BOAT – Sailing Through The Turbulent Sea Of Indian Electronics Market

Listening to a good music always proves to be the best way to relax your mind and if the device you are listening on is BOAT, it is indeed icing on the cake. With its extensive range of audio products and fashionable mobile accessories, BOAT has become the number one electronics brand of India. Not only this, it has also emerged to be one of the most successful startups across the country in the recent past.

But what’s more surprising is that, the company has achieved all this success in just five years since its launch. In this blog we will discuss about the small yet interesting journey of BOAT so far.

To begin with, let’s understand what kind of a brand BOAT is.

What is BOAT?

BOAT is a famous Indian consumer electronics brand that markets earphones, headphones stereos, wireless speakers, and premium rugged cables. The company designs a large variety of audio-focused products including earbuds, wired headphones, home audio equipment and several mobile phone accessories. It is the leading earwear audio brand in India.

How did it begin?

When Sameer Mehta and Aman Gupta launched BOAT in 2016, their main goal was to provide affordable, durable and most importantly ‘fashionable’ audio products to the people, replacing the low-quality gadgets sourced from China.

If we talk about the founders, Aman Gupta had a good knowledge of the gadget exchange. Before starting his own venture with Sameer, Aman used to work with JBL.

During his tenure in the JBL, Aman realised that even though audio market was crowded with legacy players, people were willing to take a chance on new entrants.

Both Sameer and Aman always knew they were entering into a market that had an abundance of established players and sailing through that rough sea won’t be easy. But they decided to fight against all the odds and make a name for themselves in the business world.

“We are like Zara of electronics, not highly-priced like luxury brands or cheap like Chinese products” – Sameer Mehta, Co-founder of BOAT.

Growth in the market

A sharp focus on quality, and a differentiated positioning, are what helped BOAT to survive in the ever-changing dynamics of e-commerce market.

Having started as a cable manufacturer and seller company, BOAT has certainly expanded its catalogue. Today, it sells a large variety of fashionable electronic goods, ranging from travel chargers and premium cables to headphones, earphones, speakers. It’s been only four years since the inception of the company in the market but it has gained huge popularity among the people and stands tall with more than 800,000 happy customers.

Today, the company is retailing at Croma outlets and also sells products at Myntra, Amazon, Jabong and Flipkart. Furthermore, the Delhi-based startup is also eyeing launching its IPO next year.

Reasons behind BOAT’s success

Well, there is no particular formula that has put BOAT on the road to success. There are several factors which led the company to the top. But one thing which was constant that BOAT kept modifying its approach to reach the prospective customers. The company didn’t use the conventional modes such as Print and TV to market their products as they stick to the digital medium.

Also, BOAT created its brand awareness by roping in the well-renowned personalities from two of the most followed areas in India – Bollywood, and Cricket such as Jacquline Fernandes, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya.

Out of all the major D2C players, the company which has grown with an incredible pace in the recent past is BOAT. Not only this, it has also become the fifth largest wearable brand across the globe.