BBOLD Lingerie AND More

In a city like Bengaluru, where businesses are largely driven by online marketing and e-commerce, we noticed a sensual attractive lingerie shop called ‘BBOLD- Lingerie And More‘ had opened which we knew we had to visit this.
Four partners from the retail industry with exposure to categories in Food & FMCG had no day to day connect with managing Lingerie or Apparel. But they still chose to enter this industry from their broad understanding of the gap in the market. As they were all working and primarily belonged to the salaried class they could not really afford to break away from their regular jobs and more so the idea of doing something was driven from the fact that they wanted to put together a model that would keep some of the spouses and mom’s busy. What started as a mere concept to keep family engaged got them on a path that made them realize the huge gap and opportunity that existed in this industry.

They had extensively researched the lingerie segment by spending a lot of time in different stores and by surveying a lot of customers, one thing that came across strongly was Lingerie in India was still a subject that many women were not very comfortable about , there was a lot of shyness associated with a category that was a basic need, their intent was to make “her” realize that she needs to get Bold on this subject and not shy away and thus emerged the name “BBold” The concept behind BBold is to satisfy the hidden need in every mind to find the right fit fashion and style.

Reviewing the store.
BBold has been operational from September 2013 and is situated at a prime location, CMR Rd, HRBR Layout 2nd Block, Sena Vihar, Kalyan Nagar, Bengaluru. The store is around 1000 sq feet store catering exclusively to women needs. Reviewing the interiors, the owners chose jet black with a hint of red for the walls and floor. Black makes a powerful stylish statement without being loud or busy. Modern black tiles cover the entire floor. Black invigorates a room with its grand aptitude for making a statement. All the products are neatly hung on in-built shelves categorically. The natural lighting enhances the effect of the dark walls whilst still managing to showcase a good view to each product.

The in-store has two trial rooms, two staff members and one store in charge. the staff girls have been given uniforms in line with their store color which is black and deep pink. The store head is the cashier.

The brands are available : Lingerie- Enamor, Soie, Bwitch , Triumph , Amante, Jockey & Trylo. Women’s Sleepwear Brands- Bbold, Enamor, Valentine and Swimwear brands- Bbold. Women’s Lingerie Brands- Rs 399 – Rs 1999, Women’s Sleepwear Brands- Rs.299- Rs 2999 and Swimwear brands- BBold – Rs 999 – Rs 2999.

Unsatisfactory products are refundable and returnable, as they believe in enhancing customer experience and the moment you reduce your number of conditions the customer is far more comfortable , except for Panties due to hygiene issues they exchange all purchases as long as the product is intact with tag and packaging. BBold accepts all cards excluding American Express.

“Today feeling good from within seems to have gained far more importance than before. Right fit has become the key factor to increase confidence.” says, Mathew A Kallarackal.

We sat down with Mathew A Kallarackal BBold for a tete a tete

How would you describe the in- store design of BBold store?

BBold was designed keeping customer comfort in mind , the feedback we received from most customers was that they were very unhappy that this segment was mostly serviced by men . we ensured that we have only women staff in the store, we also understood that some women prefer to visit the store with their spouses or partners and hence we opted for a two level store where we kept generic categories like sportswear and sleepwear at the upper level where men could wait while their partners shopped and kept the brassieres and panties on the lower level so women could enjoy their privacy. We focused on displays by segment and not brands as customers while driven by brand usually shopped for specific needs which normally when displayed brand wise does not showcase width of the segment. This way a customer clearly knows how many options are available in a padded bra or in a T-shirt Bra. Two segments which we realized are not catered to as a destination were Teens & Brides, we have done up both the areas differently keeping in mind the target customer.

LNL : Why did you choose this area?
BB: The main reason to choose HRBR Kalyan Nagar as the location was because it had the potential to be the next emerging Indira Nagar of Bengaluru, rentals were apt and competition when we started was almost nil.

LnL : How did you approach collaborating other brands to be sold under the name BBold store?
BB: We shared our vision & business plan, most brands on seeing our concept had involved their senior management for the discussion. We can proudly say that we have received many compliments on being among the top 5 multi brand stand alone lingerie stores in the country which gives us immense joy.

LNL : Where are you products manufactured?
BB: Basis the current scale we are not into manufacturing yet but are sourcing white labels from into manufacturing our own line once the market and promoting them under the BBold brand. We will definitely get into manufacturing our own line of products once the scale goes up.

LNL : What are consumers looking for in lingerie and nightwear according to you? What changes have you seen in consumer behavior and demand?
BB: Customers today have become more Bold inspired by BBold , today we definitely see customers willing to experiment with different styles , there was a time when bras were treated like one type suits all attires but today that has completely changed , we see people shopping basis the activity, they want to wear a different bra for a sari , something different to exercise in or something else for a T-Shirt, the industry has also been creating awareness which is leading to an increase in demand.

A few years ago you could easily classify which kind of lady would opt for which type of lingerie but today you will be surprised to see that women from all walks of life are driven to wanting to feel sexy and beautiful.

LNL : How do you decide which brands to stock?
BB: We are active on Instagram & pintrest and also subscribe to a lot of online mailers from the lingerie segment. This helps us identify trends which in turn enables purchase decisions

LNL : Which brand is in more demand? name top 4 selling brands…
BB : At Bbold we sell a lot of night wear and Bbold is the leader in that segment. There is a lot of traction for Enamor Bwitch & Jockey.

LNL : How large is the innerwear market in India and at what rate is it growing? What are the factors contributing to this growth?
BB: The womens inner wear market is around 12000 Cr and is growing at about 15%. The industry has evolved drastically with many more segment additions like active wear, sport wear and has also evolved to being more of a fashion led category than basic need based.

LNL : Any plans for expansion? new stores?
BB: Yes we definitely intend to expand both online & offline, we have been approaching a lot of Angle Investors and are hoping to find our Angel soon.