People paty for good stuff, says Mudit Khosla

Mudit Khosla, CEO, Seventymm, thinks film merchandising and e-tailing are booming like never before

Q: How evolved is the online format for entertainment retail and film merchandise?
A: The online space is getting very interesting in terms of e-tail and movie merchandising. Earlier this year, we started with Band Baaja Baraat merchandise that was a hit and now, it’s Ra.One and Doraemon movie merchandise which is expected to do equally well.

Q: Films have ruled Indian passion for a long time. Was this in mind when Seventymm was conceptualised?
A: Yes, it has always been about films for Seventymm. India is all about ‘ABC’ — astrology, Bollywood and cricket and when we planned to start, we wanted to capture the ‘B’ of the series.

Q: Is the Indian consumer e-tail savvy?
A: Yes, we have seen considerable growth in Indian online consumers and my estimate is based on e-tail transactions, currently 40,000 to 50,000 per day. The transactions are growing steadily, as are the number of consumers.

Q: What is the USP of Seventymm?
A: We focus on buying exclusive licensed merchandise and creating our own supply chain, instead of simply trading other brands. We have also launched our range of private label collection of Bollywood-inspired apparel and accessories, which have been received very well.

Q: Ra.One and Doraemon are two projects that you are associated with. Tell us more.
A: We have bought the license to manufacture and sell original Ra.One merchandise; they are one of our biggest projects. Also, with an aim to venture into Hollywood movies, we bagged the license to exclusively manufacture and retail Doraemon merchandise, a character that is really popular with kids. So, yes, these two tie-ups have been our biggest. Does the massive unorganised sector of film merchandising in India pose a threat?
Not really, the unorganised sector signifies the presence of a large market. If we are able to serve good quality products, customers will pay a premium.

Q: Any expansion plans?
A: Yes, certainly we are planning to expand not only in the online space but also in offline retail. We are in the process of buying more licenses for character merchandise, like we did for Ra.One and Doraemon. And then, there is a slew of Bollywood inspired private label range that we hope to roll out.