The 'Jewel' Trend Setter Melorra is a digital-first gold jewelry brand that offered designs inspired by global fashion trends

A few years ago, a conversation between a mother and her daughter at a famous jewelry outlet led to the genesis of an idea. "I was at a renowned jewelry outlet in Bangalore when I overheard a conversation between a mother and her daughter. The daughter was young and she showed reluctance in buying gold jewelry because she felt that the designs were not meant to compliment her daily wardrobe. The available options in gold were chunky and traditional. That moment was one of realization for me and made me aware of the huge demand-supply gap that existed in the gold jewelry market. The young and independent women of today view gold jewelry differently," said Saroja Yeramilli, founder and CEO, Melorra.

She decided to launch a digital-first gold jewelry brand that offered designs inspired by global fashion trends. "The reason I chose a digital-first model was the ability to keep the business lean, less inventory dependent and technology-driven. The digital D2C model helped us scale faster than the conventional format and we grew at 200 per cent CAGR. Today, Melorra is among the largest D2C brands in the country. We also have offline stores wherein customers can get a look and feel of the jewelry they wish to buy and then order online, thereby ensuring harmonized retail."

Every week the brand launches a new collection of 75 designs inspired by the latest global fashion trends. The overall jewelry market is expected to be worth over rupees 6 trillion and by FY 2023, Melorra aims to cross the INR 700 crore revenue mark with plans to reach $1 billion turnover by 2026. The brand's delivery network is spread across the US, UK, UAE and Singapore.

Talking about disruption in the space, she said, "As a customer-centric brand, product innovation and diversity has been the founding stone of Melorra. We have managed to disrupt the archaic gold jewelry retail by crafting light, comfortable, trendy and affordable jewelry."

Melorra has delivered in over 3,000 towns and cities across India and recently launched futuristic brand experience centers in major malls of metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Noida, Lucknow and Bhopal. The brand's new TVC with actor Shraddha Kapoor urges women to break shackles.

So far, Melorra has raised investment of up to $55 million from Lightbox Ventures, Symphony Asia, Alteria Capital, 9Unicorns, Value Quest, Venture Catalysts, Param Capital and other family offices.

Factsheet:

• Bestseller: Rings

• Total SKUs: 16,000+

• Team size: 271

• Repeat customer ratio: 50%

• Online platform resulting in maximum revenue: 345 Crores

• Turnover for FY 2021-22: 361 crore

• Split between offline and online sales: Offline 5% (with 11 stores) and online 95%