OYO Sets Sights on Wedding Business – Launches Offline Store

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Industry Watch | October 10, 2019 | News

OYO Weddingz.in

Homegrown hotel brand Oyo is planning to gatecrash the big fat Indian wedding this season with a chain of offline stores.

The stores, some of which will sell wedding products while others will be experiential in nature to help customers simulate wedding scenarios, will mark the Soft-Bank-backed company’s foray into the offline retail space. This will help Oyo monetise a large number of its properties that can be used as banquet and wedding halls by creating a 360-degree eco-system related to weddings.

The stores planned for metros will be different from the ones that will be located in smaller towns, sources said. The move by India’s fastest growing hospitality chain comes on the heels of its 100% acquisition of Weddingz.in, an online marketplace for weddings and banquets.

Oyo has absorbed 200 employees of the Mumbai-based startup as part of the cash-and-stock deal. When contacted, Sandeep Lodha, CEO of Weddingz.in told Times of India that the startup witnessed a 480% growth in revenue and a 636% growth in bookings since its acquisition by Oyo in August 2018.

“As our growth strategy, we plan to tap the enormous opportunity the wedding industry offers and expand in India while being committed to our mission of simplifying wedding planning for Indians and adding value to our venues and partners. We are also planning to establish a presence in the offline space. We have nothing further to announce at the moment,” he said.  

Oyo’s plan to tap the $40-50-billion Indian wedding business, which is estimated to be one of the world’s largest, is in time for the upcoming wedding season.