By: Chanda Kumar
Last updated : July 01, 2026 4:14 pm
In an exclusive conversation with Retail4Growth, Kabir Siddiq, Founder & CEO of SleepyCat, discusses the brand's retail expansion, customer experience strategy, and plans to achieve INR 300 crore in revenue.
Inspired by Garfield, the much-loved comic character whose only real ambitions in life were eating and sleeping, SleepyCat pays tribute to this tabby feline and is now rethinking how India buys its sleep.
From a digital-first mattress brand to a fast-growing retail player opening a store a week, the company is betting big on company-owned EBOs to control experience, deepen customer relationships, and build a holistic sleep ecosystem. In this interview, Kabir Siddiq, Founder & CEO, speaks about SleepyCat's retail philosophy, positioning, and expansion roadmap as it eyes INR 300 crore in revenue this year.
Why is SleepyCat building its offline presence through company-owned EBOs? How does this let you control the in-store experience that a partner-led model wouldn't?
Our stores are like a marketing platform for the online space. So we believe in having pockets of stores and not one in every lane, where someone needs to come and complete a transaction. Customers come from surrounding neighbourhoods, experience the product, which they probably would have seen online and then go ahead with the purchase.
Secondly, we believe that no one else will be able to deliver the same experience as we do, whether it is maintenance, the interiors, or the experience you get when you go to our store. For instance, we have our signature fragrance and an in-store sleep playlist. I felt we had to own this ourselves for the first 100-200 stores, and then decide.
How is the brand positioned at the store level? Is it more on wellness, tech-led, affordability or youth-oriented? How does that translate into store design and merchandising choices?
As a brand, we are possibly making it very easy to shop for the next generation of consumers. We are very relatable to them, as we simplify the choices and offer sleep solutions holistically. So I think that's one edge that we have, where we've played the category well and focused on sleep as a whole. Also, our focus is a lot on design and quality, and not much is emphasised on tech details and materials. We talk about designing great quality products to deliver the best product at the best price.
Mattresses are typically purchased once every several years. What are you doing to increase repeat purchase frequency and customer lifetime value?
About 70-75% of our sales are mattresses, but beyond that, we are able to offer our accessory range to offer sleep solutions as a whole. People walk in frequently for pillows, sheets, comforters, pet beds and mobility products. For us, sleep goes beyond just the regular products. We are also getting into sleepwear and pillow mist.
Tell us how offline retail contributed to your revenues, and how you see that evolving?
Offline will be the largest channel by the end of this year. We've been in the business for eight years, and only 1.5-2 years in offline. So online has obviously been the largest channel, which is on Flipkart, Amazon, and our website. But now it's going to be offline, because I think we are a touch-and-feel product at the end of the day. Currently, offline retail contributes around 35-40%, while 60% is from online channels.
What's the retail expansion plan you have in mind for SleepyCat?
This year, we will focus on offline retail in India and also launch online in international markets. We've reached Tier 2 cities as well, and we're opening one store a week this year. So 52 stores for this year.
What is the target revenue for the coming years?
For this upcoming year, we plan to reach around INR 300 crore, as against INR 150 crore in the last fiscal year. We should continue growing at around 20-30% in the upcoming three to four years.