Interview with Ambud Sharma, CEO and owner of Escaro Royale Luxury India

An exclusive interview with Ambud Sharma, CEO and owner of Escaro Royale Luxury India, one of the leading and most well known Premium, Handcrafted, Luxury footwear brands

In the world of luxury footwear, few names shine as brightly as Mr. Ambud Sharma, the CEO and owner of Escaro Royale Luxury India. With a reputation that precedes him, Mr. Sharma is a luminary in the realm of premium, handcrafted footwear.

His brainchild, Escaro Royale, has emerged as one of the leading and most renowned luxury footwear brands, synonymous with sophistication, elegance, and impeccable craftsmanship.

As we delve into a conversation with the man behind the brand, we will uncover the journey, vision, and secrets of success that have made Mr. Ambud Sharma and Escaro Royale household names in the world of luxury fashion.

Could you share the story behind the founding of Escaro Royale Luxury India and what inspired you to create a luxury footwear brand?

Ambud Sharma: Escaro Royale started as a simple experiment to understand how Luxury brands operated digitally. As we know, luxury brands have stayed away from D2C due to “over-exposure” concerns and a fear of backlash on pricing – which doesn’t resonate with the masses.

We wanted to understand the levers of control that luxury brands can take while going online. Escaro Royale was born keeping in mind a simple problem statement – which has complex multidimensional solutions. 

Escaro Royale Luxury is known for its premium, handcrafted footwear. What sets your brand apart from others in the luxury footwear market?

Ambud Sharma: Escaro Royale is built on a value-centric approach instead of price-centric approach. Most brands that claim to be luxury brands are still using discounting as a tool to sell merchandise. We don’t do that. Apart from the first purchase small discount of 10% to sweeten the experience, we don’t rely on discounts as our primary sales lever.

We compete with ourselves. We dont compete in the market on price – but rather overall value. Our storytelling sets us apart from others. We are genuinely interested in providing the best in class handmade products to our audience without diluting our brand promise. 

Can you tell us about the craftsmanship and materials that go into creating each pair of Escaro Royale shoes? How do you maintain such high quality standards

Ambud Sharma: Our product research team leverages an indigenous continuous customer feedback loop to design and develop products for our target audience. Only the best artisans are employed to create these products – many of whom are third or fourth generation artisans.

We don’t make our products on machines or in large batches. We make our products by hand in small batches. Unlike most companies, our quality control, material research and customer experience teams are much larger than any other department in the company. This allows up to control quality from the very beginning – from material selection to packaging. 

The luxury market is highly competitive. What strategies have you employed to establish Escaro Royale as a leading luxury footwear brand in India and internationally

Ambud Sharma: The mass market is competitive since anyone who has access to a factory can start a brand and play on a low-price model. Luxury market is not as competitive since the total addressable market is much smaller.

Most who have tried have shut shops within the first couple of years of operations – because it is rather difficult to convince the Indian consumers to shop online for a INR 10,000+ product. We are authentic with our customers – and we deliver what we promise.

This is a simple, yet most effective strategy to acquire and retain customers. We have a 40%+ repeat customer base with an LTV of over INR 25,000. 

We only ship products that we can recommend to our own family and friends. Unfortunately, there are players in premium space that ship products that we simply cannot ship because they are highly sub-standard. 

Escaro Royale Luxury has a strong online presence. How has e-commerce and digital marketing played a role in your brand’s growth and outreach?

Ambud Sharma: We strongly believe that digital marketing is a way to tell your story and provide maximum possible information to the end consumer regarding product, service and value proposition. We play hard on telling our story and providing details regarding our superior products, our unique design offering and our service.

This has a slow, but strong, flywheel effect and though it takes time, we have been able to build our presence and consumer base successfully. 

Luxury brands often face challenges in reaching a broader audience while maintaining exclusivity. How do you balance exclusivity with accessibility for your customers?

Ambud Sharma: Luxury, in general, is not about reaching a broad mass audience. It’s about exclusivity and aesthetics. We have been successful in creating an aura of aspiration around Escaro Royale. Many of our customers save from their income to buy our products.

Mass market is best served by price-centric products – but that’s not the case with Luxury/ premium products. We only consider the top 5% of the online population as our customers and have no aspiration to sell enmass.

As a successful entrepreneur in the luxury fashion industry, what advice would you give to aspiring fashion entrepreneurs looking to establish their own luxury brands?

Ambud Sharma: Don’t try to be a me-too brand. Don’t try to be a me-too product. That is a race to the bottom and eventually you won’t be able to sustain the price wars. Play on the strength of design, brand positioning and clear communication – while being customer centric.

Understand what inspires your target audience and try to serve them as best as you can. Bring a strong differentiator and play the long game – it’s hard but it is also extremely satisfying and fruitful. 

What is your success tips for young and aspiring entrepreneurs

Ambud Sharma: Go directly to the customer – be it through your own website, app or physical store. Don’t have a middleman or a marketplace between you and the customer. If you sell on marketplaces, you will find that you will BURN a lot of your time and effort in satisfying the rather impractical rules of the marketplaces.

Place your brand directly in front of your consumers and develop a strong feedback loop. Engage with your customer directly – and you will see that they will help you and your brand develop over time. 

In the course of this enlightening interview, it is evident that Mr. Ambud Sharma’s journey as the CEO and owner of Escaro Royale Luxury India represents a remarkable blend of passion, craftsmanship, and relentless pursuit of excellence.

His leadership and dedication have propelled Escaro Royale to the forefront of the luxury footwear industry, setting new standards for premium, handcrafted elegance. As a beacon of success and inspiration for both aspiring entrepreneurs and fashion enthusiasts, Mr. Sharma’s story reaffirms the value of unwavering commitment to quality and the timeless allure of luxury craftsmanship.

His vision for Escaro Royale continues to shape the landscape of luxury fashion, ensuring that the brand and its legacy remain at the pinnacle of sophistication and style.

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