Flipkart-backed logistics startup Shadowfax has converted itself to a public entity, according to regulatory filings with the corporate affairs ministry.

It is a key step ahead of Shadowfax’s plan to file draft papers for its initial public offering (IPO), which could happen in the next three-four months according to people familiar with the matter. The company has appointed ICICI Securities, JM Financial and Morgan Stanley as the bankers for its public offering.

“The company is proposing to undertake an initial public offer… comprising of fresh issuance of equity shares… and an offer for sale by certain existing shareholders of the company, and list the equity shares on one or more of the stock exchanges,” it said in the filing.
Shadowfax’s shareholders approved the proposal at an extraordinary general meeting this month.

The firm, which is also backed by the likes of TPG NewQuest and Mirae Asset, closed a Rs 400 crore funding round led by Edelweiss Discovery Fund, family offices and high-net-worth individuals late last year, doubling its valuation to around Rs 6,000 crore in its last private funding ahead of the potential public listing.

In February, the startup appointed three independent directors on its board – consumer goods veteran Bijou Kurien, early-stage VC fund Synapses’ cofounder Ruchira Shukla and former Mahindra Logistics CEO Pirojshaw Sarkari.

In 2023-24, Shadowfax swung to Ebitda profitability with an operating profit of Rs 23 crore. The Bengaluru-based firm reported a 33% increase in operating revenue to Rs 1,884 crore, while cutting down its net loss by 92% to Rs 12 crore.

With the funding round, Shadowfax aimed to expand its offerings in the buzzy quick commerce sector and has been working as a third-party logistics service provider with firms including Nykaa.

The company has been seeing massive traction from rapid deliveries, with several brands and platforms moving to offer same-day and even faster delivery to customers across the country.

Founded in 2015 by IIT Delhi alumni Abhishek Bansal, Vaibhav Khandelwal, Praharsh Chandra and Gaurav Jaithliya, Shadowfax has transitioned to serving ecommerce clientele such as Meesho from initially being an on-demand logistics provider for food-delivery platforms.

Shadowfax’s move towards its IPO comes at a time when multiple new-age companies are looking to go public. These include ecommerce marketplace Meesho, eyewear retailer Lenskart, manufacturing firm Zetwerk, audio wearables brand Boat, at-home services platform Urban Company, jewellery retailer Bluestone, edtech firm PhysicsWallah and Zomato-backed Shiprocket.

Author Credits: msn

American fashion brand on Monday opened its dedicated Australian e-commerce site, as the New York-based company looks to make further inroads in the southern hemisphere market.

The new online store will offer the full range of Rag & Bone’s men’s and women’s designs to the Australian online shopper, providing e-commerce visitors with an enhanced personalised shopping experience, easy navigation, secure payment options, and improved delivery with the opening of a new local warehouse in Australia.

“We are continually expanding Rag & Bone’s presence in Australia and am thrilled to include the roll-out of Rag & Bone e-commerce channel to the Australian market which gives us an opportunity to connect with our fans in a more meaningful way, delivering a personalised seamless end-to-end shopping experience,” said Paul Smith, managing director of Signal Brands Australia, the newly formed local distributor of Rag & Bone in Australia.

The e-commerce debut in Australia comes just months after Rag & Bone opened a new store in Sydney’s upscale Double Bay precinct in December last year.

​Located at 31-33 Knox Street, the new store embodies Rag & Bone’s urban aesthetic, yet approachable, atmosphere, reflecting Double Bay’s chic sophisticated vibe. It houses a curated selection of the brand’s menswear and womenswear collections, including jackets, denim, outerwear, accessories, and footwear.

In early 2024, Guess Inc. and global brand management firm WHP Global announced a definitive agreement to acquire Rag & Bone.

As part of the acquisition, Guess took the reins of Rag & Bone’s operational assets, while jointly owning its intellectual property with WHP Global.

Author Credits: Benjamin Fitzgerald, FASHION Network

H&M is integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into its marketing strategy by creating digital versions of real-life models.

The AI-generated clones will then be used in select social media posts and campaigns, with permission from the models they duplicate.

“We are curious to explore how to showcase our fashion in new creative ways – and embrace the benefits of new technology – while staying true to our commitment to personal style,” said Jorgen Andersson, chief creative officer, H&M.

The first time model Vilma Sjoberg saw her digital twin; she found it both exciting and unsettling.

“It’s a picture of me, but it’s not me,” she said. “It was interesting how good it actually was.”

H&M added that this move will not replace its “human-centric approach”.

However,  veterans in the fashion industry have raised concerns about its impact on models, photographers, and other creative professionals.

“On paper, it’s genius,” said Andrew Dobbie, founder and CEO of creative agency MadeBrave. “However, all the behind-the-scenes magic… the energy, networking, camaraderie, user-generated content, the real human stories that create amazing content – are all potentially sidelined.”

H&M told Business of Fashion that models will retain control over their digital likeness and can allow other brands, including competitors, to use them for marketing.

The company also confirmed that models will be compensated similarly to traditional licensing agreements.

H&M’s AI-generated models will appear in social media content with watermarks to indicate their digital nature. Full disclosure will also be applied to platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

The company plans to create digital twins of 30 models this year.

Author Credits: Kaycee Enerva, Inside Retail

Vinsmera Group, promoted by Kambrath brothers plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore ($233.5 million) over two years to set up gold retail jewellery business in India and UAE.

The company will open 20 jewellery showrooms along with production units across India and the Gulf region over the next two years.

In the first phase, it plans to open showrooms in Kozhikode, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, and Bengaluru, along with a state-of-the-art production facility in Kannur.

In the Gulf region, Vinsmera will open outlets in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and a manufacturing unit Sharjah.

Commenting on the expansion, Dinesh Kambrath, co-founder of Vinsmera Group in a statement said, “Reimagining jewellery retail with a focus on craftsmanship, sustainability, and job creation is our priority. Vinsmera is not just a brand; it is a promise of quality and innovation. This large-scale initiative is expected to generate approximately 2,500 job opportunities, with a strong emphasis on women’s participation across jewellery manufacturing value chain.”

Leading Malayalam actor Mohanlal has been onboarded as the brand ambassador for Vinsmera.

Author Credits: Maverick Martins, Fashion Network

Zeiss India has strengthened the optical retail presence of its business partners with the launch of an omnichannel e-commerce platform ‘Specslounge’.

The e-commerce platform will cater to consumer demands both in-store and online providing opticians with an additional sales channel.

Commenting on the launch, Rohan Paul, head of vision care at Zeiss India in a statement said, “We remain committed to enabling our business partners in their pursuit of doing successful business. Integrating digital solutions in overall purchase journey is a step to empower our business partners.”

“The newly launched platform does not change Zeiss’s core business-to-business model. Instead, it acts as a lead generation and sales enhancement tool for opticians, enabling them to expand their reach and attract new customers while maintaining strong relationships with existing ones,” Paul added.

Zeiss India’s e-commerce platform will also provide essential services such as eye tests, frame fittings, and expert consultations.

Author Credits: Maverick Martins, Fashion Network

Exclusive: Australian businesses will now be able to sell their products on the wildly popular Chinese-owned online retailer Temu.

The e-commerce giant, which only launched in Australia in 2023, will offer its platform up for local sellers wanting to launch their business on Temu.

Temu said the launch will allow Australian shoppers to enjoy faster delivery.

“For consumers, the addition of local sellers means they’ll be able to enjoy a broader selection from Australia-based sellers on Temu,” said a Temu spokesperson.

“Local businesses can now tap on Temu as a low-cost channel to connect with millions of shoppers, creating new opportunities to expand and reach new customers.”

As is stands, standard shipping on Temu is free and for most items takes between six to 20 days.

For certain items, Temu does ship locally in Australia and delivery can be as fast as one business day. Providers that ship from local warehouses offer free shipping when certain thresholds are met.

For other items, express shipping costs between $19.95 and $89 as many of the goods sold on Temu are made and shipped from China.

Temu has already rolled out local business partnerships in the UK, US, Germany, Japan and South Korea.

The company claims more than 50 per cent of people selling products on its platform make a sale within 20 days.

Australian sellers wanting to list on Temu can sign up from today.

Temu, which is owned by Chinese parent company PDD Holdings, launched in the US market in 2022 and has become widely known for selling surprisingly cheap products.

It has since been made available to customers in 90 different markets.

Temu landed in Australia in March 2023 and was ranked as the country’s fastest-growing website with an increase of 72 per cent in visits year-on-year.

Author Credits: April Glover, 9 NEWS

Despite the near-term macroeconomic headwinds, the long-term prospects of this market remain strong. India’s e-retail market is expected to scale to $170–$190 billion by 2030, growing at over 18 percent annually, the report said.

Even as India’s e-retail market scaled to $60 billion in 2024, its growth rate slowed to 10-12 percent during the year compared to over 20 percent seen historically due to macroeconomic and consumption stress, according to a report by Flipkart and Bain and Company.

Consumption growth in the country has declined from around 11 percent pre-Covid (2017–19) to approximately eight percent post-Covid (2022–24) as a result of inflationary pressure and stagnating real wages, the report showed.

To be sure, the ongoing slowdown in consumption, which is especially pronounced in urban markets, has led to several consumer-facing businesses reporting muted growth over the past few quarters.

From legacy fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms to new-age sectors like food delivery, the impact of reduced consumers spending has taken a toll on the growth momentum of companies across the board.

Despite the near-term macroeconomic headwinds, India – with almost 280 million online shoppers last year – pipped the US to become the second-largest e-retail market behind China last year. As of 2024, China had 920 million e-retail shoppers while the US had 270 million.

Moreover, the long-term prospects of this market remain strong. India’s e-retail market is expected to scale to $170–$190 billion by 2030, growing at over 18 percent annually, the report added.

While the e-retail market in India is largely dominated by players like Amazon and Flipkart, newer entrants like Meesho, with its tier 2 and beyond focus, have led to growth in the market. Meanwhile, emerging quick commerce challengers like Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart have also helped in increasing the overall e-commerce pie.

Growth drivers

Product categories with a high purchase frequency, such as grocery, lifestyle, and general merchandise, are expected to constitute around two-thirds of the e-retail market by 2030, contributing roughly 70 percent of incremental growth.

These categories currently account for 55 percent of e-retail gross merchandise value (GMV), the report showed.

Additionally, further expansion into India’s tier 2 and tier 3 cities is also expected to unlock new growth opportunities. As per the report, e-retail penetration has already expanded from tier 2 cities to tier 3 and smaller cities, with almost 60 percent of new customers since 2020 hailing from tier-3 and smaller cities.

In fact, over 60 percent of new sellers onboarded on e-retail platforms since 2021 were from tier 2 and smaller cities.

The growth potential of these markets is, perhaps, best exemplified by the rapid rise of IPO-bound Meesho, which, through its tier 2+ focus, recently surpassed Amazon in terms of monthly active users (MTUs).

“E-retail spending of shoppers in Tier-2 and smaller cities is broadly at par with that of Metro/Tier-1 cities, with similar or only slightly lower average selling prices across categories,” the Flipkart-Bain report stated.

This growth is driven by faster delivery options, cash-on-delivery availability, and e-retail ads serving as indicators of quality.

Key demographics

The gradual rise of Gen Z (born between 1997–2012), accounting for almost 40 percent of e-retail shoppers, has been the most salient shift in India’s shopper base, the report said.

Gen Z shopper behaviour stands out, with half of them shopping from over five e-retail platforms annually. These shoppers are also more experimental, spending three times more on insurgent fashion brands compared to older cohorts, it stated.

Another notable cohort includes shoppers that are focused on hyper-value commerce (ultra-low price assortment).

In India, hyper-value commerce’s contribution to e-retail has scaled from around five percent of e-retail GMV in 2021 to more than 12 percent in 2024. These platforms have gained strong traction among lower-middle income consumers, particularly in Tier-2 or smaller cities, by focusing on an affordable product assortment.

As per the report, these differences in purchase behaviour indicate massive opportunity for e-retailers going forward.

Author Credits: Aryaman Gupta, Money Control

Quick commerce business Zepto is holding talks to undertake a secondary share sale of up to $250 million as it aims to increase its number of Indian investors on the road to launching its initial public offering.

Businesses which are holding talks with Zepto over the possibility of acquiring shares include the private equity arms of Edelweiss Financial Services Limited and Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited, anonymous sources told Bloomberg. Zepto would not raise any additional capital as part of the potential share sale and would enable employees and a number of existing investors to sell shares in the business for cash, ET Bureau reported.

The Bengaluru based business has previously announced plans to go public later in the year. The secondary share sale is expected to be carried out with a valuation of the business of $5 billion, a similar level to its valuation for its funding round held in late 2024, according to Bloomberg’s sources.

Zepto is keen to increase its portion of Indian investors in its business in the lead up to its IPO as they currently account for only approximately 33% of its total investors. Indian IPOs reached a record of $18.4 billion in deal volume in 2021, according to Dealogic, and the country has become one of the world’s largest global equity capital markets issuance hubs, Ion Group reported.

Entrepreneurs Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra launched Zepto in 2021. The business counts more than 250 dark stores in 10 metropolitan centres in India and retails a multi-brand range of products.

Author Credits: Isabelle Crossley, Fashion Network