Aagam R Shah comes with experience in jewelry retail and knows people’s buying behavior.

He says, “In general, 98% of jewelry shoppers won’t buy jewelry without trying, but 95% of existing online jewelry stores don’t offer this experience.”

Stuffed toy was conceptualized in 2018 with the goal of transforming the way people buy jewelry. Due to the increasing demand from jewelers, the Start-up based in Ahmedabad launched a virtual Try feature on the platform in October 2019. Aagam says it decided to move to a SaaS model just before the pandemic-induced lockdown in January 2020.

“During the lockdown, the delivery chain was disrupted and gold prices were very volatile. On the other hand, the demand for virtual TryOn was high. electronics to an augmented reality-based SaaS startup,” says Aagam, who previously launched an e-commerce store for his family business before venturing into Plushvie.

“We have noticed that many visitors to our website used to add products to cart, but did not make payment for some reason. We tried to solve this problem by interviewing potential customers who wanted to buy something. We learned that they weren’t quite sure about the quality of the jewelry on them,” says Aagam.

“These feedback led the team to give a ‘try jewelry before you buy’ experience with video call-guided shopping. “It worked really well and we did a full-fledged product innovation around it “, he adds.

Plushvie has also been recognized as the “Startup of the year 2020” by Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC) for its user-driven innovation in the retail space.

How it works?

Plushvie offers an AR video call called PlushMeetwhere jewelry retailers can show off their products via video call and shoppers can try them on live via the call.

“We use augmented reality technology to detect the user’s face and complement it with jewelry products to help them experience the look and feel of jewelry,” says Aagam.

It also has a group video conferencing feature, where everyone in a family can virtually try on the same piece of jewelry at the same time, which is not possible when shopping in physical stores.

For jewelry retailers, it’s a three-step process to upload products, helping retailers get to market quickly. It’s a web-first approach, so no app download worries.

Aagam says, “The online video shopping platform allows users to join the video call and makes the shopping experience comfortable, similar to in-person shopping in the store. Jewelry managers can show off products one-by-one, allowing them to TRY them on virtually and see which jewelry looks best on them, providing shoppers with “guided shopping assistance” (GSA). Nowadays, GSA is trending with many buyers because it saves them a lot of time and helps them choose the best product from the entire inventory. »

The startup also provides advanced analytics that give deeper insights to jewelry retailers. It also offers a secure payment method to help buyers purchase products directly from the video call.

Some of the retailers that have linked up with Plushive include Charu Jewels, Surat; Sri Bhavani Jewelry, Hyderabad; Kothari Jewellers, Chennai; and others.

Speaking of challenges, Agam Highlights, “Merchandising was the biggest challenge. Because there is very little infra to capture jewelry photos and convert them into virtual TryOn. To solve this problem, we have developed a three-step product listing process, which helps jewelers click images from a cell phone and download them in a minute. Team building was another challenge. We hire for the right attitude and train teammates in the skills. Finding the right candidate has always been a challenge.

Business model and revenues

With a 15-member team alongside the founder, the startup operates on a SaaS business model and licenses its technology on a monthly or yearly subscription basis.

It claims to have onboarded over 250 retailers and over 50,000 unique buyers so far.

“We currently have an ARR of Rs 50 lakh and we are targeting an ARR of Rs 5 crore by the end of FY2023. We have an aggressive target to serve one lakh of subscribers by 2025,” Aagam adds. .

“Due to the continuous expansion of our team, we are not yet profitable. We expect to be profitable by the end of this fiscal year,” says Aagam.

Market size and traction

The size of the Indian gemstone and jewelry market is expected to reach $100 billion by 2025.

The startup, which primarily targets jewelry retail brands in Tier I and Tier II cities, says its TryON feature has been used over a million times so far.

Aagam launched Plushvie with an initial investment of $20,000 and the startup has so far raised $230,000 from angel investors, friends and family.

At present, it competes with startups such as MirrAR by StyleDotMe, Modaka Technologies and Ammazza.

“We plan to onboard over 100,000 subscribers by 2025 and we also plan to expand our existing customer base in Dubai, USA, as well as Southeast Asia in a phased manner,” says Aagam.