Be Trendy Be Urban Girl: UG

July 18,2015: Urban Girl (UG); an online shopping norm in the Nepalese market hits the heart and shines all over facebook and Instagram with their basic theme, “Be Trendy Be Urban Girl”. UG is an online platform for all accessories from trendy/ethnic jewelry followed by watches, cosmetics, shoes and bags to making of cakes.

Nikita Acharya; a young entrepreneur who took an initiative to raise “Urban Girl” talks more about UG and its fashion trends.

1. Where the idea of UG did come from ?

I always had this desire to shop online in Nepal, and often “Google Shopped” which I bet many of us still do. I jumped off the boat and started one with my colleague who happened to be an enthusiast in Internet World and knew a lot about e-commerce.
We started off with an aim to incorporate all the fashion houses in Nepal by creating a platform for them to showcase all their products, and at the same time, provide the customers an opportunity to compare all their products. Unfortunately, due to very low reception of our idea, and not much interest in business houses about selling online, we had drop this idea and start sourcing on our own.

2. How do you define UG to people?

Girls love shopping. As per our theme, Be Trendy Be Urban Girl, we are pursuing to provide a complete platform for online shopping in Nepal. We are willing to make Urban Girl ONE STOP SOLUTION for any girl’s need. If they find something they want, we will get it for them.
Not just products, customer’s interaction and giveaways are the major areas we are continually improving.

3. How do you define accessories as a fashion statement?

The importance of fashion accessories in setting off a desired look cannot be denied by any fashion follower. They transform your entire look. Whether you’re wearing an ethnic dress or western outfit, your look isn’t complete until you wear the complementing accessories.

4. The present scenario of UG in fashion market?

We believe we have been able to provide our customers with quality products. We have refund/exchange policy for the customers when they feel like they are not fully satisfied, though this case is extremely rare. Since the most rapidly changing industry is fashion industry, we have been trying our best to follow fast fashion trend. We bring unique design and latest fashion products. With our quality product and service, UG stands out among the crowd.

5. Where do you see UG, 5 years from now?

Apart from just sourcing ourselves, we are now officially opening our channel to any vendor who would like to sell at Urban Girl. But yes, those vendors must have to pass through our quality check standard the products must be in line with the quality and price we have maintained so far.
In the next few years, we see Urban Girl as a platform for a girl, not just for shopping, for her entire needs apart from shopping.

We have also envisioned Urban Girl as a very strong team where we will be continually training young girls and make them capable in e-commerce service industry. We believe, girls are no less than boys when it comes to selling with the help of cutting edge technologies.

6. As a youth entrepreneur, what challenges do you face in Nepalese fashion market from business point of view?

Online shopping it yet not matured in Nepal, and we will one day establish a mature online shopping via Urban Girl. The issue is rampant with product quality and poor service, and this is what we are to overcome in Nepal. More than a payment system, overcoming the mindset that online shopping does not exists in Nepal is a real challenge. Normally, online business is easy to open but difficult to grip the attention of people, if we failed to feel trustful to people it is worthless.

7. Since UG is a name known internationally too, so how do you stand out in the int’l market and aim in future?

There is a reason for us to stand out in the international market. We don’t just provide a single range of products but our product ranges from accessories for teenage customers to high quality plated accessories to dresses, shoes, bags and now we have added customized cakes to our product line. International customers can send gifts and cakes to their loves ones easily. Here is where we are being able to grab our international customers and providing service as good as the taste of the cake, we have been able to retain our old customers for long term relationship.

8. Are there rooms for new entries in UG that serves even more?

We started with non-plated accessories targeted mainly for low-budget customers and now we have been growing by adding different range of products. I believe that growth should never stop, and it never will. I, as one of the founding member of UG ensure that our customers will get more variety of products in a single place, and we will try our best to provide you with better service each coming days in future.

9. Lastly, a message to youth:

Prepare yourself, and Just jump off the boat; you’ll learn to swim yourself.