Our guest for this episode is Nila Chakraborty, a first-generation Indian American with a passion for Indian ethnic wear.
Nila is the founder of Shop Bolly Wear, the largest online shop for Bollywood-inspired fashion in Canada and the USA. ShopBollyWear is determined to make shopping for Bollywood-inspired fashion a truly smooth experience.
We speak about how she started and built her business and what keeps her going.
This episode is brought to you by Kudobuzz Reviews, the best way to collect and display reviews on your website.
This podcast is available on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Anchor and all podcast platforms.
Dzifa Mensah
Hi There,
Welcome to the eCommerce A-Z podcast, brought to you by Kudobuzz reviews. I am your host Dzifa Mensah.
This is episode 10 and our guest for today’s episode is a first generation Indian American with a passion for Indian ethnic wear. Her name is Nila Chakraborty. Nila is the founder of ShopBollyWear, the largest online shop for Bollywood wear fashion in Canada and in the US. ShopBollyWear is determined to make shopping for Bollywood inspired fashion a truly smooth experience. Our conversation today focuses on how she started and built her business and what keeps her going
This episode is brought to you by Kudobuzz Reviews, the best way to collect and display reviews on your website. Stay tuned.
Dzifa Mensah
Hi Nila!
Nila Chakraborty
Hi!
Dzifa Mensah
How are you doing?
Nila Chakraborty
I’m good, how are you doing today?
Dzifa Mensah
I’m great. So can you tell us about yourself?
Nila Chakraborty
I am a first generation Indian American. My parents immigrated from India in the early 80’s and I came at the age of 2. I have been here ever since. I did my schooling and my university here and I am married. I live in Minneapolis with two kids. I actually started my career in banking and as a part time wedding planner. From there I got this idea of starting a company, but I was really quite young at that time and I didn’t have that much experience. A few years after I had my kids I wanted to do something on my own. I thought to myself, why don’t I start my own company which is ShopBollyWear which is where I sell Indian ethnic wear.
Basically we are based in Minneapolis, Minnesota but we ship worldwide. Back in the early 2000’s, I would say the websites were not available for the Indian shopping and South Asian shopping. So I said why not bring a platform to people in the United States and basically all over the world where they can shop online rather than going to India and shopping. It takes a lot of time. You have to take time off from work and sometimes you don’t have all those luxuries so then you have to ask someone to bring back clothing for you. If you have a wedding or a friend and family wedding and you don’t necessarily have the items that you want, you have to ask family friends or a family member who is travelling to bring it to you. I thought why not bring this luxury to your doorstep and that’s where I started ShopBollyWood.com in 2016 where we bring you Indian Ethnic wear from women’s to kids to men’s to jewelry, accessories.
So we primarily sell sarees which are the 6 yards of drape and a variety of fabrics. I feel the sarees are the most elegant attire an Indian woman or anyone who wants to buy South Asian attire can wear. It is very elegant and classy. You can wear it to different festivals, weddings or a weekend party.
Dzifa Mensah
It's really unique, the saree. It is extremely unique and the fabrics are actually very beautiful.
Nila Chakrabotry
Yes, and there are hundreds and thousands of types of fabrics. There’s chiffon, georgettes, cotton, silk which is pure silk from the silkworm. We have weavers in India who have come from generations of families who just weave sarees. And the weaving process, if you see it is just amazing to see how they weave these sarees on machines. Not even machines from this day and age. These machines are hundred years old, it is just that same technique they have used for generations that they still use now to weave these pure silk sarees. It's amazing to see.
Dzifa Mensah
You said you’ve run it since 2016 right, so this is the fourth year.
Nila Chakrabotry
Yes.
Dzifa Mensah
Are you still running it part time?
Nila Chakrabotry
No. This is actually full-time. With eCommerce, we sell worldwide and ship worldwide. Primarily, our customers are in the US and we are here 24/7. We have a back office in India who help us. I run the logistics from here, we have vendors in India. We also have a marketplace where we help a lot of other women in the US who don’t have a website to sell their jewelry on our website.
We also help the women in India because we buy products that women weave. Our most popular saree is the Caucus saree. It’s called caucus stitch. It comes from the Bengali word Caca, where a saree takes 6 to 9 months to weave. These are women in rural India who sit and they stitch these sarees. They are just gorgeous hand embroidered sarees and not machine made. One saree is not the same because you will never get a duplicate saree because again it is hand embroidered.
We try to empower women through our website as you know we try to make it a market place so women can sell their products on our website. And then we empower women in India, we buy products from the weavers who are in the rural parts of India. You know they are sustaining their families by working on these gorgeous sarees and weaving them and it is just a big resource for them, you know for them to weave. It is a great income for them, for them and their families.
Dzifa Mensah
Yeah. What’s the size of your team?
Nila Chakrabotry
So we have a variety of members. We have a 10 person team who run my back office. We have an eCommerce website so they manage the eCommerce, customer service, logistics and vendor management.
Dzifa Mensah
Okay. Is the team remote?
Nila Chakrabotry
Yes. Everyone works remotely. They are all over in the US and India. We’ve been fully remote from the day we started.
Dzifa Mensah
So how are you able to manage all of your team members?
Nila Chakrabotry
We have weekly meetings. We use Skype. We don’t really do Zoom because Zoom wasn’t very popular when we started. So Skype is our way of communicating and sharing our screens and having video chats so skype. WhatsApp is very popular, I mean all my vendors are on WhatsApp. They send me products you know, I am dealing with my weavers on WhatsApp. So I would say Skype and WhatsApp are my 2 primarily big platforms I use to communicate with my vendors and team members.
Dzifa Mensah
Tell me about the fashion industry in India. What does fashion mean for Indians?
Nila Chakrabotry
Fashion is big. As you can see in Bollywood, it is huge. People imitate Bollywood fashion. The sarees that come off the rams, people want to wear those sarees that they see the actresses wearing. I mean it is a very big industry. We want to dress like the actresses we see in the movies. We want to dazzle like them - the jewelry, the sarees, the hairstyle, the makeup. So it's one big package and people want those sarees, they want to look very chic and stylish and I think fashion replicates Bollywood and India.
Dzifa Mensah
Let’s talk about fashion. Let's talk about sarees for example. Are there different types for weddings and graduations? Are there significant differences between the different types?
Nila Chakrabotry
Yeah. So just like any culture you know weddings are very big. So sarees are primarily worn in all Indian weddings and red is the significant color as it represents fertility. So most Indian women during weddings wear red - pure red saree with a golden saree work.These sarees are pure silk which are actually made through the silkworms. So they are pure red sarees and they come in different styles and different silks and patterns.
Then you have the bridesmaids saree and family saree. Again they are all pure silk and different. You can get a Georgette silk, a chiffon silk, a Gangi worm silk, these are all different fabrics of silk. When you feel that silk, it is so soft and so light weight you wouldn’t even know that you are draping such an expensive elaborate saree. Just the quality of the sarees are amazing. So yeah for different events, we wear different saree. So as I said for weddings we wear red, for bridal showers we wear yellow.
Primarily if you are having a baby people might want to wear pink saree or blue saree to signify you know the boy or girl. A lot of the elderly women you know, my mom or my grandmothers, wear pure cotton sarees because they are so soft and comfortable. Each generation has a preference of what type of saree to wear.
In the older generation, I remember my grandmothers wearing white cotton sarees like white with embroidered sarees and it was cotton, so soft. Then I see my mom’s generation wear more pure silk sarees. And then our generation, the younger generation, they all want to be more fashionable so they might wear the chiffons, the georgettes and the patterned sarees with a lot of embroideries.
Typically each generation wears the different fabrics of sarees which is kind of unique to see. And even the colors, the older generation will wear more soft, subtle sober colors where the younger generation will wear very flamboyant, very bold and bright colors. So you see a very big difference.
Dzifa Mensah
Yeah. Okay, has the Covid-19 impacted your business? If it has, how?
Nila Chakrabotry
It has. It has slowed us down because a lot of weddings, graduation and parties were taking place this summer. You know a lot of celebrations were taking place so it has slowed down a bit but people are still purchasing. They feel that the coronavirus will get over sometime in the future so they’ll start the celebrations up again. So if they do like something, they will purchase. Maybe they won’t buy 5 sarees at once, they will buy one. It slowed us down but not to the extent that we are seeing that we need to put a hold on our employees or anything. It has slowed down but we are okay.
Dzifa Mensah
Alright. So are there any new strategies put in place in light of the covid-19?
Nila Chakrabotry
Yes. So we offer a lot more discounts, higher discounts. We are also talking to other vendors because you know I would say the the coronavirus has affected so many channels like from the weaver to the distributor to the manufacturer. So we try to help as many people as we can. We are trying to stock as many sarees as we can. For these people, this is their sole income and a lot of them are going hungry because no one is purchasing these sarees. So we are trying to help them by stocking up on sarees because we know they will sell later and try to help these weavers at least get some sort of income. Because if people are not purchasing sarees, and they don’t have an income, they are not weaving. It is very sad.
Dzifa Mensah
Yeah it is. We are reminded that it has really affected everyone no matter how big or how small that you are in the value chain. We are mutually affected by this virus. What is your favorite part of running your business?
Nila Chakrabotry
Talking to my customers. I have met so many people and I think customers are my favorite. When you get to know people on a personal level, where they come from why they want to purchase a particular saree, sometimes they purchase it for a special family member.
For customers, I enjoy getting to know them and establishing a relationship with them. You meet so many people from different walks of life. It's truly amazing. Each and everyone is so special in their own way. You generally make really nice friends and you hear stories about where they come from and what they are planning to do. So my customers are my favorite part of my business. Most of my customers are very understanding, they have been very patient from when we started till now. I didn’t know anything much about sarees before I started and as you develop and as you grow then you know what sarees are, what fabrics. You learn a lot and even your customers also help you figure it out.
Now what is great is I have a lot of repeat customers and I exactly know what they like and what they don’t like and I can easily tell them “hey, you know what get this saree I know you are going to love it” or I tell them ”you know what don’t even get this saree because I know you are going to hate it”. So I really like that part where I can start telling what they like and what they don’t like and I can really help them figure out what they are going to be happy with. Our main goal at ShopBollyWear is to make our clients happy. If you are not happy with something, let us know and we will try to fix it as best as possible.
Dzifa Mensah
So that means that you have built a personal relationship with most of your clients especially the repeat clients.
Nila Chakrabotry
Yes. And the new ones do come back and they do become repeat clients.
Dzifa Mensah
I think that is because your service is amazing. Repeat customers are the best. They save you a lot of budget through marketing and they just keep coming, they give you referrals and then recommendations and they are just the best. It actually means that you are doing a really good job, that’s really it. Because if you aren’t doing a good job, you wont get people coming back.
Nila Chakrabotry
Yes.
Message from Sponsor
The eCommerce A-Z podcast is brought to you by Kudobuzz Review. Over 70% of
online shoppers refer to reviews before making a purchase, according to them reviews
serve as social proof and aids them in making purchase decisions. Collect reviews and
display them on your website to convert your visitors to buyers. Join over 25,000 online merchants in the Kudobuzz family and start boosting your sales now. Kudobuzz review
app is available on Shopify, Bigcommerce, Wix, Weebly and Wordpress. Check out
kudobuzz.com for more.
Dzifa Mensah
What are your favorite apps in running your business?
Nila Chakrabotry
Shopify. That’s the platform that we are on. Shopify, Kudobuzz of course, I mean you guys bring us the reviews. I think my customers are quite happy with Kudobuzz because I think it is user friendly because they go in on our website, I have the reviews tab and they just go in and put in their reviews. So I think Kudobuzz has been great. The customers can easily find the reviews on the tab. They go in and put in their reviews, it is published and they are done. So Kudobuzz, Shopify, Skype, WhatsApp those are primarily the apps that we really deal with.
Dzifa Mensah
You have very significant press coverage. How did you get that?
Nila Chakrabotry
I think because we are so unique in the United States. I would say we are one of the largest and fewest South Asian retailers in the US. Because most of these websites are based out of India. Why we have such a huge clientele is:
- We do have a website
- My customers feel that they can find me in the US and they don’t have to call a number outside of the United States to grab someone.
And I feel that we are so different from the US market. This is something different and so they really like that. And that is why they give us so much recognition because they appreciate it as well. Again I said we are one of the only far and few and one of the fastest growing in the US market that sells South Asian attire.
Dzifa Mensah
Let’s talk about the men’s wear, what are the various types?
Nila Chakrabotry
Yes. So the men’s wear I sell primarily are the men’s kurta pajamas and the sherwani. You would be amazed to see that I actually have a lot of African clients coming to me because the men’s sherwani is kind of like a wedding attire. For some of the Somali or Kenyan population, the men’s sherwani and we custom make it. Some Indians ship it. We actually have a big western market too. These men go to Indian weddings and they need Indian attire so they come to us and they will purchase these men’s kurta pajamas. I had a client who was going to be Prince Aladdin from Aladdin, so they made a sherwani custom made for their daughter’s wedding.
So it is really interesting, I have more of a western customer race from my men’s kurta pajamas than I would even say for a South Asian base. It is pretty interesting. Actually last year I had a huge wedding in Jaypore, India. It was a destination wedding and the women of course came to me for the sarees and all their husbands came to me for their kurta pajamas. It was very interesting, they all wanted to wear kurta pajamas. They said it is so comfortable to wear. It is basically pants and then you just wear a long kurta up to your knees or you can wear a short kurta, it is quite comfortable.
Dzifa Mensah
What is your biggest takeaway in running your business?
Nila Chakrabotry
Oh patience. I think patience is your biggest key and you should never be discouraged. I mean if this is your passion. Sometimes I feel like I am one of the few lucky people to have found my passion and I just love what I do. So don’t ever feel discouraged. I feel that you know, if you have a passion go for it. People are going to say no, it's not going to work out, I think it is a really bad business idea but I always feel that there is a need in the market and there is always a need in the market and if you can provide that need, it will sell. I just feel, you know, don’t ever feel that any idea is stupid. I think all ideas are very important, you may not feel it now but I feel like all ideas are very important and you should just start it. Don’t wait for tomorrow, start today. I feel like my biggest advice would be don’t wait for tomorrow, don’t wait till next month. If this is what you really want to do, what are you waiting for? Just start it today, start your passion and live it. Do it, start today, don’t wait for tomorrow. And you have to do it yourself. Don’t wait for someone to do it for you because that’s never going to happen.
Dzifa Mensah
So you were working as a banker, juggling a part time business of planning weddings for Indians and then you started ShopBollyWear. Are there any courses you took? Were there any books you’ve read? What things did you do differently to help you run this business successfully?
Nila Chakrabotry
I had a really good mentor. His name is Onny Seal. He is from Florida. He helped me start this eCommerce business. I had my business model and he helped me shape it. So I feel if you do find something you like, find a mentor that excels in that area of interest that you want to pursue. Having a mentor can really help you. I was able to take a straight shot to my business. I knew what eCommerce website to use you know kind of wanted my website design and you mentor helps in and they kind of lead you towards your goals. So finding a mentor is very important in order to start a business or anything. Find someone that knows the business really well and work with them. They can move you towards your goal.
I love to read books. I am a big fan of South Asian authors.
Dzifa Mensah
Jewellry is an important part of the women’s fashion
Nila Chakrabotry
Yes.
Dzifa Mensah
Why?
Nila Chakrabotry
Jewellery is a great accessory. So you can wear a saree and then you match it with these really nice earrings and bangles and necklaces and you just razzle and dazzle. Jewellery is such a nice accessory and you don’t have to spend a lot. You can just wear these really big earrings and like a nice choker necklace and bangles and accessorise it and you would look great. So I think jewellery is one of our biggest sellers. You know sometimes people; they are on a budget. Maybe they have an old saree they haven’t worn but they buy jewellery kind of to make it new. Jewellery is a very big seller for us.
Dzifa Mensah
Are there any tips you would like to share with the audience?
Nila Chakrabotry
Thank you for having me. Again I would say pursue your passion. Do it part time and make it full time when you are ready. Just do it. Don’t hear the word “no”, it should always be a “yes”. You are not always going to have good days but you have to push through. If I don’t have a sale, in one day and I might have like 3 to 5 sales the next day. You can't just let like one day affect you. You just have to keep pushing through. I mean if this is what you really want to do. And that goes for anything in life, you just have to do it. What pushes me is “just do it”. If this is what you want to do, then what are you waiting for? And don’t be lazy, I don’t like lazy people because some people are lazy. Nothing is going to be handed to you on a silver platter. So you have to do it yourself and motivate others to work with you. Get dressed and just do it.
Conclusion.
Thank you so much for listening to the eCommerce A to Z podcast episode with Nila. I hope you found some inspiration and some relevant tips to implement in your own business. Kindly subscribe, leave a review and share to your friends on social media.
My name is Dzifa Mensah. Until next time, stay safe.
