Libas to integrate 40% EBOs with dark stores by 2025; Taps regional, NRI creators for global fast-fashion play
Libas raised Rs 150 crore in its maiden funding round from IAF Series 5 in 2024, a fund managed by ICICI Venture, to support the expansion of its offline stores and technology infrastructure.
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Libas, India's fast-fashion retailer, is expanding its network of dark stores and Exclusive Brand Outlets (EBOs) to drive both online and offline growth. Alongside, the Noida-based company is intensifying its regional and vernacular marketing efforts as it prepares to scale its offline presence to over 40 stores across more than 15 cities by August 2025.
CEO Sidhant Keshwani told Storyboard18 that strengthening Libas’ omnichannel presence is a strategic pivot, supporting the brand’s transformation into a fast fashion leader with 75-80 new designs launched every week.
"We want to be the Shein of the Indian wear category," Keshwani asserted.
However, he emphasized that the 'supply chain' remains the biggest challenge due to its largely non-automated nature. "Currently, fewer than 10% of factories are adopting automation and faster production process, which is extremely low for an industry aiming to scale up rapidly".
Libas clocked a revenue of Rs 600-650 crore in the financial year 2025, according to Keshwani. He aims for a 40-50% growth in the current financial year.
E-commerce has been the key contributor to Libas' sales, accounting for 75%, followed by offline channels at 25%. The fast-fashion brand has partnered with Zepto and Myntra's M-Now this year and expects a significant share of revenue from the quick commerce segment as well. Libas is also set to launch its product on Instamart, another leading quick commerce platform, within this year.
'Dark store bet'
Libas is aggressively investing capital in building its physical stores and dark stores-cum-warehouses across the country.
Bhavay Pruthi, VP - Product Management and E-commerce, and Arun AB, VP - Exclusive Brand Outlet's told Storyboard18 that the company plans to integrate 30-40% of its physical stores with warehouses/dark stores by the end of 2025.
At present, the company has opened 5-6 such integrated stores across India. Libas operates 30 EBOs in both tier-1 and tier-2 cities, along with four warehouses in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Delhi.
"The integration of EBOs and dark stores will streamline both offline and online fulfilment and drive incremental sales," Arun said.
He elaborated, "For instance, if someone visits a Libas EBO and her outfit size is unavailable, the dark store will enable us to provide the desired outfit swiftly".
"There will be a real-time transfer of inventory," he added.
Additionally, the company has established a centralised dark store in New Delhi, from where all quick commerce platforms can pick up product orders seamlessly.
"We offer products across all sizes, but supplying samples of each size to every partner’s dark store isn’t a scalable approach. It would scatter inventory across numerous locations," Bhavay added, " If we are working with N number of partners, each with around 100 dark stores, it’s impractical to maintain inventory at that scale. That’s why we are developing central dark stores, enabling us to fulfill orders for all these channels from a consolidated inventory hub".
'Marketing and export'
Regional micro and macro creators have been central to Libas' promotional and advertisement strategies, aimed at improving customer engagement.
Chief Marketing Officer, Nisha Khatri said that choosing regional content creator over celebrities is a conscious choice for the brand. "We are launching stores in cities like Amritsar, Udaipur, and Kochi, so we are focusing on regional and vernacular marketing," the CMO said.
"Collaborating with small regional creators has helped us truly become an Indian brand," Khatri added.
Libas has also engaged a network of NRI influencers to boost growth in global markets.
Khatri mentioned that Libas currently has a presence in the US, Australia, the UK, Canada, Singapore, and in the Middle East.
She added that the fast-fashion brand spends 5% of its Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) annually on brand building, with major chunk allocated to performance and conversion-led campaigns. However, the marketing budget occasionally increases to 7-10% depending on strategic requirements.
Libas remained a bootstrapped brand for nine years, achieving Rs 500 crore in revenue by last year.
The company raised Rs 150 crore in its maiden funding round from IAF Series 5 in 2024, a fund managed by ICICI Venture, to support the expansion of its offline stores and technology infrastructure.
