Million Cases has established itself as a powerhouse in the luxury mobile accessories business in recent years, with a strategy built on trust, quality, and a wide range of the choiciest varieties. The company has strategically seen vertical growth post-pandemic and wants to establish their brand on similar lines to what Bisleri is for bottled water and Million Cases is the one-stop shop for luxury mobile accessories.
TheGlitz in conversation with Krishan Kumar, CTO/CFO and Rohit Singh, CEO of Million Cases. Edited excerpts from the interview.
Modest Beginnings
You launched Million Cases in 2016, your online marketplace. What was it that prompted you to take this step as a pure online store?
So basically, the enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit were incepted while still in college. Blogging was a successful side hustle while studying, and continued after completing engineering until Google updated its algorithms, which massively affected our blogging business. We faced a serious dilemma as we had to downsize the team 100% and ultimately, shut down. This was early 2016, and eBay was booming in the e-commerce market, so with a strong desire and drive, we ventured into e-commerce.
During this time, Shopify was picking up pace, and they provided an e-store for new vendors. We chose to cater to the US market initially, but sales were slow and not picking up. With much-needed support from friends in affiliate marketing, we concentrated on the Indian market. The response in terms of visitors to the website was tremendous, but sales conversion was barely happening.
After follow-up interactions with prospective customers who left the shopping cart midway without making any purchases, we found the missing link. We did not have a cash-on-delivery (COD) option on our payment page. Activating this option opened the floodgates, and we clocked 200+ orders overnight.
Realising the potential, demand, and good traction for accessories, Million Cases was ultimately and timely founded in 2016. This last financial year, we fulfilled sales of 80,000 products across India.
Turning Point
What are the specialties of your marketplace that make you standout?
As per reports, though overall smartphone sales dipped last year, surprisingly, the high-end and premium-price segments witnessed a 26% growth in sales. This helped Million Cases penetrate and cater to the luxury segment, which had no single brand or player to fulfil the demand. Besides AliExpress and Alibaba, no other website has as many varieties and options as Million Cases.
Which brands sell on Million Cases?
Catering exclusively to the luxury mobile accessories segment, Million Cases sells top-end screens and cases for Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus smartphones only. In order to meet the growing demand for women’s mobile accessories, we introduced peeperly.in exclusively to fill the gap.
What is the market size of mobile accessories in India?
With no confirmed figures like in the released data, the overall annual sales of smartphones are over 20 crore units, out of which 20–25% consist of premium-range category phones like those from Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus with flagship models. We have set a target to reach 10% of the accessory buyers market this year.
How frequently are products added to your site?
Mobile accessories are a fast-paced business, and like any other industry, one needs to be on their toes and swift to survive. We virtually add new products every week to our website. Within our in-house marketing team, we have a dedicated R&D specialist who constantly does a quarterly review of products, and on average, 60–70% of the products are replaced with newer ones.
Future Growth
Any major growth strategy post-pandemic?
The peak pandemic time was tough, with the supply chain coming to a standstill. Stocks, deliveries, sales, and finances got erratic and asymmetrical, but with sheer perseverance, we moved through the testing times with limited staff and a strong determination to bounce back. Fortunately, once the markets opened, our sales hit a new high, and we overachieved the targets by a huge margin. To put it in the right perspective, post-pandemic, we made a strong recovery and truly hope that this will continue moving forward.
Coming to you, Rohit, share your inputs, and what are some things you are looking forward to in the future? New launches? Brick and mortar stores?
My responsibilities include making solid business decisions in addition to determining market trends, planning new launches, creating a competitor matrix, looking into demand and supply flows, and importing. We are in a comfortable space presently, so there are no immediate plans to venture offline. But if there is a demand, we definitely will in the future. Also, we are developing the Million Cases app on both iOS and Android, which will be launched shortly. This will broaden our reach and make us more accessible to our present and prospective customers.
TheGlitz Verdict: It’s for the Good of the Many
Priceless compared to quality, aesthetics, and price. Million Cases doesn’t just add value as an accessory to the handset; it spells class with a capital C. You will love to flaunt it. This splurge will make you surge. We Promise!
