Keshwani, Founder and CEO of Libas, says that the brand is looking at around 40 to 50 per cent growth in this financial year, with plans to be at around 70 stores by FY26-end
Highlighting that people are looking for value in whatever amount they are spending, Sidhant Keshwani, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Libas, an ultra-fast fashion brand, has stated that the new-age consumers are value-conscious today. The brand is looking at around 40 to 50 per cent growth in this financial year (FY26), Keshwani told BW Retail World.
In an interview, the Founder highlighted that a rapid offline expansion is currently going on and the brand is looking to be at around close to 70 stores by FY26-end, with the plan to open another 75 to 100 stores next year. He added that while there is still money in the bank, Libas will look at an initial public offering (IPO) in two years’ time, depending on the market and business conditions. Edited Excerpts:
How would you define today’s shoppers when it comes to price sensitivity and choices that they make, especially when you have forayed into quick commerce as well?
Libas has essentially always been known to get the best fashion, the fastest in the country, as well as at great value, so we have always been very pocket-friendly. Today, we are one of the few brands that are selling a product for Rs 500 and also for Rs 20,000 online. We have a good market share across all categories only because people relate us with that even a Rs 1,000 Libas product will be worth Rs 1,000, and a Rs 10,000 Libas product will be worth Rs 10,000. so there is a lot of value add that comes in.
While the new-age consumer is value conscious, they are not price conscious; they are value conscious and that is something that we deliver really efficiently. It’s not like people want to spend only Rs 500 but yes, if they are spending Rs 5,000, they want value worth their Rs 5,000, and that’s what Libas has always been known for.
What is the financial projection for not only this year, but for the next two years?
For last year, the books are not closed yet, the audited numbers are not confirmed to us also currently. But we are projecting that we will be closing it somewhere around Rs 600 to 650 crore. And the next fiscal year, we plan to grow to about 40 to 50 per cent.
Talking about the distribution approach, what is the update around offline expansion? What is the target for this particular year, as well as the near term?
This year, by Diwali, our target is to be at about 50 stores. By the end of this fiscal year, we should be somewhere close to 70 stores, and the next year, the plan is to open another 75 to 100 stores. So, this is a rapid offline expansion that is currently going on. Today, our offline split is 25 per cent of the whole business, 20 to 25 per cent. We want to take that up to 50-50 by next fiscal year.
Can you share updates around fundraising and when are you looking to go public?
We had raised around last year. We still have money in the bank. So, no update as such. But yes, the plan was that in two years’ time, we will look at an initial public offering (IPO) as well, depending on how the market conditions and the business conditions are.
Since the urban centres have dominated the premiumisation trend. Are the non-metros also moving away from extreme price sensitivity today?
Absolutely, with the new age and era of social media, people are looking at trends and how fast as a brand we bring it. Today, if co-ord sets start doing well and if I am bringing it first, there can be co-ord sets depending on fabric, quality, embellishments, etc., and there will be different price customers where people might be okay with only spending Rs 2,000 on a co-ord set, but some might be okay with Rs 5,000. But yes, what is common across is that somebody is spending Rs 2,000 wants Rs 2,000 worth of value from that product, and a Rs 5,000 rupee consumer wants Rs 5,000 rupee worth, so that’s what we see currently as a market trend.
The purple days sale is a biannual event. How difficult is it to bring something new every time around, especially when it is two times a year?
Honestly, that is our job to bring great products. We are a brand that is launching like 75 to 100 new options every week and that is one of the fastest in the country today We are planning to rapidly scale that up even further. We want to go to 500 over the next two to three years. That is the kind of speed that we launch products with. For us, biannually is not a problem. We can do it 10 times a year also, to be honest.
Since you are now available on quick commerce as well, what is the contribution from that segment to the overall sales?
Right now, it is very small. It’s just been two to three months since we started. The thing is that it is not as easy to scale because it is not a channel that you own yourself. There are a lot of inventory issues; you have to send it to dark stores. The process is very long. We are an ecommerce branch so we are used to returns, exchanges and all those things. But essentially, to scale up fast, you need a lot of inventory efficiency. That is what we are trying to build currently.
You also operate internationally. Are there any plans to expand?
Absolutely, rapidly. We want Libas to be one of the first fast fashion brands of Indian wear, and making it a completely global phenomenon.
How are you leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) as well as the technology to personalise consumer behaviour across your platforms?
We are a tech-first company. A lot of internal processes are now moving towards AI. We have multiple warehouses. We are opening our own dark stores also. There will be so many channels, and working on Excel was very painful. So, we have now built tools where, with a single click of a button, we get to know how much inventory, what to send to which warehouse, which dark store, etc.
Then a lot of personalisation on websites are now going to happen through AI. There is a lot of small use cases that we solve. Today, we feel that more than the front-end, we are solving a lot of things at the back-end with AI. Recently, we just launched our new collection, or I think it is about to get launched, where just picking up four to five images, and there is a 30-second video of a product just by AI. So, that is a new technology that is coming. We are going to be launching in the next 15 to 20 days or something.
Since Libas has been in operation for quite some time, who do you consider as your core consumer today and how has that profile evolved over the years?
Essentially, our core consumer is a woman who is aged between 18 to 35 and who is somebody who loves fashion, loves to get new trends. A person who is working, confident, and independent is the consumer persona of Libas. We target a lot of office-going women, corporate, plus college. That is essentially our true core audience.
What is that one big misconception that people always have regarding this particular side of the business?
Earlier, when we started, the misconception was around Indian wear. People had a mindset, they had a vision of what Indian wear is, that old-fashioned clothes, people will sit at the table and show you a sari and all those things. We wanted to completely modernise that. We wanted to be like, why cannot there be a brand like Zara, H&M in the Indian wear space, which is fastest in terms of fashion, where the experience is extremely modern.
