How Vyaparify is helping traditional merchants and other top stories of the week

Vyaparify

Ruby Jain, the founder of Vyaparify, recognised the challenges that merchants faced when transitioning to the digital landscape. According to her, these challenges were often overlooked by the banking sector and digital service providers, resulting in a loss of wallet share for offline businesses.

In June this year, Jain founded Vyaparify, a provider of digital services for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It creates SEO-integrated mini websites for businesses, enhancing their digital presence and local search visibility.

Through Vyaparify, Jain aims to bridge the digital gap for traditional businesses and stores, helping them establish an online presence. 

To facilitate creation of content for mini websites, Vyaparify employs an AI interface that prompts merchants to answer basic questions related to business name, establishment year, type of business, and the business location. This tool, which is available in Hindi and English, helps merchants generate a description for their business. 

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Boond

Krati and Varun Tandon, driven by a passion for preserving traditional Indian perfumery, founded Boond in 2021. The Tandon siblings' motivation for Boond comes from a deep love for Kannauj's perfumery and its skilled artisans. 

Concerned about the decline of the ittar-making art in Kannauj, they started Boond as a way to support local artisans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their initial documentary on Instagram garnered unexpected success, and Boond rapidly grew.

In over a year, Boond has experienced nearly 50% annual growth, all bootstrapped, with its monthly order volume exceeding 1,000. It has even established a presence in high-profile Bollywood weddings, including that of Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif. It also served as a gifting partner at the G20 Summit 2023 in Delhi.

What sets Boond apart is its exceptional customer experience, with a personal touch in every aspect, including hand-written shayari notes from Krati's father tailored to the customer's selected fragrance. 

Boond's unique and earthy attars, such as Maati and Satparni, have become customer favourites. The brand focuses on preserving authenticity by not mixing different scents. The attars are priced between Rs 1,399 and Rs 1,529 for a 3-ml bottle and cater to the premium segment. 

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Brand Concepts

Indore-based Brand Concepts aims to transform luggage and bags into fashion products. Specialising in designing and selling of bags, travel gear, and small leather goods, the company operates 35 stores and is present in major retail chains. 

The company has been showcasing 80-90% annual revenue growth in the last two to three years, says co-founder Abhinav Kumar. In FY23, it achieved a turnover of Rs 163 crore—an 89% growth from Rs 86 crore in FY22. Its net revenue stood at Rs 45 crore in FY21.

Brand Concepts was founded in 2007 by Kumar, who had a background in marketing and advertising, and Prateek Maheshwari, who had expertise in bag manufacturing. 

While breaking into the luggage market was challenging due to established players, Brand Concepts successfully introduced stylish and fashionable luggage options. 

The company acquired licences for brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, United Colors of Benetton, and Aeropostale and developed its own product lines under the names Sugar Rush and The Vertical. 

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