BoAt Lifestyle: Exploring Strategies to Sustain the Growth Momentum

BoAt Lifestyle (boAt), a digital-first consumer products company founded in New Delhi, India, by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta in 2014, had launched its first products (wired earphones and headphones) two years after a thorough market study. Over time, the company had entered various high-growth consumer lifestyle–focused product categories, offering its products online at affordable prices. It then attempted to move into the offline market, adopting an omnichannel strategy to engage with a larger customer base and increase its profitability. Despite tough competition from similar brands, it managed to build a reputation among its customers. However, customers and investors were less than happy with its strategy to procure most of its products from China and questioned the high valuation in its initial public offering. To add to the company’s woes, sales its own online and offline channels were not satisfactory. At the end of January 2022, the company was facing an important question: What should boAt do to maintain its growth momentum, appease investor’s patriotic sentiments, and expand sales from its own channels? Which of these challenges should be its priority in the short-run?