The Indian market has moved on from the times when beauty services were all about waxing and threading, wellness and fitness was all about treadmills, and healthcare was all about visiting hospitals. Thanks to both creative and technological breakthroughs being achieved in the recent times, the Indian market has become a Pandora box of innovations.
From new beauty concepts to newer ways of delivering beauty services, from new forms of fitness to fitness trackers, the Indian market is welcoming innovations in beauty, health and wellness with open arms. Even traditional practices of Yoga and Ayurveda have opened themselves to creativity and changing trends.
Here’s a look at some recent innovative concepts entering the Indian market that carry the potential to disrupt the beauty, health and wellness sector and provide huge opportunity for innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs alike.
Ayurvedic Cigarettes
India has the second highest number of tobacco users (over 275 million) in the world, according to Euromonitor. In 2015, it was also the fourth largest market for illicit trade in cigarettes in volume terms. With alarming numbers of the tobacco filled cigarettes in India, three brothers, Piyush, Gaurav and Nitin Chhabra, have come up with the concept of Ayurvedic cigarettes named Organic Smokes and aim to compete with ITC in the future.
“We jointly ventured into our new business. It is an Ayurvedic organic therapy for smokers. We came up with this because we also were smokers, but now we’ve all quit smoking because of this product. The idea came out of smoking only. We were smoking one day, so we thought of using some other ingredients rather than tobacco. We’re from the pharma background, we also used to trade in Ayurveda. So we picked up basil, green tea, rose petals etc, made a blend and rolled it into a piece of paper and smoked it. We consulted some doctors over it too, to confirm whether it was safe. They said it was a brilliant idea to pitch in the market. We got it patented as well. In June 2015, we got patented on the first day itself as a medicine by AYUSH Ministry,” said Piyush Chhabra.
Yoga gone cool
According to an Assocham study, the demand for yoga instructors is expected to grow by about 30-35 per cent in the next couple of years. This presents a clear picture of how big the yoga sector is going to grow in India. Generation next is certainly seeing this as an opportunity, not just for business, but for creative business. 24-year-old Sarvesh Shashi is an example. He started Zorba: A Renaissance Studio and now runs it as the largest chain of Yoga studios in India, with over 33 studios across the country.
However, yoga at his studios is beyond the traditional asanas on the mat. Taking one step ahead, he is making yoga cool, to attract both youngsters and seniors. At Zorba, one can experience yoga with a basket ball, yoga with a rope, yoga in a swimming pool and yoga with a dog.
Beauty at home
Technology has been a boon for the beauty industry, which has seen a shift from customers going to service professionals to service professionals going to customers. There are many startups that are doing huge business, providing the concept of beauty services on demand. UrbanClap, MyGlamm and many more such ‘beauty at home’ portals and apps are the in thing today as the fast paced life restricts millenials from going to salons.
“Being the master franchisee for L’OCCITANE, we observed the beauty industry closely. We saw the need for running business in beauty by eliminating expensive overheads that are involved in this business like the facility, the rentals etc and that’s how MyGlamm was born,” said Darpan Sanghvi, CEO, MyGlamm.
Health at home
According to PwC, the Indian home healthcare market is worth $ 2 billion and growing annually at 20 per cent. Big names like Apollo Hospitals, Dabur and Fortis have also forayed into this segment. Diagnostics at home is a concept that has largely been popularized by Thyrocare.
HealthTech has also emerged as a winner with firms like Omron Healthcare and AccuCheck coming up with devices like Blood Pressure Monitors, Gluco Monitors, Nebulizers and much more for consumers to take to preventive healthcare instead of curative healthcare.
Fitness beyond treadmills
Fitness is no more about just treadmills and cycles. The consumer today is becoming more aware, thanks to digital media, and is moving towards machine-less forms of fitness like Zumba, Masala Bhangra, Pilates, Yoga, Running, CrossFit etc. But that’s not all! International brands too are eyeing this opportunity, coming up with machines that are not the regular cardio machines.
Impulse Studios, a Malaysian award-winning brand, is bringing the German technology of Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) to India, promising effective weight loss, body sculpting and fitness without weight lifting exercises. Ireland’s Jymka brings to India a unique concept of family gyms. At Gymka, programs are designed for the fitness of parents as well as kids starting from the age of 3-year-old.
The present day business in the Indian beauty, health and wellness industry is a new, fast-changing business. If you’re not changing, innovating and disrupting, you’re not in the race.
