Are You Disrupting The Next Decade Of Shopping?

The internet ecosystem and evolving consumer have made new business models viable and have led to the emergence of the direct-to-consumer (D2C) distribution channel. Today, India is witnessing the rise of D2C brands across categories and is estimated to become a USD 100 Bn addressable market by 2025. We expect high levels of funding activity in this space, increasing with passage of time, as more successful D2C outcomes will validate the hypothesis for newer capital deployment. It’s the David v/s Goliath play in the consumer space as challenger brands try to dethrone the legacy brands taking the digital first approach. In the ensuing pages, meet The Makers Co. at Entrepreneur as we take a deep dive into the world of consumer brands.

- Punita Sabharwal

The Dream Catcher

The idea of the venture was generated when Ankit a co-founder of the venture went for mattress hunting and was baffled by the prices. The research and finding answers led to the conclusion that the mattress companies weren’t making much profit even though the prices were high as the margins were distributed between different middlemen and hence, Wakefit.co was formed. According to the co-founder of Wakefit.co Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, the best thing about being a D2C brand is the transparency it provides. The company is held responsible for any faulty product or a product that is not up to the standard of the consumer but the same cannot be said for offline brands as they can afford to neglect 10 consumers and still make adequate profit since the blame is distributed amongst the middlemen as well. Learnings that were realised overtime by the co-founders were to make simple promises but those open in public domain which kept the policies of the brand transparent and made it stick to the promises.

Chaitanya says, “Failed ventures teach you a lot of humility”. He started Wakefit.co with Ankit Garg at the back of two failed entrepreneurial ventures. Wakefit.co was Chaitanya’s third startup whereas it was Ankit’s second. From being a management consultant to an entrepreneur, the journey was not easy. He explains that being a management consultant requires one to have a point-of-view whereas being an entrepreneur is completely the opposite. The thought behind his venture was that they wanted to be lead by the customers.