NirkIndia

The urban Indian population has, of late, developed a refined taste in home decor items and customised printing solutions. Identifying an opportunity in this space, US-based canvas printing startup CanvasChamp (Prints and Signs International LLC) recently launched its India operations.

Headquartered in South Carolina, the company was founded by Jainam Shah in July 2013. It also has offices in Sydney, Ontario and now has expanded its operations in India by setting up an office in Ahmedabad.

Canvas Champ was launched keeping in mind the exorbitant prices most digital printing companies charge. With pricing beginning at INR 249, the company claims to provide cost effective printing solutions to turns your photos into canvassses that can decorate your home and offices (also making it ideal for personalised gifts).

The company offers free professional design and design proofs to a customer upon request. Once approved, the design is printed on the desired medium and shipped to the customer within 3-9 days. The company offers a range of customisable products like canvas prints, aluminum prints, acrylic prints, photo prints with frame, engraved plaques, photo boards, etc. All of its products come with a 100% “Love It” Guarantee and a unique “Price Match Guarantee”.

Jainam says, “Both these guarantees are there because we are extremely confident of our products and price points. We are constantly adding new products to the website to give our users more choices.”

Jainam, an electrical and electronics engineer, had initially co-founded an online signage solution provider/printing solutions company that went on to become a leader in signage industry in the US. He then left that company to diversify into the ‘personalised home décor’ sector, which he thought was under tapped. It led him to found Canvas Champ.

He leads a team of over 90, which is based out of different cities. Jainam adds, “We are very proud of the work we do and that reflects in our outlook towards the work. With a median age of 28 years, we are a very young company. We have bootstrapped our way up and the strength of the team is a very clear understanding of the product requirement and a particular focus on delivering an outstanding shopping experience to our customer. Right from the online experience to product to the after-sales, we as a team strive to offer our customers an excellent experience. That is one of our biggest strengths as a team.”

In the USA, Canvas Champ faces fierce competition from giants like Shutterfly and PhotoBox. In India too, the customised printing sector is evolving pretty fast. Canvas Champ will face stiff competition from big players like Printvenue (backed by Rocket Internet), VistaPrint, Printland, Zoomin, etc.

The company has a 263% YOY growth on transacting customers and currently it claims to generate around 5000-9000 orders monthly depending on the season (gifting season being the busiest time), with an average order value of around $68. Jainam adds, “Prices and quality are our biggest USPs. We have over 25K – 5* reviews and have a repeat customer ratio of 1:3, which means one out of every three customers orders from us more than once.”

The company claims to have registered a total revenue of $2.3 Mn from in the last fiscal year. 

The startup has already expanded its operations to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and India after finding success in the US. Jainam says, “The growth has been fuelled by the company’s own revenue. Now our plan is to expand into UK, Singapore and other European markets by the end of 2016. We are also launching a differently branded line of “Premium” Décor Prints this year.”

The company aims to launch its iOS and Android apps by the end of this year. The app will allow users to customise and design their own home décor items.