Digamber Sethi, CEO, Trade & Technology Expositions and a pioneer in the health, beauty and wellness industry, is a man known for holding Salonex International, the trade exhibition for beauty and wellness products, during the 90s. In an interview with Wellness India, he shared insights on the evolution of the industry in India, the current state, demanding consumer behaviour and market competition among other things. Here are excerpts from the interview.
Give us an insight into the Indian beauty and wellness industry?
The health, beauty and wellness Industry in India is now at an all-time high, twice as fast as that of the US and European markets. The urban salon market in India is small by international standards but it is growing at a rapid pace. A KPMG Wellness Sector report released in April this year projected that the size of India’s beauty and wellness market would nearly double to Rs 80,370 cr by 2017-18 from Rs 41,224 cr in 2012-13. This is very optimistic indeed. A huge problem faced by the industry is the lack of quality manpower. The demand supply gap of trained staff is a real challenge.
How has beauty and salon industry evolved over the years? Which brands lead the industry?
When we had organised Salon International in 1996, we were the pioneering show and way ahead of time in the industry then. Now, spa and salons, are mushrooming at a very fast pace as consumer demands have accelerated rapidly. An increasing number of people are choosing this industry as a career option. Beauty institutes and academies have sprouted all over towns and cities to cater to this increase in demand. With more brands coming in the market, it is difficult to pick a few names to position on top. But some brands like L’Oreal continue to remain in the lead.
Has the consumer become more demanding in nature?
In today’s world, with exposures to smart phones, internet and social media, the desire to look good and feel good is raging among people from all walks of life. They are quite confident about what they want.
Related: Wellness Industry in India
How is the competition in the market and what future do you foresee for this business?
I always think that the market is big enough and everyone has their own share. It depends on how you position your brand in the market. Historically, Indians have been influenced by western fashion. International trends and technology is our focus. There is a lot of scope in manufacturing as well as skill development.
With organic products entering the market, will the demand for International brands grow?
It all depends on how we market and position the brands. Every product will have their own market share. This is where a platform like Salonex comes in the picture. We would be happy to help.
What is Salonex and why you thought of revamping it?
‘Salon International’ was first organised in Mumbai in the 90s for four consecutive years. It is a B2B annual event specially designed and organised for brands to promote their products and enable salon and spa professionals to educate themselves about the latest products through the exhibition, services, trends, technologies and also build brand awareness, identify future partners, distributors, and suppliers etc to expand business. Salonex is all set to revamp in April 2017 under Trade & Technology Exposition Co. (I). Pvt. Ltd. The mission behind the re-launch is to keep the visitors abreast of the latest trends, technology and products in the industry.
