Business

Waheed Alli, founder of Koovs expects big from young Indian consumers

Alli targets India’s young digital shoppers as 65 per cent of the population is under the age of 35 who have money to spend on fashionable clothes (Photo: Koovs).

By: Radhakrishna N S

BRITISH businessman Waheed Alli founded Koovs is on its growth path after it faced a turbulent situation in India following demonetisation.

Akin to other online businesses, India based Koovs moved into trouble when prime minister Narendra Modi led government announced demonetisation of Indian currency notes in the denomination of Rs 5,00 and Rs 1,000.

The Indian government announced demonetisation on November 8, 2016, with only four hours notice in a bid to tackle black money menace.

However, great management capabilities helped Alli to protect his Koovs when a lot of people operating in the online business sector disappeared soon after the demonetisation.

Before starting his online business in the South Asian country, the Labour peer served as the chairman of Asos for over a decade and stepped down in 2012.

He sold half of his stake in Asos to start a replica of the online retailer in India targeting middle-class youth.

Alli targets India’s young digital shoppers as 65 per cent of the population is under the age of 35 who have money to spend on fashionable clothes.

Koovs’ revenues fell 40 per cent from £3.9 million to £2.1m for the first half to September 30, but it narrowed its pre-tax losses by 10 per cent to £6.4m from £7.8m.

It also recently raised £10.4m from India’s largest retailer Future Group to start spending on marketing once again.

Despite all hurdles, Koovs has all characteristics of Asos which ultimately led it to attain huge success in the UK market.

However, the company has the tough responsibility to convince its investors that the online business in the South Asian country will give better returns to them in the future.

As many as 250 employees are working for Koovs in Mumbai and Delhi while 20 others mostly designers work with Silvergate Media, Alli’s most recent TV production firm.

Alli is a son of a Guyanese origin, while his mother is from Trinidad. At the age of 16, he left school and started working for a £40-a-week job as a researcher for a magazine.