Conceiving the idea of FirstCry: In India, finding good baby care products was a daunting task. Parents had to either compromise on quality or look for options abroad. It was this difficulty that led to the creation of FirstCry in 2010, a platform designed to make parenting easier by offering a wide range of reliable baby products.
FirstCry was a dream of Supam Maheshwari, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and Amitava Saha. The inspiration behind the company was first and foremost led by Maheshwari, who happens to be a parent himself. He observed that India lacked good-quality baby-care products-forced him to procure such items at times abroad. He and Saha then realized that many Indian parents were facing the same issues, so they decided to create an online platform for easy access to the best baby care products.
From Online Platform to Omnichannel Retailer
Maheshwari and Saha started FirstCry with an inventory-based model where they shipped out from their warehouses located in large Indian cities. This eventually transformed FirstCry into an omnichannel retailer, providing a deep online presence and more than 350 franchised stores throughout the country. This growth helped it reach a larger audience: there are over 90,000 items relating to baby care coming through 1,200 brands-indigenous and international. This includes diapers and baby feeding basics, as well as toys and clothing, ensuring that parents are provided with an all-around baby care product.
Innovation in Marketing and Involvement
One of the notable innovations that FirstCry initiated was the “FirstCry Box,” a marketing campaign focused on creating relationships with first-time parents. Those boxes, replete with baby care product samples, are distributed to new mothers in hospitals, which has helped FirstCry establish early brand loyalty. Along with this, its user-friendly platform and customer-centric focus allowed it to scale up its base very fast.
Revenue Model for FirstCry and Growth Hacking
Revenue of FirstCry comes from direct product sales, through both the online and the physical stores, and the franchise model with fee structures for them. The company has witnessed significant growth in financials each year. In FY21, FirstCry’s revenue doubled to ₹ 1,603 crore from ₹815 crore in FY20, and it reported a profit of ₹216 crore after having suffered in FY20. It, however, faced headwinds post that with the increased cost of operation as it incurred a loss of ₹79 crore in FY22. Still, operating revenue at FirstCry reached ₹5,632 crore in FY23.
The growth was significant, though it incurs an extra expense including huge procurement, employee benefits, and advertisement. Altogether this fetched a net loss of ₹486 crore in FY23 after taking credit for the huge amount of revenue boost.
Over the years, has been expanding its global footprint by acquiring strategic other brands, such as BabyOye and Oi Playschool. This has allowed FirstCry to expand its product range and enhance its market share. Even with such huge competition coming in from Amazon, Myntra, and other sellers, FirstCry still grips well in the baby care sector.
IPO and Future Prospects
The parent company, Brainbees Solutions has filed its IPO papers with the capital markets regulator to raise funds for future growth. The fresh issue will comprise ₹1,816 crore, while major shareholders like SoftBank and Mahindra & Mahindra will sell part of their stakes. The raised capital will be used to open new stores, enhance warehouse capacities, invest in marketing, and enhance technology.
From an online platform to becoming an omnichannel retail behemoth, the story of the brand is indeed a testament to the vision and commitment of its founders to solving the real problem for Indian parents. The expanding product assortment, customer engagement, and novel marketing strategies have been some of the initiatives that have helped FirstCry become one of India’s top names in the baby care market. With a planned IPO and persistent focus on growth, FirstCry is even better placed to further consolidate its leadership in the market and service many more families in the times ahead
