Shubham Khare – CEO, Crossloop
Homegrown brand Crossloop, which came into being last year only, has created a niche for itself with a range of designer products – earphones, cables and speakers – in a very short span of time. Cashing in on the smartphone revolution, coupled with internet penetration, the company believes it’s sensible to launch a number of products slowly rather than the whole range. To discuss more about the company, its product portfolio and future plans, Ramesh Kumar Raja talked to Shubham Khare, CEO, Crossloop. Excerpts:
Crossloop is a very new player in the digital accessories segment. How are you positioning it in India which already is a hyper-competitive market having innumerable brands at different price points? Indeed, it is in our view the most competitive market we are aware of. In terms of differentiation, it is indeed a challenge but we believe in localizing our products for the Indian market, looking at specific trends, designs and looking at local designers to partner with. Price is but one factor, and we bring to the table huge supply chain experience in what we do for both in house brands globally and other customers we work and manufacture for. We also believe our experience in working with global fashion retailers makes Crossloop distinct, as we believe tech products can also be fashionable and appeal to a wider diaspora.
You have a very limited number of product categories to offer. How has been the response so far and what’s your expansion plan to make Crossloop large? Like any new entrant to the market, we believe it’s sensible to launch a number of products slowly rather than the whole range, allowing us to take feedback and develop products
that the Indian consumers desire. We have an exciting pipeline of products and excited to launch these in the coming months. We have a number of exciting partnerships to announce to enable the scale we aim for, so watch this space!
What is your approach to the “after sales service” which remains an issue for majority of electronics companies? It’s absolutely key to ensure our customers are happy with our products and services. We are after all a product and services company.
There is a parallel grey market in India thriving on the counterfeit accessories and devices. How will you deal with them? We have a very strong IP division to assist us with people trying to sell counterfeit goods, as well as strong links with the relevant custom authorities to ensure only official product arrives in India or elsewhere. We also have some unique product identifiers which allow us to protect our IP.
What are your outreach and investment plans and which platform you are going to exploit more- online or offline? We believe both the platforms, online and offline, have their own advantages and we are strategically working towards creating a brand which is available on all market sets. Bearing in mind that online is the future of retail, we have planned to focus more on platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and so on. Talking about the outreach, we have effective plans that focus on developing more designer tech accessories in Indian market.
We are encouraged by recent policy changes and looking at the possibility of developing production facilities in India. We believe in the future of the market and potential is significant to justify what would be a considerable investment of up to 35-40cr.
Please tell us something about R&D and innovation at Crossloop? We have been developing products for well over 35 years and have a strong design element both in the UK and China. We collaborate with global retailers on ideas, design and ahead of the curve products, so we indeed are excited to bring these to India in the coming months. ■
ramesh@mymobile.co.in