At the Kolkata edition of D2CX Converge, founders and operators from Wow! Momo, Nestasia, Aza Fashions, WishCare and Littlebox shared practical lessons on building scalable consumer brands through customer obsession, omnichannel growth and operational excellence
The evening featured a fireside chat with Wow! Momo's Murali Krishnan on the company's ₹1,000 Cr+ growth journey and a panel discussion on the strategies behind scaling D2C brands to the ₹100 Cr milestone and beyond
Hosted by Inc42 in partnership with Shadowfax, the event brought together over 60 founders and ecosystem leaders for candid discussions on category expansion, customer retention, technology, brand differentiation, and sustainable growth
India’s consumer brand ecosystem is entering a new phase, with founders increasingly balancing rapid growth with profitability, omnichannel expansion and operational discipline. As competition intensifies and consumer expectations evolve, building resilient brands has become as important as acquiring customers.
The opportunity remains significant. According to Inc42’s ‘D2C 3.0: The Next Big Wave In Indian Ecommerce Report 2026’, India is home to 350 Mn online shoppers, including 19 Mn power shoppers — consumers who place 50 or more ecommerce orders annually. Fuelled by rising digital adoption, expanding internet penetration and increasing consumer spending, this growing customer base offers significant headroom for new-age brands.
Against this backdrop, Inc42, in partnership with ShadowFax
, hosted the Kolkata edition of D2CX Converge, its founder-first meetup series focused on sharing practical, operator-led insights on building and scaling modern D2C businesses.
The event brought together more than 60 founders, operators, and ecosystem leaders from Kolkata’s growing consumer startup ecosystem for discussions around customer retention, omnichannel growth, operational efficiency, category expansion, and long-term brand building. The event featured conversations with some of India’s leading consumer business leaders:
The fireside chat, themed ‘Decoding Wow! Momo’s ₹1000 Cr+ Growth Journey’, featured Krishnan of Wow! Momo, in conversation with Shadowfax’s Dang. Krishnan reflected on the company’s evolution from a single-product QSR chain to a multi-brand food business, highlighting the role of customer insights, technology, and operational discipline in building one of India’s largest homegrown restaurant brands.
A key focus of the discussion was how Wow! Momo expanded beyond its flagship product without diluting its brand identity. Krishnan recalled how the disruption caused by the pandemic prompted the company to rethink its business model and experiment with new categories. What began as an operational response eventually became Wow! China, which has grown into one of the country’s largest desi-Chinese QSR chains, illustrating how customer demand and efficient asset utilisation can unlock entirely new growth opportunities.
“In February 2020, we did 15,000 delivery orders in the entire month. In October 2020, we did 9 Lakh delivery orders. We realised there’s solid demand for Chinese food. And that’s how the birth of Wow! China happened as a desi Chinese brand,” he said.
Krishnan argued that sustainable growth begins with understanding customers rather than chasing top-line numbers. He said investments in CRM capabilities, analysing consumer behaviour and personally reviewing customer complaints every month have consistently shaped Wow! Momo’s product innovation and marketing decisions.
“Sales is never the end goal. Sales is the result… What is relevant for the customer? What is important for the customer? That one particular guest who is coming in and going out, what is he feeling about the brand, and how is he being treated by the brand? And that’s the only metric which I think CMOs should be bothered about,” he said.
Krishnan maintained that sustainable scale comes from getting the fundamentals right — whether through investing in backend technology, building robust CRM capabilities, or consistently solving real customer problems — rather than pursuing rapid expansion alone.
The panel discussion, themed ‘D2C Brands’ ₹100 Cr Playbook’, brought together Agrawal of Nestasia, Parekh of Aza Fashions, Kothari of WishCare, and Deka of Littlebox, in conversation with Shadowfax’s Bansal. The discussion explored the operational and strategic decisions required to build sustainable consumer brands while balancing channel strategy, customer retention, product innovation, and long-term value creation.
One of the strongest themes to emerge was that customer obsession remains the foundation of enduring consumer brands. Speaking about Nestasia’s growth journey, Agrawal emphasised that founders should constantly engage with consumers instead of relying solely on intuition, arguing that customer feedback often reveals opportunities businesses would otherwise miss.
“If you’re not listening to the consumer, please go back and block your calendar to just read customer feedback, or pick up the phone and talk to, let’s say, 100 of your consumers. Because if you’re not doing that, you’re leaving money on the table,” she said.
The conversation also examined how brands can remain differentiated in increasingly crowded categories. Kothari explained that WishCare consciously avoided chasing celebrity endorsements or short-lived marketing gimmicks, choosing instead to build long-term trust by consistently delivering products that fulfil the brand’s efficacy promise.
“We wanted to build a brand that can really outlast us… We knew that we had made an efficacy promise to our consumer. It was our duty to just stay committed and be consistent with our promise over time again and again,” she said.
Discussing customer loyalty in the luxury segment, Parekh said retention extends far beyond product assortment. Instead, she argued, luxury brands must consistently deliver exceptional service, seamless operations, and a compelling brand identity that customers aspire to be part of.
“Gen Z buys into a brand not because they’re buying a product… They’re buying into an identity. Who am I stepping into as an identity when I purchase from this brand? Who do I become?”
Meanwhile, Deka highlighted the importance of building businesses that can scale operationally from day one. Rather than introducing structure only at later stages, she encouraged founders to establish robust systems and processes early, making businesses resilient regardless of their eventual exit path.
“You have to build your company like your company is getting sold to somebody bigger, or you are aiming for an IPO exit… This vision helps you set processes sooner rather than later,” she said.
The discussion concluded that reaching the ₹100 Cr milestone requires far more than strong products or aggressive customer acquisition. The panellists agreed that sustained success ultimately depends on disciplined execution, customer-centricity, operational excellence, and long-term brand building.
Source: Inc42 - Startups
