Q] Wakefit.co has evolved rapidly since its inception in 2016, becoming a leader in D2C sleep and home solutions space. What have been the key strategic decisions that have propelled this growth?
Chaitanya: People often ask if there’s a ‘secret sauce’ to our success, but it really comes down to two main strategies: listening to consumers and expanding thoughtfully. First, as we earned consumer trust, we expanded beyond mattresses into sleep solutions, furniture, and now decor—enabling customers to furnish their homes entirely with Wakefit. Second, our unique marketing approach focuses on the strength of ideas, not budgets. Whether our budget is
INR 5 lakh or INR 10 crore, it is always a strong idea that drives our campaigns. This flexibility has been the key to our growth.
Q] What is your current marketing approach to driving business growth, and how does it align with the brand’s core objectives?
Kunal: While we operate across categories within the home space, each category requires a unique strategy; the approach for furniture differs significantly from decor or mattresses. Adding to this complexity is our multi-platform distribution model. We sell on marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart, directly through our D2C website, and now increasingly through retail stores as we expand. The challenge and excitement lies in aligning our core value propositions and understanding our target customers for each category, platform, and stage of their life journey. Our marketing approach simply follows the consumer. We track not only their needs but also their media consumption habits across various platforms and times. It’s a consistent, everyday effort to stay close to the consumer. By understanding their needs and where they spend time, whether offline, online, on marketplaces, or in entertainment spaces, we focus on being present with the right messaging in the right places.
Q] Wakefit.co has expanded rapidly, with stores now across 33 cities. How has this expansion influenced your hyperlocal marketing strategy, and can you share some examples of how you tailor your marketing strategy to engage customers in different regions effectively?
Kunal: When we talk about being hyperlocal, it’s not just about targeting individual users—it’s about understanding and tailoring our approach to each region’s unique characteristics, from both a media and creative standpoint. Staying true to the local flavour while giving people something new to celebrate, talk about, or share is key to effective hyperlocal marketing. As we expand into more cities, our goal is to keep replicating this approach, keeping our eyes on the ground to capture each city’s distinct nuances. Our process is simple, but it’s all about staying tuned into each community we reach.
Q] The Sleep Internship Program has become quite popular. What strategies are you using to keep this campaign fresh and relevant over multiple seasons? What demographic do you look at?
Kunal: Sleep quality is a shared concern, and the impact of our work culture on sleep is real—my own sleep has improved thanks to the company’s focus on it. Sleep Internship intrigued me from its first season, as it’s rare to see a brand openly tackle sleep as a critical issue. The hook of ‘getting paid to sleep’ draws attention, but more importantly, the program promotes sleep intelligence and awareness. Our latest Great Indian Sleep Score report shows that over 50% of Indians wake up tired, highlighting the need to address sleep amidst today’s demanding work culture and rising mental health conversations. While Sleep Internship might seem light-hearted, with interns being paid to ‘sleep on the job’, it brings a serious message: sleep matters. Now in its third successful year, it’s up to every marketer to carry this torch until sleep becomes mainstream. The aim is to recognise sleep as a health issue, measure its impact, and drive solutions. One of my favourite campaigns, ‘Agar Soyega Nahi to India Jagega Kaise’ (If we don’t sleep, how will we rise?) captures this message powerfully. Launched recently, this year’s edition continues to grow in popularity, proving the importance and potential of sleep awareness. Sleep Internship is a phenomenal initiative that has grown each year, and we’re proud to build on its success and champion sleep health.
Chaitanya: The Sleep Internship is open to individuals over 23, as younger participants, like college students, may not fully appreciate the value of sleep due to faster recovery. Our participants span a wide demographic, including homemakers, professionals, business owners, and even a retired army officer, Colonel Ranjit Singh, who reached the finals last year. Over three seasons, interns have collectively earned about INR 65 lakh in stipends and prizes. Selected from thousands, each intern receives a INR one lakh stipend, with the top finalists competing in the finale based on sleep efficiency scores. The top scorer is named the year’s sleep champion.
Q] As a D2C brand, how do you balance your digital marketing efforts with traditional media? Are there any new platforms you are exploring for future campaigns?
Kunal: My marketing playbook has always been simple: Jaha Janta, Waha Hum—go where the audience is. If the audience shifts to a new platform, we follow. For instance, if there’s a spike in theatre-going audience tomorrow, we will be there. When personalisation became popular around 2015-16, staying ahead meant recognising trends early and testing them out. While the emergence of entirely new platforms has slowed, there’s still a lot to learn from existing ones, especially the creator economy, on engaging audiences. Creators are setting the standard by fostering genuine, community-driven conversations that resonate with audiences—even when selling—without overt branding. We’re actively testing strategies in this space, and you’ll see more from us soon. Digital remains at the core of our approach, and we’re quick to adapt to changing audience behaviours. Right now, the insights from creators on authentic engagement and sales are invaluable, and we’re working to integrate them into our strategy.
Q] Wakefit.co recently introduced the AI-powered Zense range with products like Regul8 and Track8. Tell us a bit about these new innovations. How do you see AI shaping the future of the sleep solutions industry?
Chaitanya: Our team has always pursued innovations in furniture, ergonomics, and sleep quality. The CES in Las Vegas, where we’ve observed a trend in tech-driven sleep solutions, sparked our interest. Initially, we thought such advancements were suited for more developed markets. However, with the rapid rise of wearables in India, we saw a clear demand for tech-enabled wellness products. About 11 months ago, we set out to create a groundbreaking sleep solution, leading to the launch of our products, Regul8 and Track8 mattresses. Unlike passive fitness bands, these products actively enhance sleep by adjusting themselves in real-time based on sleep quality. Our first batch sold out through pre-bookings, and deliveries have begun. Developed entirely in India, these solutions are tailored for Indian consumers, and we’re thrilled to see them enter Indian homes, providing real-time, personalised sleep improvements.
Q] What kind of growth have you seen in the past year? What is your current market share in the mattress industry, and which are your strongest growth markets as of today?
Chaitanya: We track growth both company-level and by category. Our core mattress products experience significant growth during the festive season, with sales spiking 8-10 times on specific sale days, compared to BAU (Business as Usual). Beyond mattresses, our sofas and bed frames are also growing rapidly. We’ve recently launched a premium line, the PLUS range, offering products like mattresses, sofas, and wardrobes, in response to India’s premiumisation trend. Uptake has been strong, showing demand for refined home experiences. When we were purely an online brand, our sales were evenly split—50-50—between the top eight cities and the rest of India. Our store expansion in major cities has shifted more sales there, though growth in tier-two towns remains high.
Q] What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced while scaling Wakefit.co, and what have been your learnings as a founder in the competitive D2C space?
Chaitanya: Scaling has taught us valuable lessons on both the consumer and team fronts. For consumers, India’s vast population means a single product-market fit doesn’t last. Competition arises, and segments reach saturation quickly. Leading the online mattress market showed us that hitting targets like INR 1,500 crore requires more than one category, prompting our expansion into sleep accessories and eventually furniture. To build an INR 5,000 crore company in India, continuous exploration of adjacent product markets, geographies, or channels every 18 months is essential. On the team side, instilling mission-driven behaviour has grown challenging as we’ve scaled to 2,000 employees across 30 cities. While it was easy to foster shared goals with a small team, keeping this sense of purpose and ensuring everyone understands their role in our vision—building India’s largest home solutions brand—is much harder now. Expanding continuously and maintaining a unified mission across a larger team are crucial to our growth.
