Saffron Retail: Is the Growth Worth What It Costs?

Marketing
easy35 min0 submissions
Goldman Sachs
Scenario

Saffron Retail sells apparel retail subscriptions in India. Growth has been strong and the board has asked whether it is profitable growth.

Marketing spends ₹148 Cr a month and acquires about 3,473 new customers in that time. Average revenue per user is ₹479 a month at a 63% gross margin. Monthly logo churn runs at 5.6%.

Roughly 56% of new customers come through paid channels; the rest arrive organically but are counted in the same blended figure. The CMO reports a healthy LTV/CAC and wants to double the budget.

Supporting data

spend

new customers per month
3473
monthly marketing spend cr
148
paid share of new customers pct
56

economics

arpu monthly
479
gross margin pct
63
monthly churn pct
5.6

derived hints

blended cac
426145
payback months
1412.2
ltv gross margin basis
5402
implied lifetime months
17.9
Your task

Advise the board. Your answer should provide:

  1. Analysis — CAC, LTV on a margin basis, the ratio, and payback in months. Show the working.
  2. Risks — what the blended number is hiding.
  3. Recommendation — scale, hold or cut, and where.

State any assumptions you make.

Ready to move forward? Up next: Otter Payments: Is the Growth Worth What It Costs?Next question
How you'll be graded

80 points, 60% to pass.

  • recommendation20
  • market analysis20
  • risk assessment15
  • financial analysis25
Hint
Reveal suggested structure

CAC = spend / customers acquired. LTV = ARPU x gross margin x 1/churn. Judge on payback period and on unblended channel economics.