There are a number of business opportunities for the beauty industry to pursue along the wellness continuum. While some opportunities will require long-term effort and investment, others simply require brand owners and investors to make small adjustments to their service offerings and re-examine the marketing approach in compliance with the consumer behaviour with a new, wellness-oriented viewpoint.
Innovation is the key
Defining the accretion of the industry, one of the pioneers of salon industry, CK Kumaravel, Co-founder, Naturals Salon said, “This industry can give employment to crores of people. Salon business makes women financially independent; they can come out of their housewife mould, experience the real world, hone skills and make money while living their dreams.”
Adding to that, Shahnawaz Nayyer, Head Sales, Wella Professionals India noted, “Innovation is the key business driver in the industry. Bring innovation, new ideas and regime to your consumers and inspire the rest of the industry by becoming big.”
Significantly, Beauty & Hygiene related searches on Google make it the third largest vertical in the shopping category after apparels and accessories and mobile phones. It is also the fastest growing category for shopping searches growing at 33 per cent year-on-year.
With growing penetration of Internet beyond urban India and online shopping growing, there is a huge opportunity waiting to be unlocked by digital players in the country with their innovative ideas and approach.
“Salon Industry has not evolved the way it should be. It's all about the Innovation. It's all about putting something new every time consumers visit. A brand is all about a team. In 20 years, a tailor has become a designer, likewise, a barber have to become a hair stylish with Innovation,” explained Naunihal Singh, Founder & CEO, Strands Salons Pvt Ltd.
Online penetration
By studying the behaviour of the lead consumers, it is clear that beauty and wellness brands of India need to start thinking of digital as a more strategic medium and chart out a digitized growth path for their products.
Releasing 'The Zenoti Benchmark’, a first-of-its-kind evaluation of the beauty and wellness industry, Sudheer Koneru, Founder & CEO of Zenoti Cloud Software for beauty & wellness industry said men spend more than women in salons.
He further backed his statement with facts, saying, “Spa do 5 per cent retail sales and salon 20 per cent. Top 10 per cent spas get three times more advanced bookings; while, 10 per cent top spa and salon provide least discounts.”
Adoption of highly consumed product categories in beauty and hygiene category is double times higher in digital households as compared to non-digital households and even the penetration of emerging product categories is way higher in digital households, making the digital audience extremely important for the Industry.
Outcome
Backed by the strong growth in the number of online users in India, the beauty and wellness industry will continue seeing rapid adoption reaching about 650 million by 2020 with Innovation and digital intervention.
