Putting stationery on the D2C map

Hello folks,

This is Prasannata Patwa here. Welcome to the world of D2C Insider.

In our first-ever edition, we talk about a digital-first brand disrupting the omni-present but easily forgotten stationery category. Some glimpses from our community's gathering in Delhi, which hosted Boat Lifestyle's Aman Gupta, and Ghazal Alagh, co-founder, Mamaearth, among others. And a few metrics every new founder-- planning to launch a digital brand-- must track.

Let's dive in!

Gifting planners became digital stationary business for this sibling duo

In the 21st century of fast evolving phones, with most GenZs writing messages and even studying electronically, a start-up is chasing paper.

Through their journals, sold under the brand Odd Giraffe, Karan Joshi with his sibling and co-founder Sanil Joshi is trying to marry paper with art.?

“The best way to differentiate in this market is by having new designs,” Karan, co-founder, Odd Giraffe, told D2C Insider in an interaction. But the firm, which clocked Rs 4.1 crore revenue in the last financial year, only came into existence due to a need.?

The idea stumbles

In 2018, Karan, who was running an ad agency, wanted to give his teammates a useful Diwali present. “I thought we could give them a notebook kind of a thing as I was an avid physical planner user at the time. But all we came across were boring black diaries,” says Karan.?

This signaled a consumer base looking to buy planners with good design and quality. The duo then pitched the idea at a pitching session and raised Rs 25 lakhs, in angel round, from TiE Angel Network in 2019.

Karan and Sanil sold the first lot of yearly planners until the Jan 2019, and realized the seasonality of the business.

“Yearly planner would sell from November till maximum February. But after that what do we do? We had to figure out how we could put out more products,” says Karan.

The firm started selling notebooks to increase the number of stock keeping units (SKUs).?Made with good quality paper and giving consumers a differentiated experience, through faster delivery and packaging, meant more sales coming in.

In FY2020-21, the Odd Giraffe Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd.-run brand earned more than Rs 1 crore in revenue.?

But the SKU limitations still persisted. The brand was also selling their products completely through Instagram and Odd Giraffe’s website. Hence, more stationary products were needed to keep consumers engaged.

“No one sticks on to a website if you only show them 3-4 products. There needs to be more SKUs. And we didn’t want to keep creating different kind of planners and journals, which if unsold, would pile up in a warehouse,” says Karan.?

That’s when the founding duo went deeper into the category and started experimenting with customisation.

Where art meets paper

In a made-to-order model, potential consumers could select a cover design and place an order for a journal or a notebook, with their name on it. These designs have been created in-house and in collaboration with artists.

“The customization model really worked for us,” says Karan. The pandemic also gave the necessary tailwind to the brand as people were introspecting and focusing on mental health. “Journaling was being recommended by many people at the time,” says Karan.

Since the roll out of the made-to-order model, in September 2022, the journal-maker claims to have seen a 200 percent jump in sales. Currently, Odd Giraffe get 2,500-3,000 monthly average orders.

“We call them paper people. Individuals who like the smell of an old book or the ones who still like to send letters or paper-based invitation. These are the people we are chasing,” says Karan.

Now the team of four, wants to take the brand and make it a bit more mainstream by entering online marketplaces, and build their team further.

Odd Giraffe also works with 15-20 commissioned artists, annually, to create new cover designs, which led the brand to have more than 500 SKUs.?

Future plans

Odd Giraffe’s products range between Rs 800 and Rs 1,500 falling in the premium category. About 80 percent of the brand’s customer base consists of women between 25-40 years.

Now, Odd Giraffe wants to get men into their consumer base. In the next six-eight months, the brand is targeting to have close to 30 percent male buyers by entering an executive line of premium stationery.

The firm is also creating made-to-order notebooks for office goers, planners, with travel and pregnancy themed journals. Adding new categories will help Odd Giraffe in increasing SKUs and selling through digital marketplaces.

“We are also creating a separate wedding vertical, where we would cover everything from creating wedding invitations to a couple’s look book,” says Karan. ?

The stationery and hobby market's revenue were expected to reach $2,968 million, in 2023, according to research firm Statista. The market revenue is also expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 17.12 percent reaching $5,584 million by 2027.

While journaling is yet to become mainstream in India, and Odd Giraffe also faces competition from the likes of Navneet and Sundaram in the mass segment. But there are not many Indian stationary-focused start-ups currently in the market.

Odd Giraffe does have a lot of scaling potential with rise in journaling habit and existing “paper people”.

Glimpses from D2C Insider's Delhi edition

An evening of more than 250 founders, digital brand-focused software players, and investors coming together meant an abundance of knowledge exchange.

Early-stage venture capitalists, who seek disruptive new-age brands, pointed out to some of the evolution in the digital-consumer brand space.

“A few years ago, if you were a single founder without a tech background, it would have been very difficult to find backers,” said Anisha Singh, founder, She Capital.

Singh claims a tech founder was necessary, during the first wave of digital-first consumer brand startups, as a brand’s website, and last-mile delivery processes, among other things, had to be created in house. “Now with a bunch of Saas (software as a service) platforms, brands don’t need to pressurise themselves to find a techie co-founder,” Anisha added.

Based in Delhi, She Capital has exited lingerie brand Clovia, and has backed Samosa Singh, among others.

Digital-first brands, which got a major boost during the pandemic-led shopping boom, have been reeling under funding winter and facing massive competition from new as well as legacy brands.

“When I started Boat, we were probably the only players building in the electronic niche. But in today’s time it is not a choice but a necessity for a founder to build in an undisrupted category,” said Aman Gupta, co-founder, Boat Lifestyle.

Mamaearth’s Ghazal Alagh also suggested founders could try and bring their own personality and personal journey into their brands. “I was an artist selling paintings before I started my company. But one of the biggest things that worked in my favour was becoming a mother,” said Alagh.

The co-founder of Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd., which runs Mamaearth, and The Derma Co., claims she brought the warmth of motherhood in her brand. “This was one of the biggest things investors saw and trusted me,” Alagh added.

That's it for today.

Do drop your thoughts in the comment section.

We are also bringing a whole host of D2C (direct to consumer) backers and founder to Kolkata on June 16. Stay tuned for more details. Also, tell us if you'd like us to come to your city.

(The newsletter updated Odd Giraffe's FY2022-23 revenue numbers.)