Vedang Patel, Co-founder of The Souled Store, outlines how the brand has scaled by staying rooted in pop culture fandoms, ranging from Indian IPs like ISRO to global hits like anime. Anime collections have seen strong traction, though Patel notes they took years to develop due to complex licensing processes.
The brand currently allocates only 10–11% of its P&L to marketing. This is driven by customer loyalty, product quality, and consistent design innovation.
On the retail front, The Souled Store operates 55–60 stores and plans to grow that number to 80 by the end of FY25. About 55% of its revenue comes from its own website and app, 30–35% from offline stores, and 10–15% from marketplaces like Myntra and Amazon. The company is also exploring franchise models for Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
Patel confirms initial experiments with Q-commerce platforms like Zepto and Blinkit are underway but doesn’t foresee them becoming major revenue drivers. Instead, the brand remains focused on long-term growth, building Indian fandoms, and maintaining its positioning as the “home of pop culture” through thoughtful expansion and customer-centric strategy.
