Shark Tank India 2 Exclusive! Snitch: The value Sharks bring in mattered more than the valuation

Snitch is one brand on Shark Tank India season 2 which is the only brand ever on Shark Tank India to get all the Sharks to invest in the brand. We caught up with them to understand more about their thought process in men’s fashion and what joining hands with the Sharks is like among other things. We also interacted with them about their plans of expanding in the international market and if there’s any backup plan in case things go south.

Excerpts from the interview…

I think you are the first to demand that all the Sharks invest in your brand and make it happen. Did it seem possible when you were out there?

Thank you. For me, I was very clear when I went in that I want all five of them. Each one of them bring in a different kind of expertise. Peyush has built technology, Anupam has built businesses from the scratch, Namita has cracked the international market, Vineeta brings in a lot of B2C experience and Aman obviously is the marketing guru. Together, a combination of five would help us explore this business. Thus, I was extremely keen and clear that if we go in, I need all five.

While you have created fashion for men, do you think many will be open to changing their style? Because since ages, women have been the fashionable one and men have stuck to a few clothes. Did you go into that research and what did you realize from there?

Absolutely bang on point that men have a very stereotype kind of dressing but what the digital era did - post 2000 - a lot of transformation happened. I used to stand at fashion stores for hours just to observe what men would pick up to try and understand the entire market and the mindset of men. While doing that, I was pretty sure that things would change thanks to Instagram, Tinder and the apps. People did not want to repeat their clothes. You go to anyone's Instagram feed and you'd see that people are not posting pictures of even the same clothes that they wear because somebody has already seen that. With Tinder, everyone wants the right swipe. Clothing plays a very big part in your entire outcome as a person you are. We felt that we need to change this and our timing was bang on. Thanks to COVID-19, a lot of people spent a lot of time on social media. Offline was shut and thus, we got easy customers early on. We capitalised on the same thereon.

What is it about your brand that sets it apart from the others?

We have three elements - one is the core product which is the plains, which contributes to about 23% of our revenue, then we have the oversized t-shirts and one is towards the fashion space where we play with a lot of different fabrics and bold prints. It is a combination of everything which is why our conversation rate is tremendous, right? We're at 2.5-2.8% in terms of conversion whereas typical fashion brands would have less than 1% conversion. The reason for it is because we have something for everything.

You said that you want to tap into international markets but men there are already more fashionable than Indians. So, wouldn't you think the brand should be focused upon and grown in India?

True. Like I said even in the pitch, we want to be the number one fashion brand in India and then take it global. That is how it is going to be. Globally also if you see, 50% plus of the apparels that the global brand sellers, are produced in India. It means India has great potential and I strongly believe not only the next decade but century belongs to India. If we go with the kind of design like this and at the price point that we would offer, we would be very big and tough competitors to our own top national brands.

If you were a consumer of Snitch, what would be the one reason you think you'd come back to buy the brand?

The number one thing is product. If your product is not right, no matter how much you spend on marketing, people are not going to buy it. The number one thing focus and because of my 10 plus years experience in apparel, I understand what kind of quality standards we maintain. The second obviously is customer experience. From day one, we've been a customer-obsessed brand. We've done everything that would make a customer happy. If we're told our returns and exchange will be hassle-free, give refunds at the doorstep, have an entirely beautiful CSM. The third and biggest factor is the price point at which we offer these services. When you're competing with a Myntra, Amazon, Flipkart or Ajio, tech and your customer experience needs to be very seamless. That's what we've always been focusing on and that's why people love us. They know they're not going to be cheated and will get what they see.

While there is demand for your brand currently, that might not be the case always. Do you have a plan in place in case things go south?

I'm a very positive person. I really don't think about the negative impacts. Whenever something negative happened, we made sure to convert it to something positive, right. We were a B2B brand, COVID happened and we went online. So, when the situation comes, we'll optimise ourself to that situation and not really think everyday that what if something happens. I'm a very positive guy by nature who believes everything is in your control. If you're doing the things that you know the best, then I don't think anything will stop you.

Where do you see Snitch grow from here on?

We're taking it one day at a time. We had set a target of hitting at least 92 crores in terms of ARR. We already crossed 130-140 crores before the episode aired. Last month, we did about 11 crores revenue. It is at 9 crores now, after the pitch. It's grown at least 30% already. Obviously, the Shark Tank India episode will help us get a lot of credibility as a brand and values the five Sharks bring in. Their value mattered more than the valuation.