E-Commerce Growth Strategy for Ethnic Wear Brand

Project Overview

Vasstra by Priya, a homegrown ethnic wear brand known for hand-embroidered kurtas and dupattas, had built a loyal customer base through word-of-mouth in Ahmedabad. Founder Priya Vaghela knew her products could appeal nationally but had no idea how to break into the digital space. She approached us to transform her brand from a local favourite to a national e-commerce success.

The Challenge

Near-Zero Digital Presence

• Website: Basic Shopify store with 200 monthly visitors, no SEO, and poor mobile experience
• Social media: 800 Instagram followers with irregular, unplanned posting
• Email list: No customer database or email marketing
• Advertising: Zero experience with paid digital channels

E-Commerce Struggles

• 5-10 orders monthly online, despite excellent product reviews from local customers
• 82% cart abandonment with no recovery mechanism
• No product photography standards — photos taken on phone with poor lighting
• Competing against established D2C brands with ₹50L+ monthly ad budgets

Our Strategy

Phase 1: Foundation Building (Months 1-2)

• Website overhaul: Redesigned Shopify store with premium theme, optimised product pages with SEO-rich descriptions
• Photography: Professional product shoots with lifestyle imagery and video
• Brand identity: Refined logo, colour palette, and brand voice for consistency
• Technical SEO: Implemented schema markup, improved site speed (Lighthouse score: 35 → 92)

Phase 2: Content & Social Media (Months 2-5)

• Instagram strategy: Daily posting schedule — styling tips, behind-the-scenes, customer spotlights
• Reels & Stories: Weekly Reels showcasing craftsmanship and styling ideas
• User-generated content: Encouraged customers to share photos with branded hashtag
• Blog content: Published weekly articles on ethnic fashion trends, styling guides, fabric care

Phase 3: Paid Acquisition (Months 3-7)

• Google Shopping: Product listing ads targeting "ethnic wear", "hand embroidered kurta" searches
• Meta Ads: Lookalike audience campaigns based on existing customers
• Retargeting: Dynamic product ads for website visitors and cart abandoners
• Budget scaling: Started at ₹30K/month, scaled to ₹2L/month with consistent 4.2x ROAS

Phase 4: Retention & Scale (Months 5-9)

• Email automation: Welcome series, cart recovery (recovered 37% of abandoned carts), post-purchase follow-ups
• Influencer partnerships: Collaborated with 25+ micro-influencers (5K-50K followers) in ethnic fashion niche
• Loyalty program: Points-based system encouraging repeat purchases
• Festive campaigns: Diwali, Navratri, and wedding season campaigns with limited editions

Results

Revenue & Growth

• 450% increase in online revenue within 9 months
• Average order value increased by 35% through styling bundles and recommendations
• Repeat purchase rate reached 28% (from near-zero)
• ₹4.2 ROAS on paid advertising campaigns

Brand Building

• 50,000+ Instagram followers — 62x growth from 800
• 5,000+ branded hashtag uses by customers
• Featured in 3 national fashion publications through PR outreach
• 800% organic traffic growth from SEO improvements

Customer Engagement

• 42% email open rate (industry average: 18%)
• Cart abandonment reduced from 82% to 45%
• 4.8/5 average product reviews across 500+ ratings
• Customer referral rate of 15% through loyalty program

Client Testimonial

"Nine months ago, I didn't know what SEO meant. Today, I ship ethnic wear across India. The Instagram growth was mind-blowing, but what really matters is the revenue — it's up 450%. Dhīmahi understood my brand and amplified it authentically."

Priya Vaghela, Founder, Vasstra by Priya