Following the e-commerce rush

We were rather reluctant about it, but we have finally arrived! Today, India has a substantial share in e-commerce as people across categories – from baby boomers to Gen Z – are browsing and shopping online. But what does this trend mean for the beauty industry? Are professional beauty brands ready to embrace the e-commerce league? Kanishka Ramchandani examines the changing face of sales in the beauty market, thanks to the new normal.

• As per the findings of the report by omnichannel inventory management and e-commerce solution provider EasyEcom, the total e-commerce sales for the calendar year 2021 are estimated to clock $67-84 billion, up significantly from $52.57 billion attained in 2020, and $40.44 billion in 2019 (courtesy: Business Standard)

• India’s e-commerce industry is expected to grow by 84 per cent to $111 billion by 2024, according to a report by Affle’s MAAS platform and Sensor Tower (courtesy: The Hindu Business Line).

• The online retail market in India is expected to reach $350 billion by 2030 from $30-40 billion now, management consulting firm Redseer Consulting reported. (courtesy: The Economics Times).

Statistics, and in this case living through the lockdown of the year 2020, strongly supports the e-commerce boom that India is witnessing. And it will continue to grow exponentially. Come 2021, India’s unicorn scenario also took off, with the B2B and B2C e-commerce sector attracting the most investment. This is definitely encouraging for the beauty industry, too. Considering the way the market is getting re-shaped in the post-COVID new normal, newer formats, customer-centric service models and multi-platform sales are likely to emerge in the near future.

In an attempt to fathom the impact of e-commerce on professional beauty business, we asked Pushkaraj Shenai, Head, Unilever ProBeauty, to share his experience: “E-commerce has been exploding for the past few years, but has catapulted to altogether new heights through the pandemic. At Dermalogica, it is a way for us to provide our customers with our three key pillars – Education, Personalisation and the Human Touch – especially during a time when they were unable to visit their professional skin therapists in person.

Over the course of the lockdowns this year and last, many of our customers turned to e-commerce websites to shop for their favourite Dermalogica products and stick to the skin care routines they had cultivated with them. And we pivoted quickly to ensure we continued to meet their needs.”

Speaking about development at his end, Ubaid Dandekar, Director, R Nail Lounge, explains, “After having two successful brands – GLAM and The Nail Art School –R Nail Lounge is now venturing into the world of e-commerce with www.thenailshop.in, which deals in nail art and nail related products. Our target audience for the e-commerce business will be B2B and B2C users across the globe.”

Tech innovation

Technology is the backbone of e-commerce. The more technologically sound you are, the more you are able to attract the right customers. Shenai explains how the company is investing in the right technology to help Dermalogica cater to its audience better. “We have leveraged the location-agnostic reach of e-commerce and are now delivering to customers all over India. We are able to help customers identify their unique skin types and concerns, and build routines that work specifically for them.Dermalogica.in offers the unique AI-driven Face Mapping tool, which divides the skin on your face into 14 zones, isolating the skin type, texture and concern of each zone, and then recommending products accordingly. Our educators are also available through our webshop to consult with customers, having spent a great deal of time during the pandemic training to become more agile and digital-first.”

Festive fare

Buying always increases around the festive period in India. With e-commerce playing a bigger role, it is important to understand how that will affect business during this period. Shenai says, “The festive season in our country is a time to bring people together, whether virtually or in person… We are spreading our message of skin health through the festive season with tips and suggestions from our experts, along with personalised product and routine recommendations for different skin types. We will continue educating our customers on the importance of taking care of your skin through this season and offer incentives to keep them going.”

Dandekar shares, “For the festive season, we are running a sale festival called Nail Fest where we are offering discounts up to 50 per cent on our website.” With the launch of a new e-commerce website ahead of the festive season, Dandekar is trying to capture the customer’s interest by being a one-stop-shop for all things nails.

Shifting preferences

One can only anticipate trends because in the service industry one can never say for sure how the end consumer will react or which trends she will follow. With regards to e-commerce, each day is a challenge as brands have to cope with a rapidly changing digital scenario. So, what is it that will keep them going?

With e-commerce playing a bigger role, it is important to understand how that will affect business during the festive period.

Shenai expounds, “Dermalogica is a professional brand and we have a compelling portfolio and proposition for our skin therapists and salons. We have exclusive professional products, which are only used in salons. Dermalogica salons have a higher level of expertise and experience and hence it’s not just about distribution, but delivering the Dermalogica expertise and experience in close partnership with our professional skin therapists.” For his e-commerce venture, Dandekar has well-laid out plans, which are in keeping with what the customers want and how they want to buy it. “Currently, we have GLAM, our in-house brand, on our website, and we have operations in India only. From April 2022 onward, we will have other Indian brands on the portal, and by April 2023 will have international brands, too. We will focus only on operations within India. By April 2024, we will have major brands from all parts of the world and will start our operations across the globe.”

Adhering to the brand’s core values and translating the same into your business, both online and offline, is the key to being a successful multi-format brand. Only time will prove how the Indian beauty industry takes up this challenge to put India amongst the top ranking nations of the world in the e-commerce sector.

This article appears in the Oct-Nov 2021 Issue of Professional Beauty/ Hairdressers Journal India

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