Campus Sutra: internationalization of an Indian online fashion brand

Learning outcomes The case study, along with the assignment questions and class discussion, will help students understand and apply the following concepts. The above learning objectives are aligned with Bloom’s taxonomy (Forehand, 2010) and promote students’ thinking and cognitive skills through the evaluation of context and the creation of solutions. Case overview/synopsis This case provides the context of India’s online fashion retail market and its growth drivers. The focus on the case is on-line the fast fashion company – Campus Sutra. It describes how Campus Sutra emerged as a strong player with a profitable business model in the fast fashion segment in India. The core issue of the case is whether the company should expand into the global market or deepen its penetration into the Indian market to leverage its decade-long experience, strengths and resources in the domestic market. Campus Sutra was one of India’s biggest bootstrapped online fashion retail brands. Established in 2013, the company had grown to a US38m business in 2023. In 2017, the company embarked on an internationalization journey, but it ultimately proved unsuccessful. However, convinced of the international fashion market’s potential and the company’s ability to harness such potential, the founders re-entered the global market in 2019 with an improved business strategy. Unlike the first attempt, the second entry proved successful. As the co-founders plan their expansion into the international market, they reflect on the trade-offs they must make to strike the right balance between domestic and global markets. They recognize the need to segregate operations that support both domestic and international markets from those that require a market-centric approach. Complexity academic level This case study could be used in elective courses related to e-tailing/online commerce, start-up strategy or international market expansion strategy in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. This case study could also be used in core courses related to marketing or operations management, supply chain management or strategic management as a sub-topic for extending business from an emerging economy to international markets. It enables students to address issues related to the internationalization of online retail companies, considering market situations, supply chain dynamics and resource requirements. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.