How Samir Modi is Planning to Launch a D2C Brand

The Covid era has seen the termination of premium beauty-product outlets. Further, the lockdown and physical movement constraints have led to a quick and effective shift from offline to online platforms. The shift has been of great advantage to consumers owing to greater accessibility, convenience, and lower prices.

Many brands had to change their retail strategies to match the changing trends and consumer behavior and one of such brands is Colorbar.

“The pandemic has brought the business down at Colorbar, but the skincare segment has gone up by three times. Now, we are moving to the original sale that is pre-pandemic. We were heavily skewed towards offline retail, so moving all of those online was challenging to ramp up too quickly,” says Samir Modi, Founder & Managing Director, Colorbar

“We revamped part of our website, focus more on social media, and of course, we are working with the likes of Myntra, Nykaa and Nykaa is one of our biggest sales for online. In addition, we are investing heavily into tech-AI, VR to give an offline experience online,” he further adds.

The brand will soon be launching technological innovations like AI and VR to give an offline like experience online.

Modicare Bets Big on Health and Wellness Category

Apart from this, Modicare is expanding rapidly into wellness, with products launching every month. The brand will soon be venturing into weight management which is a big segment in India.

“Right now, we have over 600 SKUs, and by December, we will be launching 12 new products. Skincare is very big and then sanitisers, disinfectants and surface cleaners have also seen a surge in demand. Post first wave of a pandemic the demand had significantly gone down but now it is picking up again but it is not as much as it picked up during the first wave,” he states.

“Weight management is going too big for us. On the cosmetics side, there will be products for better nails, better skin, and better hair. Then we’ll be venturing into many products for COVID protection, newer ways of functioning, products for men and women, products for menstrual cycle and pain,” he further adds. 

Modicare is growing day by day, and it adds 2.5 lakhs to 3 lakhs of new consultants every month. The brand has seen a CAGR growth of 40 percent. 

“We are always looking at how to change our gears in terms of outer and inner packaging and use recycled materials. However, we are clear that we’ll be ethical, trustable, and sustainability and social responsibility are the pillars we will work towards,” he asserts.

D2C – The Way Forward

Just like other brands, Modicare and Colorbar has also changed its retail and marketing strategies. Direct-to-consumer is the mantra going forward. 

“We as a company are moving fast towards D2C. Our social media strategy and marketing strategy have changed. Swiping through apps has also become big. We are adopting Instagram Reels, YouTube, Influencer marketing and going into regional marketing rather than national marketing, in fact, deep diving to the city level,” Modi explains.

“Earlier we used to look at India as one but now we thought lets go down to the cities and talk to the people there because their tastes are different. We want consumers to know us. We want to make sure that the people are involved,” he adds.

At present, Modicare serves close to 35,000 pin codes and serves consumers across all demographics, however, Colorbar, has a strong presence in Tier I and II cities.

“We are planning to launch a new brand and are focusing heavily on e-commerce,” he shares.

Apart from this, the brand is also investing in brick-and-mortar and expanding its store presence and retail geography. 

Technology – The Game Changer

Colorbar is looking at fast response through its website and is working on giving the offline experience online. 

“We are looking into customization, where customers can customize their makeup online, order lipstick and nail polish of their choice by just uploading the color, and in two days, they will get the courier. We are also working on technology which makes the nail paint in just minutes and offers 18 million color options,” he states.

“We are investing in tech, patent technology, and recycled packing. We are the first company to launch the Blue Light Defense System,” he further adds.

Future Plans

Modicare is expanding online vis-a-vis brick-and-motor distribution. The brand has 9,500 distribution points all over India and has seen 3,000 percent growth in the last 5 years. Direct selling is booming and to take the maximum advantage of the situation, Modicare will be launched in the UK in next three months. 

“After UK, we will expand to Europe. During the second phase, we will cover Middle East and South East Asia and after that we will expand our present in America. We want to be one of the top 10 direct selling companies of the world,” he concludes.