Outbox is a surprise in the entrepreneurial landscape of Calcutta, much like it’s name. Founded and helmed by Kaushal Modi and Sukriti Agarwal, Outbox started in 2015 as a luxury surprise planning company bringing you niche, curated private events to mark your special days. Now 27 members strong, the business venture has grown by leaps and bounds as they have planned intimate marriage proposals, sent musicians for a small celebrations at home, fun birthday gatherings and flamboyant anniversaries around the country. While gifting options with doorstep delivery begin at Rs 3,000, a luxury dining experience for a couple can range from Rs 10,000 to Rs, 2,00,000! “The idea of creating moments of a lifetime was the genesis. The gifting trend has shifted towards experience and personalisation. It’s no longer coffee mugs and photo frames,” said co-founder Sukriti Agarwal when The Telegraph decided to ask her about this unique venture.
Private couple dinner
Is Calcutta as a market, ready for a service like this?
Calcutta has always been a heritage city with the perfect balance of old and new age love. We try to provide luxurious experiences with an iconic Calcutta touch such as private dinner in a luxury boat on the Ganges, birthday party inside an AC tram! Also, dinners are no longer a walk-in affair in the city. People take extra effort to pre-book private dining rooms in advance to be sure their evening is special.
We work with almost all five stars and premium F&B outlets in the city and create unique dining experiences. For marriage proposals, we have secret locations so that your partner doesn’t know of at all!
What has the reception been like?
Many entrepreneurs complain that policy paralysis has plagued the start-up scene in Calcutta but our case was different. In Calcutta, there is flamboyance in the display of wealth, hence people want their experience to be ultra-luxurious. This led us to having the lion’s share of the market as we had the first mover’s advantage.
How do you leverage social media to your advantage?
Technology, has made gifting a customer-friendly space. You can now choose with a single click. We have a website www.outboxsurprises.com, where people come and book any experience they like. We also offer loyalty points, birthday and anniversary reminders and a selection of picks by featuring products similar to the consumer’s choices.
Social media platforms are the key to our popularity and success. On Pinterest, we usually have 2.2 million impressions every month. Facebook helps us update our latest services to our 50K followers. Instagram and LinkedIn ads definitely help us get the maximum visibility from the target customers. We also give out coupon codes and flash offers to create an immediate buying urge.
The lockdown effect on your business?
As soon as the pandemic took over, the demand for gifting increased as everyone was restricted to their houses, no celebrations were happening and people were spending more time with their loved ones. We saw an opportunity there and immediately overnight we came out with a range of digital surprises. From personalised newspapers to radio shows we went digital completely! It kept us going and we rather saw a boom in our sales!
Expansion plans if any?
We are already operational in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Calcutta. With 90 per cent of the bookings coming from Calcutta we are heavily investing in other metros for better outreach of our experiences. We are also targeting corporates and offering tailor-made experiences for their clients/employees. On the horizontal front, we have started organising bespoke parties and handling full events and are quite bullish about that segment. Our customer centricity approach with a constant hunger to keep improving our experiences, keep adding new products to our basket so that people celebrate hassle free is a strong motivation for our team. We work with utmost sincerity and ensure every experience or gift we deliver leaves a lasting impression on our customers.