at Zivame, who has been with Zivame for over two years now.

Role Of Data At Zivame

Data science over the years has helped a significant number of companies as well as industries, and it is one of the major aspects at Zivame as well. The data science team focuses on various kinds of business problems starting from the consumer-faced problems to problems that are under efficiency like merchandising.

Furthermore, this retail company has technology at its DNA, “We are a tech-first company. Because of our technology DNA, we started taping data side with artificial intelligence. And it was based on very strong foundations.”

However, the company had to make some little changes such as changes on some of the architectural features — going from mobile to microservices, which makes it easier for some of these data science pieces to put in. Anuj also said that It does not affect the efficiency of the platform, it remains fast no matter what the amount of computation that is happening.

Gupta also shared how data has been playing a vital role in delivering the best product. Being a company that deals with lingerie, the single biggest job for Zivame is to design products that fit well and are comfortable. This is a problem which was extremely under-serviced in this category till now.

Zivame has something called “Fit Code”. It is a system that uses past data and could predict 2 to 4 different body profile data. When a consumer comes to Zivame’s platform, they have to answer some very simple questions. As they continuously answer, the company tries to segment them through its market algorithm. “Till now, we have come up with 300 specific body profiles through our Fit Code,” said Gupta. “Also, we continuously keep on modifying and adding to these body sizes to help customers find the best fit.” 

Further, once the profiling is done, then it starts personalizing their experience on the platform. For example, if you go on the platform and if you go for the Fit Code product and then when you go back to the realistic ratings, you will find that you have a bra which can be your size.

“What’s the fascinating thing about the Fit Code is that no woman has to even measure herself, to get to her size or find out about her right figure. We study your fit and size without you ever having to pick up the measuring tape and measure yourself,” Gupta added.

Filling The Void

One of the major gaps for a consumer is the rudimentary nature of the shopping experience. There are many brands that have offline stores and the person that attends a customer is a man, and sometimes, it gets extremely awkward to have a conversation about lingerie and size and age. And when asked how Zivame is filling the void, Gupta said, “Apart from Zivame, there is no other brand which has tried to build this conversation through our brand campaigns.”

Another void is the product itself — many brands they just pick up any kind of material which comes cheap to them. They get large stocks and make a product for the consumer, which they can successfully sell for a higher price. “We are not in that space. We are in the game of giving the consumer the right size and the right fit and the right frame for her body,” said Gupta “In Zivame, there is a working team that provide lingerie with the best quality and that fits well.”

The Hiring Phase

As the conversation kept going, we also asked about the company’s hiring strategy. The first and foremost thing that Zivame look for in a candidate is the ability to fit in with the company’s culture, “Because Zivame probably is the most exciting thing that has happened in lingerie in the past two decades in this country.”

For jobs in data science-related roles, Zivame needs candidates who have a strong hands-on fundamental knowledge as well as computer learning tools. They also need to keep updated with all the latest things happening in the space. “We also look at whether they are then hands-on or not. In terms of over-all, they need to have a problem-solving mechanism because, eventually, that sometimes becomes a major requirement,” Gupta added.

Furthermore, the company doesn’t have a bent towards hiring only from a specific kind of colleges. When Zivame is hiring, they look for certain characteristics and a certain kind of problem-solving mindset and a certain kind of culture-fit.

Roadmap Ahead

Going forward, the goal for the company is to continue to grow at a rapid speed that it has been going on, along with working the consumer experience side from the technology front and also from the omnichannel front. 

“We want to give the consumer standardized Zivame sales across different platforms. No matter what platform you go to, it is the same Zivame experience,” Gupta concluded. “So if you navigate to go to our stores, you have an endless aisle. You can order anything and immediately, and can get it delivered to your home. This is a standardized experience.”