“Fashion is all about YOU – about the art of expressing yourself. Keeping that in mind, we at Urbano create fashion trends that allow you to be who you are!”
Hyderabad, Telangana [India] : Staying true to this mantra, Urbano Fashion has become one of India’s fastest growing private labels in the online fashion space. Run by its parent company Imperial Online Services Private Limited, the brand has catered to over 2.5 million customers in the last 4 years. Urbano produces unique fashion for Men, Women and Kids under the brand names Urbano Fashion, Urbano Women and Urbano Juniors respectively. The company recently ventured into the plus size segment as well with their brand Urbano Plus, which is garnering strong positive reviews from customers.
URBANO’S GROWTH STORY
Established in 2016 with a handful of styles of jeans and jackets doing a monthly business of 3000 units, Urbano has now grown to encompass a myriad of subcategories in clothing including jeans, t-shirts, shirts, trousers, track pants, shorts, winter wear and more. In the recent festive season sales, the company clocked sales of 3.5 lac units over 2 months, and has been experiencing a strong YoY growth of 40%, despite the challenges faced due to Covid-19.
THE TEAM
The success of Urbano can be greatly attributed to its team of young go-getters, who sync well together in their processes from R&D to fulfillment.
Mohammed Saadulla, Director of Sales and Marketing, leads the sales, marketing and business development aspects of the business. With an MBA from SIBM Pune and 4 years of category management experience at Snapdeal under his belt, he understands the online market dynamics like few others would.
Naheed Muqeetulla, Director of Finance and Sourcing, handles the financial and compliance aspects of the business and also leads the design and sourcing teams for Urbano’s range of clothing. A Gold Medalist in Accounting and Economics, she is also currently pursuing an entrepreneurship course at IIM-Bangalore.
Sameer Masarath, in his capacity as Director of Operations, manages the daily operations, order processing and fulfillment for the company. His experience as Retail Manager at JC Penney in the United States has enabled him to bring various operational efficiency measures to the organization.
Mohammed Naveedulla, Director of Supply Chain, is responsible for ensuring a robust supply chain network. Having an experience of 3 years at Ernst and Young, he has a keen understanding of how to efficiently distribute inventory across multiple channels and regions to maximize sales.
WHY URBANO?
The key factor for Urbano’s growth has been the brand’s understanding of latest trends, the fashion aspirations of their customers and the pulse of the market. Urbano’s collection is a perfect blend of comfort, style and quality with designs inspired from global runways and tweaked to cater to Indian sensibilities.
“We ensure that our customers get exactly what they’re looking for, and more. Our focus is always on offering fresh styles that few other brands are able to offer, while maintaining consistency in quality. This has been our greatest USP that delights our customers and keeps them coming back to us”, says Naheed Muqeetulla, Director of Finance and Sourcing.
GO-TO-MARKET AND FUTURE PLANS
While Urbano products are currently available on leading online marketplaces including Myntra, Amazon, Flipkart and Limeroad, the company has recently launched its own website www.urbanofashion.com. The team wants to harness its existing loyal customer base by offering them an even wider range of apparel through the website, while also enabling faster delivery and hassle-free returns. Customers can now seamlessly browse the entire Urbano collection at one place, while also availing multiple benefits like exclusive access to new styles, Urbano loyalty points, secure payments, express delivery and COD.
When asked about future growth plans, Saadulla stated, “Urbano plans to expand its omni-channel presence and increase the offline business share. We are also in talks to venture into international markets, including the USA and the MENA regions. The company is also in the process of expanding into new categories of accessories, shoes and bags.