BUSINESS

Rising Star: Crepdog Crew’s Anchit Kapil on creating a dynamic online marketplace for sneaker enthusiasts

By Arzoo Dina

27 February, 2023

“As an organised player, we've become a one-stop-shop for sneakerheads looking for these one-off pairs of shoes”

What do you do when you’re looking to purchase a pair of highly-coveted Yeezys or Air Jordans while being mindful of their limited availability? That’s precisely what 34-year-old Anchit Kapil and his friends Bharat Mehrotra and Shaurya Kumar struggled with when they tried sourcing a pair of much-awaited Yeezys 350 Triple White, in 2019. From dealing with individual resellers to an overall disappointing consumer experience, the trio decided to kickstart their Instagram page to give fellow sneakerheads access to hyped drops and limited-edition collections. 

As the demand for these sneakers grew, so did the brand. Crepdog Crew has evolved over the last few years from just enjoying social media presence to becoming a veritable online marketplace. Today, it is among the most prominent online marketplaces for sneakers in India and the largest aggregator of homegrown streetwear brands. It is home to nearly 2,000 registered sellers for sneakers and houses over 40 streetwear brands like Balloon Fight, Odd Mood, and Cloud Botany, among others, and retails everything from apparel to jewellery and other merchandise.

fashion

In 2019 Anchit Kapil and his friends Bharat Mehrotra and Shaurya Kumar decided to kickstart their Instagram page to give fellow sneakerheads access to hyped drops and limited-edition collections

Crepdog Crew recently raised an undisclosed amount in its seed round of funding from investors such as fashion designer Masaba Gupta, Nikhil Mehra of fashion label Shantnu & Nikhil, Harminder Sahni, founder and managing director of Wazir Advisors, Rahul Kayan, director of SMIFS Ltd, Dharmil Seth, Siddharth Shah and Yogesh Shukla of PharmEasy, and Ankit Solanki, partner at Capillary Ventures.

While there is no conclusive figure to determine how big India’s sneaker market is, a report by Statista claims that revenues in India’s sneaker segment will amount to US$ 3.01 billion in 2023. The potential in this space, Kapil believes, is immense. Given how lucratively priced these limited-edition sneakers are, he says it’s almost akin to buying a piece of art—the more limited the availability, the higher resale value you get. 

Crepdog Crew is among the most prominent online marketplaces for sneakers in India and the largest aggregator of homegrown streetwear brands

While there is no conclusive figure to determine how big India’s sneaker market is, a report by Statista claims that revenues in India’s sneaker segment will amount to US$ 3.01 billion in 2023

In 2022, London-based auction house Christie’s, held an online sale of sneakers, streetwear, and collectibles during New York Luxury Week, which ably highlighted the intersection of art, design, and sports.  

Here are edited excerpts from the chat with Kapil.

Tell us a little about Crepdog Crew and how the marketplace functions. 

From the start, the idea was to launch a brand focused on building a community for sneaker lovers in India. We started as a pilot project in 2019 and quickly realised a considerable demand for limited-edition sneakers. While you can find many individual resellers, the problem lies in authenticity and availability. That's where we come in. As an organised player, we've become a one-stop-shop for sneakerheads looking for these one-off pairs of shoes.  

We currently have two divisions—sneakers and streetwear. For the former, we host about 2,000 registered resellers on our website, so you know you're getting an authentic pair of shoes from us. For streetwear, we host homegrown brands on our website and incubate them, helping them with their sales, marketing, and more. We've also expanded into the retail segment, launching an experiential space in New Delhi home to a colossal sneaker wall, a basketball court, a cafe, and a burger shop. 

"We started as a pilot project in 2019 and quickly realised a considerable demand for limited-edition sneakers. While you can find many individual resellers, the problem lies in authenticity and availability. That's where we come in," says Kapil

Crepdog Crew's investors include Masaba Gupta, Nikhil Mehra of Shantnu & Nikhil, Harminder Sahni of Wazir Advisors, Rahul Kayan of SMIFS Ltd, Dharmil Seth, Siddharth Shah and Yogesh Shukla of PharmEasy, and Ankit Solanki of Capillary Ventures

Does your audience primarily comprise Gen-Z buyers?

You'd be surprised, but we don't have a specific target audience. It ranges from anyone as young as a 10-year-old interested in colourful sneakers to a 70-year-old buying their first pair of Jordans. That's the good part about the business. This validates what we are doing. Because sneakers and streetwear are a form of art and expression, there is no age bracket.  

Do sneakers make up the biggest chunk of revenue for you? 

Currently, sneakers make up 70 per cent of the entire business. However, we are very bullish on the apparel segment and expect the business to grow at least 10 times over the next year. Streetwear could increase to 65 per cent of our business because so many homegrown brands and local talent are worth tapping into. There's also a lot of international streetwear fashion available in our hype division.

What about your competition?

We work in the secondary market, replete with unregistered players in the sneaker business. Unlike the primary sneaker market, where you will find brands like Nike and Adidas, it's a market of co-existence. Our sneakers' average price starts from around ₹ 15,000 and goes up to between ₹ 5 and ₹ 10 lakh or more. Essentially, the older the pair of shoes, the more people will spend on them. 

How does your business model work? 

It's interesting because this industry is new, so we don't follow a run-of-the-mill business model. The entry barrier is tough, given the need for on-ground knowledge; sourcing the shoes is also tricky. As an aggregator, we decide the payout with the seller and sell it on our platform, depending on the current pricing of the brand and the sneaker in question. 

Was it challenging to raise funds? What do you plan on using it for? 

Not really. While many investors look at investing in businesses that are volume-driven and skewed to the masses, ours is a luxury business with an average ticket size of about ₹ 25,000. We'll use the funds to scale up the business, and launch our second experiential space in Bandra, Mumbai, in April. This space will be similar to the one in New Delhi but with a more extensive sneaker wall and more brands.

fashion

"We're closing this fiscal at a revenue of ₹ 28 crore; we're targeting revenues of ₹ 75-100 crore next year," says Kapil

We're closing this fiscal at a revenue of ₹ 28 crore; we're targeting revenues of ₹ 75-100 crore next year.

What's next for the brand? How do you see the market shaping up? 

India is now on the world map as a market for creatives, showing through the kind of streetwear labels we're seeing. What's most interesting for us is that a lot of traction on our website comes from Tier 2 and 3 cities and not just major metros. We're looking to build a solid community of sneaker lovers. 

Additionally, the market for limited-edition products is flourishing. In many ways, fashion is more investable. I bought a pair of shoes a couple of years ago for ₹ 70,000, now worth ₹ 2.5 lakh.

READ MORE
empty
BUSINESS
Rising Star: Nykaa Fashion’s Adwaita Nayar wants to transform the fashion landscape
By Gauri Vij
empty
SNEAKERS
How to own a pair of sneakers that no one else has
By Neharika Manjani
empty
SNEAKERS
These South Asian sneakerheads from the UK own enviable sneaker collections
By Saloni Dhruv