Archies’ Executive Director, Varun Moolchandani unveils the brands foray into quick commerce, Mondelez partnership and next-gen marketing anticipating strong growth along with the fiscal future in an exclusive conversation with BW Retail World
As Valentine’s week gears up, the brand is all set to infuse the season of love with a touch of warmth and celebration, especially with innovative approaches among the newer generation.
Varun Moolchandani, Executive Director, Archies, shares insights into the company’s achievements and its strategic approach for the upcoming Valentine’s Day.
Embracing Quick Commerce
In a conversation about the changing retail landscape, Moolchandani discusses Archie’s evolution from being primarily offline to strategically embracing online platforms. The Covid-19 pandemic catalysed this shift, prompting the unveiling of the brand’s official ecommerce portal.
On the introduction of quick commerce partnerships, Moolchandani asserted, “Around four months back, we had a huge tie-up with quick commerce giants like BlinkIt, Swiggy’s Instamart and now Zepto and the response we have seen, we have never heard of.”
“The orders and reorders we are getting are totally encouraging for our brand. We are very happy”, he adds.
Moolchandani further expressed that entering the ecommerce realm and offering ten-minute deliveries was a concept they never envisioned for Archies. “January has been our highest-grossing month of all time”, he affirmed.
Their product range, traditionally treated as everyday items akin to FMCG products has now been transcending and being accessible to the consumers at the doorstep within just ten minutes.
On the expansion of the partnership with Quick Commerce, Moolchandani expressed, “We’ll have a full year belt from April’24 till March’25 to evaluate and see how more it can be expanded in terms of number, growth, quantity, sales.”
Partnership with Mondelez
Moolchandani sheds light on Archies recent partnership with Mondelez, stating, “The whole idea here is the impact of sales going to be amazing because we have only tied up with Mondelez as far as their Cadbury sub-brand and then Silk and other variants coming into with exclusive gift packs.”
The collaboration aims to position Cadbury’s as an exclusive gifting product in Archies stores, offering customers specially curated gift sets.
He explains that the move transforms Cadbury into a premium gifting product SKU tailored for Archies customers, marking a significant milestone. “The promising numbers we’ve observed for Cadbury’s offerings already indicate future milestones and success for us”, adds Moodchandani.
Targeting the Next Gen
Archies introduces its mascot, AMA the giraffe, designed to appeal to children aged four to eleven.
“The whole idea is for the kids to be aware of our brand, through our merchandise of AMA, through our ground promotions of AMA”, underlines Moolchandani.
Moolchandani explains the marketing initiatives around AMA, including offline store promotions and the launch of exclusive merchandise, creating a lasting connection with young consumers.
Celebrating 45 Years; Plans for the Fiscal Year and Beyond
As Archies approaches its 45th year in business, Moolchandani shares the company’s excitement about the upcoming celebrations. The executive director provides a glimpse into the brand’s plans for the fiscal year, indicating a strong rebound and a positive outlook for the future.
He states, “We’ve bounced back and by this year’s end of Q4, once it closes, I think we should be in a very front seat and prepared and planned for the next financial year as the kind of response we’ve got in January. As a whole company, we are very excited to see the levels of growth shoot up again.”
