Qtrove.com, a curated marketplace for sustainable products, is looking to scale up its organic offerings primarily in the food and personal care segments.

The company, which currently has tie-ups with 800 sellers, mostly small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, is looking to rope in more players and increase product portfolio. While most e-tailers bank heavily on discounts to lure customers, Qtrove’s focus has been on creating a marketplace for hand-crafted natural products to serve the ‘environmentally conscious’ consumers.

“We sell close to 10,000 odd products on our portal at present; plan is to scale this up to 50,000–1,00,000 in a span of next four-to-five years,” Vinamra Pandiya, founder and CEO, Qtrove, told BusinessLine .

Qtrove, which recently raised close to ₹350 crore from Springboard Ventures, would be utilising a majority of the fund raised to ramp up its branding and marketing initiatives.

“We currently have a lakh odd customers, we plan to reach out to as many as 30-50 lakh customers in the next five years,” he said.

The increasing awareness of hand-made and organic products and the rise in disposable income will be the key drivers of growth. While the growth would be spearheaded by top metro cities and Tier I towns, the company is also expecting demand to come in from Tier II and Tier III towns.

According to Pandiya, Qtrove’s model is similar to any Kisan mandi or ‘ haat ’ where farmers and local artisans directly sell their produce or craft. A majority of the products sold on the platform are unbranded and have ‘a story to tell’.

“We help create that emotional bonding with the seller; it is a community driven approach,” he said.

The company, which has started laying emphasis on marketing in the last two months, will come up with content driven approach keeping in mind the upcoming festival season. The aim would be to educate customers not just about a product but also focus on sustainability.

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