Promoting a Sustainable Marketplace with Suspire

Suspire by Swayam Doshi

According to Swayam Doshi, Co-Founder of Suspire, the brand is a one-stop shop for everything eco-friendly. A marketplace that promotes the use of sustainable, vegan, and cruelty-free products ranging from apparel, home decor, grooming, and skincare that have no harmful impact on nature. The platform enlists more than 100 brands striving towards a similar pursuit of adapting sustainability as a means of life. In our recent conversation with the entrepreneurial duo, we learn more about the brand and the growing demand of sustainable alternatives in society.

1. Why is vegan fashion becoming more popular?

Vegan fashion is becoming more popular because it is a more ethical lifestyle that positively impacts our environment and biodiversity. After the pandemic, the environmental sensitivity of the people has heightened dramatically, and they are more aware of the impact their choices have. Thus, they are trying to make conscious endeavors to look stylish without harming the life of any other beings. From apparel to accessories, today, there's a sustainable plant-based alternative for everything under the sun, and many celebrities, athletes, designers, etc. have vouched for it. Vegan fashion has become a movement that's here to stay.

2. Who are your competitors, and what makes you different from other platforms working in the similar space?

We are a marketplace offering sustainable and eco-friendly products from top brands across the country. Other brands operating in a similar space are SustainKart, Brown Living, AmalaEarth, etc. What sets us apart is that we're a completely vegan marketplace and have a unique ideology to reward sustainability. Every time a customer orders through us and makes a conscious choice, we go the extra mile to make him/her feel great with our reward points, impact points, offers, etc. We strongly believe that encouraging people to be more mindful can have amazing consequences, and we try to achieve that across all our touchpoints.

3. Any updates on recent funding or upcoming plans?

Currently, we're a completely bootstrapped company with the objective of reaching more people and building awareness as of now. We're planning to go for external funding once we've established a solid foundation.

4. Have there been any recent social awareness campaigns?

Spreading the word about sustainability and getting more and more people to join the movement is our core mission. We have partnered with various coral and tree plantations to raise awareness. We also try to do our bit by participating in beach clean-ups and sparking more conversations about the planet through our pop-up stores.

5. What are your plans for growth?

Our vision is to be a one-stop destination for all things sustainable and build a strong, closely-knit community of environment-conscious people. We want to make holistic efforts to encourage conscious consumerism. By entering the arena of hosting flea markets, enabling corporate gifting, and creating our own pop-up stores, we are trying to make a sustainable lifestyle accessible to everyone in the country.

6. What sort of demand do you see on your platform? Which group - men or women - uses sustainable items most frequently?

While women are more inclined towards shopping for vegan and cruelty-free skincare, cosmetics, accessories, and food items, orders from our male customers center around footwear and apparel. In terms of frequency, we've observed that females shop sustainably more often than males.

7. Which product category, according to your sales, is the most in demand? Is it a category of beauty, clothing, food, or something else?

Food and footwear have been the most shopped-for categories on our website. We have seen the numbers rise exponentially for these two segments in recent years. This can be attributed to the fact that customers are in the phase of testing the waters and trying out new stuff. Our thoughtfully curated collection with so many alternatives from the top brands across the country enables them to explore and choose the best for them.

8. Can you share some sustainable fashion trends to look out for in the year 2023?

With more brands entering the space and using cutting-edge technology in their processes, we believe that sustainable fashion will become more accessible as well as affordable. Plant-based alternatives like apple and cactus leather will prevail, and as awareness about their positive environmental impact increases, they will become the talk of the town. Thrifting and downcycling will also become a way of shopping adopted by people this year.