BOULT, a homegrown electronics brand, has steadily made inroads into the consumer audio segment, especially in Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS), with its feature-rich, cost-effective offerings. The brand, which started in 2017, recently made its foray into offline retail, tying up with over 2,500 stores in 13 states. Further, the brand hopes to clock ₹1,000 crore in revenue in 2023, a more than 1x growth from the ₹450 crore it raked in last year.

Against this backdrop, I caught up with the company's Co-FounderVarun Gupta and Head of Offline Sales Shantanu Singh.

Varun Gupta, Co-Founder of BOULT (left), and Shantanu Singh, Head of Offline Sales and distribution.

From the outset, the one thing that stood out was how clear BOULT's vision is — the brand does not want to overextend itself and venture into two many categories. Its focus right now is just audio and smartwatches — a more recent addition to its portfolio — because, as Gupta says, the company does not "try and do everything under the sun" and instead, focuses on what it can do and try to do it better than the competition.

That said, BOULT has been on something of a spree recently, releasing a minimum of one product per week, and that was a conscious decision leading into the festive season, which is now in full swing.

Gupta also said they avoid the common practice of relying on a single flagship product, instead focusing on a wide portfolio.

"We see that our customers (constantly) want something new," Gupta said, "the repurchase cycle is also getting shorter — 6-8 months. These products are portable products and they are either lost or gifted, or customers' friends and family want to buy them. So we have to be on the top of our game."

Standing out in a crowded market

One thing you cannot say about the Indian TWS market is that there is a dearth of options. Just the opposite, for every price, customers have at least six or seven options to choose from. How, then, does BOULT stand out and make sure buyers pick its products?

Gupta said BOULT does not have a marketing budget unlike some of its competitors and instead, focuses on visual appeal and then quality. These, coupled with extensive research on consumer behaviour and preferences, give it the edge, Gupta said.

"I am a proud Indian and I feel nice about my counterparts and competition doing well in India. As to how we differentiate our product, the product design is the biggest differentiation," Gupta said.

He said BOULT has an in-house design team which he, as an industrial product designer, heads.

"If you look at our products, the first thing that will stand out is the visual nature. Quality will still be a second factor, but it (needs to) look and feel good, help you stand out from the clutter, and not look as commoditised as your competition," Gupta said.

He further said average user review score on online retail channels is also a big factor. "We control the entire manufacturing and R&D process. The average review score, given by over two million customers, stands at about four stars, so (this) gives us an extra edge," he said.

Sound engineering and future features

In the TWS market, we are at a stage where the products have matured to an extent where you get good audio and feature parity no matter the price bracket. Gupta said they have nailed the fundamentals in that regard.

"In terms of the sound, we've spent a lot of time building the right sound. In fact, for the first couple of years. when everything was happening in China and there was no 'Make in India,' I spent time there working in the R&D labs, so I can understand the product from a technical standpoint as I am an engineer. Also, because I'm an audiophile, I can understand what customers want from the experience — we Indians love bass so we spike up the bass for obvious reasons, but we are careful that it doesn't come at the cost of sacrificing the sound quality or clarity; ensure you get a stable sound across all types of music genres, devices, and apps, and that it is able to hold up to very high volume," he said.

As for features, Active Noise Cancellation, or ANC, has become near-ubiquitous in TWS earphones. But Gupta sees it differently. He said for the Indian consumer, Environmental Noise Cancellation (ENC) is more important than ANC.

"Indians tend to not need ANC as much as they need ENC, which is noise cancelling that allows you to have better microphone quality without the background noise. Battery and noise cancellation for the mic are (important) features," he explains.

But does that mean BOULT will not incorporate features like spatial audio or Dolby Atmos support, which have slowly started creeping into TWS earphones? Yes, but gradually, Gupta said.

"As you keep adding these features, the average selling point (ASP) will go up. Right now, the price points we spot in India are ₹1,000-1,500, and many advanced features are only appreciated by audiophiles. We do have gaming audio products which have the lowest latency compared to even the best gaming companies, all for under ₹2,000. But the moment the price shoots up, even by ₹100, these products together cannot contribute more than 1% of sales," Gupta explained.

That said, the company is eyeing international markets too — it has already launched its products in the UK, and now aims to go further west.

Also read: BOULT launches Curve Buds Pro TWS and Curve Max — Check details here

Ecosystem and IoT integration

Gupta said the long-term game plan is for BOULT to create a seamless ecosystem for its products by offering a unified app that connects smartwatches and headphones, providing customers with a cohesive user experience. The Internet of Things (IoT) will play a large role.

While Gupta is clear that BOULT does not immediately aim to expand its product categories beyond audio and smartwatches, what about a BOULT smartphone sometime in the future?

"Yes. Why not? It's in the same mobility and IoT space and we'd love to build some bigger products. Never say never," Gupta said.

Offline retail expansion

Partnering with online retail channels is one thing, but offline retail is a different ball game altogether. While customers will have the opportunity to get a feel of the product in an offline store, BOULT's products will elbow for prime real estate with other brands, especially in multi-brand outlets.

And that's where Shantanu Singh, a veteran with 20 years of experience in offline retail marketing, comes in. Singh joined BOULT nearly five months ago and the brand has since announced its foray into offline retail in 13 states — Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, West Bengal (Kolkata), Rajasthan (Jodhpur), and Punjab (Jalandhar), among others — with a focus on western and southern parts of the country.

"Offline is one of the channels where one has to be present to increase the brand's credibility and to provide customers that touch and feel, Singh said, adding that they are going to take things one step at a time for the moment. "We are not going overboard in terms of our launches, but yes, our strategy is going to be very dynamic in nature. Right now. we have partnered with stores that share our same kind of vision, such as Sangeetha Mobiles and Poorvika Mobiles. We have identified the markets of South and West India, which are dominated by large format retailers."

Singh added that the idea for BOULT is to expand slowly and steadily, with a focus on sustained growth.

"The strategy is very simple. You have to have good partners in place. The idea is to reach all key dealers and key retail outlets. By the end of next year is the target to increase our offline retail footprint, but I have given myself six months," he added.

Eventually, BOULT aims to open its own exclusive brand outlets.

"That's something that we're looking at, but of course not immediately. Our idea is to see a wider distribution than verticals," he added.

Future plans and product expansion

Gupta said BOULT has experienced remarkable growth, boasting a 99% Make in India share.

"The year has been good so far," Gupta said. "The biggest focus is on increasing channel expansion where we are focusing on B2C, which means selling on our own website and online. Focusing on maintaining some more ease, and making sure that we do not decrease pricing in the search for increased revenue or top lines. Lastly, of course, smartwatches continue to be a key focus area for us. We're looking at good partnerships with some luxury brands that we'll be announcing soon," Gupta said.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Nov 2, 2023 5:38 PM IST