Trying Before Buying

As shopping online gains momentum in India, we often feel how good it would have been if we got the ability to try certain products before buying. This thought usually comes when we shop apparel, beauty or grooming products and even food and beverages. Smytten, led by Swagata Sarangi, addresses this problem by offering a unique try-buy-try model by curating for consumers the best brands and products across categories and delivering free miniature trial packs of products of their interest.

Unlike other online commerce platforms, Smytten focuses more on the pre-purchase experience of online shoppers to help them try the product first at their homes at a very minimal or no cost. “The spirit of trial and discovery is inhibited on traditional e-commerce platforms because they are more focused on selling all the time. Users don’t have the means to try any new brands and trends they come across online. Smytten focuses on the trial and discovery of products through its try-buy-try model,” says Sarangi.

Solving a Major Problem

Sarangi had nurtured the idea of being an entrepreneur since her graduation. Having worked in the consumer brand and the digital media space, she started feeling very passionate about solving the problem of physical product experience in the digital age to help consumers decide better. She found her co-founder Siddhartha, a senior and experienced hand in the FMCG space who was equally passionate about the problem. Both of them decided to quit their jobs to launch Smytten, which began Sarangi’s entrepreneurship journey.

Smytten has raised funding of USD 10 million in two institutional venture capital and angel rounds. The annualised revenue run rate surpassed Rs 100 crore in 2021. Revenue comes from a nominal amount from the brands and consumers for the trials’ delivery at home. They have also monetised the business side by providing brands with access to real-time data and consumer insights.

Sarangi describes hiring the right people as a significant challenge and has plans to expand the user base to 100 million in India and take Smytten to South East Asia and the Middle East.