On November 8, 2016, a policy announced by the Government of India in the spur of a moment shook the industry in an out. Demonetisation may have come as a blow for many. The beauty and wellness industry, especially, which is mostly unorganised and deals in cash payments, was certainly not prepared for the blow. This also comes at a time when the beauty and wellness industry of India has been booming and would not want to see the growth slowing down at any cost.
Therefore, while many brands are struggling to cope up with demonetisation blues, there are some who have put their thinking caps on and are taking demonetisation in their stride. Wellness India takes you through some ideas that are being implemented by brands to beat the demonetisation blues.
Beauty Loan
Bank loans were something the world used to talk about. In times like demonetisation, a loan looks like a resort to make one sail through cashless times. Taking cue, Bharti Taneja, Director, ALPS Beauty Group, has introduced ‘Beauty Loan’. Taneja has introduced the loan scheme along with the launch of her new Premium Beauty Lounge in New Delhi’s South Extension on November 23. While she is also giving credit etc., beauty loan comes as a unique idea that can help a beauty brand sail through demonetisation smoothly.
Instalments
In India, many premium and small fitness centres have been offering instalment payment facilities to members to get more registrations. However, now when demonetisation has hit the country, an instalment would work wonders with many consumers falling short of cash. This would also work for beauty salons who have loyal customers. To not lose out on your customer base, give them the instalment facility to pay for their service.
Online doctor consultations
In times like these, many think twice before spending cash on travelling and then spending cash for a doctor consultation. Firms like iCliniq that provide online doctor consultations come into the picture here. “Almost 80 per cent of health issues can be solved online and online doctor consultation is mitigation to real time treatment,” says Dhruv Suyamprakasam, Founder and CEO, iCliniq.
“We have seen a jump of 270 per cent in patient growth after November 8 from India. Normally we get around 350 new patient registrations per day from India. And in this past 12 days, the surge has mounted to 943 patients on an average every day. The number of consults from India has increased 2.25 times cumulatively from November 8,” he adds.
Digital money
As Suyamprakasam rightly puts it, “The first step in embracing demonetisation is to welcome 'digital evolution'.” Beauty and wellness brands that are seeing the need of the hour and are going online for receiving payments are the ones who may save their business from being affected by demonetisation. In fact, at the India International Trade Fair 2016, all cosmetics and health products brands are accepting payments on Paytm, thereby, making sure that the footfall is not reduced due to demonetisation.
While there are some players who are also still accepting the old currency, this may not go on for long. The above ways, however, can ensure that your business doesn’t suffer the demonetisaion blues and comes out as a winner. Take demonetisation as a threat or an opportunity, the choice is yours.
