At Lightbox, we believe that holistic data, not just gut feel, drives smarter, long-term business decisions. A great example? Our collaboration with Bombay Shirt Company.
Bombay Shirt Company (BSC) has carved out a distinctive niche in India’s competitive men’s wear market with its custom apparel offering. Since its inception in 2012 with made-to-order shirts, the company has expanded its portfolio to include bottomwear, jackets, and, more recently, ready-to-wear clothing. Its robust omnichannel sales network, featuring 26 world-class offline stores, has enabled it to reach a wider customer base.
As BSC scales its business, data has become an increasingly critical tool for managing its growth. At Lightbox, we deeply analyze data from our portfolio companies to uncover insights that can drive their strategies. By identifying trends and patterns across companies, we can share valuable intelligence that helps our partners make informed decisions.
In late 2022, a deep dive into BSC’s Shopify sales data revealed a striking trend: 10% of BSC’s customers accounted for 40% of its revenues. This insight prompted a detailed segmentation of customers based on their purchase frequency and average order value (AOV), helping the company understand its most valuable customers and identify opportunities for further engagement.
One of the key strategic questions for BSC was whether to open new stores in existing cities or expand into new markets. To answer this, we collaborated with Munish, conducting extensive analyses to determine where BSC’s existing customers were coming from and identifying other locations with potential demand. A major indicator of interest was online sales conversions—if a city or region exhibited strong online conversion rates, it signaled potential demand for an offline presence.
Using this approach, we identified 40 high-potential pin codes where new stores could be established. While BSC had historically expanded its retail presence intuitively, scaling beyond 20-30 stores required a more data-driven methodology. By combining website traffic data with online and offline sales figures, we developed an algorithm to pinpoint optimal store locations.
To refine the expansion strategy, we examined website traffic data to identify cities where BSC had strong online sales but no physical store presence. These cities mirrored the sales performance of locations where BSC already had stores, making them prime candidates for expansion. Within these cities, we further analyzed high-density zip code clusters with significant online sales, ensuring that new stores would be placed in areas with proven demand.
For existing cities, the approach was different. Since offline stores were already present, we focused on avoiding store cannibalization. This meant identifying zip codes far from existing stores but with high online sales, ensuring that new locations would tap into previously underserved markets rather than competing with existing outlets.
A key insight from the data analysis was the role of malls in BSC’s retail strategy. Until early 2023, BSC had primarily focused on high-street locations. However, new data indicated that malls could be an effective retail channel.
Conversion rates in high-street stores were an impressive 90-95%, meaning most customers visited with the intent to purchase. In contrast, mall stores had a lower conversion rate of 50-55%, suggesting that many visitors expected ready-to-wear options. This insight led BSC to enhance its in-store inventory to cater to walk-in customers looking for off-the-rack purchases.
When we first collaborated with BSC in 2022, the company had 18 stores. By the end of 2024, that number had grown to 25, with new locations in cities like Jaipur and Kolkata. Looking ahead, the company plans to open 13 more stores in 2025, bringing the total to 40—a more than 100% increase from where they started.
By combining intuitive business acumen with a data-driven approach, BSC has successfully optimized its retail expansion strategy, ensuring that every new store is positioned for success. With continued data-backed decision-making, the company is well on its way to becoming a dominant force in India’s menswear market.
