Direct-To-Consumer – Dutch Uncles

Dabur and Indian Oil: Channelising Direct-to-Home Sales the Rare Way

Shalmoli Sarkar — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 08:35:12 +0000

India’s first homegrown ayurvedic FMCG brand Dabur has recently announced its rare partnership with energy provider Indian Oil. Through this partnership, Dabur will leverage the 14 crores strong network of Indane LPG consumer households across India for its direct-to-home sales. Under this partnership, Indian Oil’s Indan LPG distributors will act as the retail business partners for Dabur and sell the entire Dabur range of products to the Indane LPG consumers that will strengthen and deepen its reach across urban,semi-urban, and rural areas. This unusual D2C route will enable convenience and ease of buying through technological and system integration to provide seamless service to the value chain.

Dabur’s direct -to home sales finds potential in Bharat consumers

What is tempting for Dabur or other FMCG brands to opt for direct-to-home sales is the profit margin involved in this channel. Capitalising on the trend of e-commerce, most FMCG brands have begun delivering their products directly to the consumer’s doorstep and have reported an 88 percent rise in year-on-year consumer demand from the past years. In the coming years, D2C will be a popular business model that will find more relevance.

Partnering with the LPG network of Indian consumers is a strategic move for Dabur to establish its presence and bolster its network in the rural. Ever since the outbreak of the covid, Dabur has been witnessed continuous rural growth that surpassed urban growth in the third quarter of 2021. The rural growth for Dabur stood at 7.5 percent (in terms of value growth in Q3 FY 2021-22), while the urban growth stood at 2.6 percent. In the second covid wave, specifically in the Jan-Feb-March quarter where the overall FMCG industry shrunk by 2 percent but rural registered a 1 percent growth during the troubled times. The infections of covid did not spread to rural areas as much as the cities.
A majority of Dabur’s product consumption comes from rural India which accounts for 45 percent and is always 2 to 3 percent higher than the urban growth rate. Post pandemic rural consumers have shown adoptions to branded FMCG products in the healthcare space which was earlier absent. Dabur’s chyawanprash, Pudin Hara, Honitus, Lal Tail, and the multiple brands in the consumer health space has a consumer base, leveraging which the brand now wants to grow its brand ‘Real’ that was earlier limited to fruit juices and nectar. Under the brand ‘Real’ the brand has created three sub-brands called Real Fruit Power, Real Milk Power, and Real Health focussing on value-added dairy and fruit beverages. Under Real Health they are launching a host of healthy snacking options such as Chia seeds and roasted pumpkin seeds. Also, government schemes such as MNREGA and rural employment are ensuring more disposable income.

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A majority of Dabur’s product consumption comes from rural India which accounts for 45 percent and is always 2 to 3 percent higher than the urban growth rate.

What lies ahead for the startups in snacking and smaller FMCG and beverage brands?

In the reality show, Shark Tank India we have witnessed several snacking startups, health beverages, and Ayurvedic foods are focussing on health and pitching for investments. The FMCG space is no longer occupied by the big companies and brands that have always been around. The covid year has made the masses realize the importance and potential of running their own business and saw a sudden increase in homegrown brands that promise to deliver chemical-free, all-natural FMCG products. The COVID educated, environmentally aware consumer base shifted their loyalty from big brand names to smaller newer brands and products. Therefore, smaller FMCG companies or startups should not shy away from serving the rural and semi-urban due to their low-income levels. There has been an evolution in the lifestyle of Indians across the semi-urban and rural segments that have primarily contributed to the surge in revenue generated by the FMCG sector in the country, and hence there holds a faster and broader growth for the FMCG sector in rural India.
Selling FMCG products in rural India can be driven through word-of-mouth sales, groups, and recommendations from friends and neighbours, which Dabur currently will be leveraging through Indane’s customers. If one customer is aware of the convenience of getting Dabur’s products delivered at the doorstep then the entire neighbourhood will try to avail products through this facility.

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Market Opportunity In India’s Online Meat Industry

Anju Nambiar — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 03:35:11 +0000

You decided to make a chicken dinner on a Sunday afternoon. How do you acquire fresh meat without stepping out of the house and risking hygiene and safety at an overcrowded butcher’s shop? Besides, most local meat shops remain closed due to frequent lockdowns. Without much thought, you can easily order fresh meat on a home delivery app like Licious or BigBasket. This is India’s online meat market.

How this unorganised sector is undergoing a transformation

The online meat delivery market has stayed nascent valued at just INR 700 Cr. In 2019, the broader meat market has also remained largely unorganised. But with the faster emergence of online players, it is slowly transforming. Start-ups like Licious, FreshToHome, ZappFresh, BigBasket have seen 3X growth ever since the pandemic broke out.

Key Forecasts of the Industry

India’s overall meat market is set to grow to more than INR 460,000 Cr by 2024 in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). It has a large growth runway ahead and is also welcoming of disruption by branded players. The online meat market in India has huge headroom for growth. The demand is only surging, and the sales of online meat players are seeing a significant rise. This trend will further intensify, and India’s online meat market will be very interesting soon.

What are the consumer pain points?

Purchasing meat from local butchers

The Covid-19 scare forced people to stop going to their friendly neighbourhood meat shops, which has helped online players to a great extent. Super verticals in online grocery and food delivery like Licious, FreshToHome, and BigBasket turned out to be safe and convenient options to acquire fresh meat directly to the doorstep. Covid-19 transformed the fish and meat purchasing behaviour of consumers dramatically.

Due to safety concerns, consumers moved to e-commerce and online demand shot up for most of the companies. Covid-related apprehensions in purchasing from local/offline butchers led to offline players effectively communicating their superior quality and hygiene practices which boosted customer confidence.

Hygiene issues

As we are aware, the local butcher shops chop meat in roadside stalls which are most often open, teeming with fleas, and are surrounded by unhygienic conditions like open sewers, garbage dumps, stray animals, traffic, and pollution. Online meat companies slice, chop, store, and pack their meat in interiors at controlled temperatures against hygienic, conducive settings for the meat to remain fresh as long as it makes its way to the consumer’s table. The meat provided by online players is clean, without any stain of blood, and has negligible odour.

Start-ups like Licious adopted industry-first and global standard food safety, and quality management systems right from the beginning of their journey to always ensure hygiene. The success of online meat providers is attributed to vertically integrated supply chains with high bars on quality. Licious is a INR 1000 Cr ARR (annual recurring rate) meat brand.

Less options

With the local butcher, you can’t place too many demands or requests on the specific cut of meat you want, whether you want your shrimp deveined on both sides, or not. They are mostly overburdened with too many orders and are mostly unable to accommodate too many requests. Also, local butchers usually store 1 or few kinds of options in terms of tenderness of the meat or even in terms of the variety of meat and seafood available.

Online meat marketplaces like FreshToHome offer a myriad of options including fish and seafood, poultry, mutton, steaks and fillet, and even Ready To Cook pre-marinated meats, gravies, and curries. The pieces that are provided by online meat marketplaces are of high quality, rich in nutritional benefits, and ideal for young, working consumers.

The players have innovated to provide consumers a wide set of offerings and attracted them through highly relevant and contextual marketing. FreshToHome enables its marketplace sellers to source and sell high-quality meat and fish directly from livestock farmers and fishermen. They receive close to 15 Mn orders per month and $85 Mn in annualised sales run rate.

Longer wait times

Butcher shops are overcrowded with people placing orders. They are also short-staffed, and orders get vastly delayed. However, in online meat delivery, you can choose the delivery slots which are mostly not one or two hours later than the delivery time. The customer’s order will be delivered, packed, sealed, and fresh, right at the doorstep.

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Online meat companies slice, chop, store, and pack their meat in interiors at controlled temperatures against hygienic, conducive settings for the meat to remain fresh as long as it makes its way to the consumer’s table.

Opportunities for new entrants in this industry

The concept of getting fresh meat cuts in India has largely been a dream for. Premium steak cuts were restricted to high-end supermarkets since local butchers were largely unaware of the concept. Online meat delivery players have opened the gates for meat eaters in India to get access to clean and hygienic sources of fresh meat.

The second most important consideration is the safety factor. India has been through numerous disease outbreaks due to stale meat making its way to food plates. By addressing both these pain points, new entrants in this space have enough room to innovate and disrupt the market.

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Clovia’s AI based Bra Bot Recreates The Offline Shopping Experience

Anju Nambiar — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 05:35:09 +0000

Indian women have always struggled to acquire the right bra sizes. The situation was so bad a few years ago, that wearing an ill-fitting bra was normalised and even the well-informed women had no idea that they needed to wear a perfectly fitting bra for the best comfort. But with disruptive brands like Buttercups and Clovia in the lingerie industry, women are now opting for customised innerwear and are rejecting the rigid beauty standards for women’s innerwear in India. Clovia recently launched an automated customer support tool called the Bra Bot.

What is Clovia’s Bra Bot?

Clovia’s Bra Bot is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) chatbot which automatically handles customer queries and passes on the remaining queries which need human intervention to a support executive. It’s essentially helping customers purchase the correct innerwear. The bra bot is built using data science and relies on predictive models to help customers find precisely what they are looking for.

Customer Engagement

It’s driving greater consumer engagement by helping users to make a purchase, updating them on order or delivery status, and guiding them with policies, FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), or sizing suggestions. The customer engagement rate has been around 2 Lakh engagements within 30 days of launch. The tool handles over 35% of the overall customer queries.

Technology

The technology behind the bra bot is an AI-based conversational platform which is accessible by customers via the Clovia website or App as well through direct engagement on WhatsApp. The bra bot uses Clovia’s proprietary CloviaCurve Fit Test.

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The customer engagement rate has been around 2 Lakh engagements within 30 days of launch.

What’s in it for me?

The D2C industry is leveraging the latest technologies like AI, Big Data, and Analytics to acquire the ever-changing pan-India market. Advanced tech adoption and becoming 100% data driven is the only way forward for digital-first brands to expand deeper into existing domestic markets towards Tier II and III cities. Since D2C brands are mostly targeting customers across the country from largely disparate geographies, profiles and behaviours, data processing through patented technology is the only answer to continuous product, supply-chain, and distribution improvement.

D2C brands wanting to expand to Tier II and III cites and want to eventually acquire the entire Indian market need to leverage extensive technology across all business areas. This will enable profitable scaling up to reach different consumer bases. You need to build your own technology platform that will mine data points for your entire user base. The data analytics from this technology will give you in-depth insight into the tastes, preferences, and changing consumer behaviour in existing and new domestic markets.

Since a D2C company relies on its own web presence and outreach capabilities, there’s no other option but to invest in Predictive Analytics and Sales Forecasting technology that will extract key insights from vast volumes of data.

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With Corpus Funding Fluid Ventures Fuels D2C Start-ups

DU Desk — Fri, 13 Aug 2021 03:30:13 +0000

Micro VC firms are emerging rapidly. Unlike large Venture Capital firms, micro-VC’s nurture small corpuses and are dedicated to funding early-stage start-ups with seed rounds, something that’s hard to acquire from bigger VCs. They cater to niche markets and play a vital role in boosting the start-up ecosystem in these markets.

Who is Fluid Ventures?

Fluid Ventures is an early-stage Micro VC (venture capital) firm that’s registered with SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) as an Alternative Investment Fund Category – I VC fund. Launched in 2019, Fluid Ventures was initially poised to work with start-ups in the B2B and B2C space. They provide financial capital and have a robust start-up support system for recruitment, marketing, accounting, taxation, compliance mentoring, CXO coaching, fund mobilisation, and legal services.

Fluid Ventures advisory board consists of stakeholders including Manish Aggarwal, co-founder of Start-up Buddy, Prashant Narang, co-founder of Agility ventures, Chittransh Verma of India Partner Arc Group, Rakhee Singal, Compliance Officer of Start-up Buddy and Divij Bajaj, CEO of Power Gummies.

Their tryst with the D2C segment

Fluid ventures has completed the first close of their debut D2C (direct-to-consumer) focused fund. This fund will invest in D2C brands and its first close has occurred at INR 25 Cr published and a tentative INR 30 Cr for D2C start-ups. Their first scheme is in collaboration with Start-up Buddy and Agility Ventures. A category I fund, it has a target corpus of INR 80 Cr. Offering a check size of up to INR 4 Cr, Fluid Ventures will fund 15-18 emerging D2C brands within the next 3 years. Homegrown consumer start-ups stand a chance of winning checks from this investment fund.

Why they are funding D2C

Indian D2C brands have raised more than $2.04 Billion since 2014 and this segment is the next big wave in India. Owing to limited funding options available in the market for D2C currently, Fluid Ventures is hoping to bridge the gap. Amidst the pandemic, D2C and vertical commerce start-ups have instilled confidence among investors towards e-commerce. Between the first quarter Q1 of 2020 and the second quarter Q2 of 2021, total funds raised by D2C start-ups registered an average quarterly growth of 93%. Besides, India has one D2C unicorn which is significant since there are only 20 other D2C unicorns abroad. Through this initiative, Fluid ventures wants to encourage large investors to create more success stories in this segment.

D2C categories and funding rounds they are interested in

Fluid Ventures wants to invest in segments like food and beverages, beauty, personal care, lifestyle, home products in D2C. They are looking forward to participating in Seed, Pre-Series A, Series A and follow-up rounds for start-ups.

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Noteworthy start-ups in India offering conversational AI and voice based B2B solutions.

What’s in it for me?

Category I funds like Fluid Ventures that come under SEBI’s AIF regulations include social impact funds, Venture capital funds, and infrastructure funds. AIF funds that target niche segments are a boon to the industry. This is because the investors on board already have an eye for recognising promising start-ups that deserve funding and you will gain instant exposure without facing cut-throat competition.

While trying to attract funding from micro-VCs and AIFs, take a look at their portfolio. Chances are you will find a number of start-ups with similar business models. Adopt their strategies to be a part of the ecosystem and to become eligible for funding. A lot of venture capital firms have floated new funds this year for specific markets like D2C, Agritech, etc. These micro funds are a great opportunity to easily acquire seed funding and close more initial funding rounds with ease. Since these funds go easy on start-ups approaching them owing to their early stage, if you have a solid idea backed by a profitable strategy, it’s possible to acquire funding.

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Indian D2C Beauty Brand MyGlamm to Scale across the South Asian Market

Aakash Sharma — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 08:35:07 +0000

MyGlamm, a direct-to-consumer beauty brand in India that sells most of its products through its website, app and retail touchpoints, has recently raised $71.3 million in funding. Following this fundraising round, the company is aiming to scale its business across the South Asian market.

The start-up had raised $23.5 million in its four-time subscribed Series C financing round from Amazon, Ascent Capital and Wipro in March 2021. It has recently added $47.8 million as part of the round.

Darpan Sanghvi founded MyGlamm in 2017 and today also has on its board POPxo founder Priyanka Gill as a co-founder after the acquisition of ‘India’s largest digital community of Women’ in 2020. The company wants to go beyond traditional online distribution and put forth MyGlammxo as a channel to get its products.

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With WebEngage, MyGlamm currently has a 45% retention rate and is targeting Rs. 500 Crore Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) by next year.

What propelled the creation of MyGlamm?

Started in 2017, the fashion-focused company found its roots in the goal of providing ‘glam quotient’ to its customers regardless of their busy days, without a compromise. MyGlamm is backed by one of Europe’s largest natural beauty companies, and it collaborates with international makeup artists and experts to create exciting innovations to achieve its goal of serving fashion clients with ease.

The start-up today operates as a house of brands in the beauty and personal care spaces. It works in the cosmetics, skin, hair, bath, body and personal care sectors. MyGlamm has been able to build this because the start-up is truly based on a direct to consumers (D2C) model. This allows it to communicate directly with customers. Most other firms operating in this sector are too reliant on third-party marketplaces for their sales.

How does MyGlamm plan to scale to the South Asian market?

The start-up plans to deploy the fresh funds to expand its product development, data science, and technology research teams. It is also working on expanding its offline presence and broadening the digital reach of POPxo.

By doubling down on its D2C cosmetic and personal care setup, MyGlamm plans to leverage its digital presence and community-driven growth model for global scalability. It is looking to bypass the traditional online distribution channels and offer the best products from its multiple touchpoints to consumers across the spectrum.

MyGlamm D2C – what can others learn from this upward multi-channel growth?

By its unique website portal, easy-to-use application, and an already growing offline presence via the 15000 over-the-counter sales points, MyGlamm has come a long way in acing the D2C race in the fashion industry. The start-up’s physical presence accounts for 40% of the revenue it generates today. The fact that the beauty and personal care sector remained one of the few sectors that did not face a slump during the pandemic also served the start-up’s growth.

The beauty and personal care market in India is increasing due to the boom of D2C. The industry is expected to grow with a compound annual growth rate of 4.23% between 2020 and 2025, with an estimated value of $8 billion. The rapid growth of the D2C beauty industry is in line with the growing penetration of internet services in India, the popularity of e-commerce and social trading platforms, and interactions on social media. This gives a sufficiently large base for new businesses to explore their growth avenues.

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D2C Model, An Ideal Approach for MSMEs

Anju Nambiar — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 08:35:08 +0000

D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) has created a level playing field for SMEs (small and medium enterprises) to directly take on legacy brands. The business model is simple. Post or run ads on social media, engage your customers and encourage them to make a purchase on your e-commerce or Shopify store. The Indian D2C market is expected to reach $100 Bn by 2025. The D2C model is thus an ideal approach for MSMEs who have suffered disruptions in their offline presence and are looking to revive.

How the D2C model is helping SMEs go global

The D2C model is helping SMEs go global since it enables them to start from scratch and eventually grow bigger from there. Since stay-at-home shopping has gelled very well with consumers, the D2C model has emerged as a strong contender and as a correct approach where consumers get the upper hand. Thus, it is enabling SMEs to venture outside Indian markets.

Why the D2C model is ideal for SMEs

The cost factor

Virtual retail is the new avatar of the shopping experience and SMEs can easily set up online storefronts via D2C. They can even undertake branding and marketing activities with low budgets through D2C. It also allows for customer personalisation and innovation.

Consumer demand dictates stock piling

Through D2C, SMEs can deal with the stock piling problem since they do not need to spend exorbitant amounts on warehousing. Consumer behaviour, market trends and demand dictate stocks and manufacturing. Through the D2C model, you can accurately forecast manufacturing and stocks needed for specific sale events.

Highly adaptable

With D2C, you can easily expand your reach to new markets since a virtual storefront is agile and adaptable to new geographics, additional pin codes and even new lines of product categories. There’s no investment needed to tweak these changes on your online store as compared to a physical retail store.

User metrics and predictive analytics

E-commerce stores, especially D2C platforms give you the freedom and flexibility to analyse consumer data, conversion metrics, web traffic and demographics using predictive analytics tools. As per the trends and insights, you can change your strategy accordingly and mould the UX (user experience) as per real-time engagement statistics.

Exploring international markets

With D2C, your online shop can easily export products to international markets as you have a direct approach with the consumers. Since you can directly communicate with the end consumer, SMEs can skip the traditional supply chain and costs of traditional exports.

Deep Internet penetration in Tier II and III cities

Owing to the deep internet penetration in Tier II and III cities, SMEs no longer need to rely on e-commerce aggregators to reach consumers in these locations. They can set up D2C channels and adopt cutting-edge technology tools to limit their physical presence. The omnichannel D2C strategy can target consumers in these cities which can help SMEs tap into these niche markets. Local economies in small cities and towns with strong internet penetration prefer buying online ever since the pandemic began.

Growth opportunities in D2C

D2C and all its sub-segments have huge growth potential. SMEs venturing into any retail market can expect huge spikes in demand and revenue. Without middlemen tinkering with your supply chain, you can easily bypass the hassles of traditional e-commerce and create efficient consumer engagement strategies. When compared to traditional retail, D2C brands with dedicated websites can experience a much greater demand.

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Through the D2C model, you can accurately forecast manufacturing and stocks needed for specific sale events.

What’s in it for me?

D2C brands, under various segments, are clocking in crores of revenue in short periods of time. SMEs can provide affordable products to consumers by taking the D2C approach and still make staggering profits. Make in India SMEs who are less keen on investing heavily into marketing will find that D2C is the best way to provide affordable products to consumers. The real-time feedback coming from D2C is what makes brands stick to this model. You can acquire 100% revenue and sales from your e-commerce website if your retail segment has suffered from pandemic induced disruptions recently.

Small D2C brands are raising investor money which is helping them in their global expansion plans. The Indian D2C market is currently operating at its very best. This is the best time for SMEs to consider building a new-age D2C brand with Make in India products.

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5 Growing Indian Innerwear Brands

Anju Nambiar — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 09:35:43 +0000

Innerwear brands are targeting specific consumers like millennials and GenZ. They are fighting age-old norms and beauty standards around intimate wear. For instance, innerwear for women used to be a hush-hush sector with zero options for comfort, or customization.

The worst part is that women’s innerwear in India used to be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ affair and almost never catered to different body sizes and shapes. But a lot of inclusive innerwear brands are creating unique loungewear and innerwear products for both men, women and even the LGBTQIA+ community.

Innerwear brands in the spotlight

XYXX

XYXX is a start-up that offers men’s innerwear and loungewear made from naturally-sourced, eco-friendly fabric. The start-up is challenging the status quo as a homegrown brand and achieved a growth of 300 pc in 2020 which has brought them into the high-growth stage as a start-up.

Clovia

Clovia is a women’s intimate wear brand in the D2C segment that has grown significantly. They have experienced a sharp and significant rise, even once achieving 100% growth in a span of 6 months. They are currently working to expand to international markets. Clovia’s growth numbers have been nothing short of tremendous with INR 52.5 Cr incoming revenue achieved in 2018. Their product range is diverse encompassing lingerie, personal care, lounge wear and sportswear.

Tailor and Circus

Tailor and Circus is a highly inclusive unisex homegrown brand that’s been achieving year-on-year growth and making crores in revenue. They target niche customers like astronauts, menstruating and wheelchair bound consumers, and the transgender community with their anti-microbial, self-cleaning underwear products.

Zivame

Zivame is a well-known women’s intimate wear brand that’s also the largest Lingerie Retail EBO (Exclusive Brand Outlet) network in India. They penetrated the Indian lingerie market at a time when women’s innerwear was an underserved category. Through their D2C approach, Zivame is continuing to achieve 2X growth as well as double digit month-on-month growth percentages. They also achieved a growth of 50-60% in their website traffic post covid.

Smugglerz Inc

Smugglerz Inc is a men’s focused growth stage brand that’s offering loungewear essentials like boxer shorts, lounge shorts, pyjamas and innerwear. They are making fun products with attractive themes like ‘Back to the ‘80s’ and are also collaborating with pop culture brands like Warner Bros and DC Comics.

A few other noteworthy domestic brands include Fabpoppy, Modern Crew, Almo, Buttercups and PrettySecrets.

Future, market size and opportunity in the Indian innerwear market

The inclusive innerwear market has high growth potential as more domestic brands are venturing into both men and women’s intimate and loungewear. However, the women’s innerwear market is currently the most lucrative with a RedSeer’s Report estimating a potential of $12 B in the coming 5 years.

Future

Innerwear is currently one of the fastest growing apparels in India. The female innerwear market will grow in Tier II cities due to increasing brand awareness about economical products. Target consumers in smaller towns will mostly be from the young, high-income, social media savvy demographic.

Market Size

The market comprises lingerie, athleisure (including loungewear and activewear) as well as ancillaries like shapewear and swimwear. You can venture into any or all of these categories.

Opportunity

The Indian Innerwear market especially for women’s innerwear is expected to be a $12 B opportunity by 2025. E-commerce and D2C channels are seeing high consumer loyalty and the opportunity is strong for online brands.

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Through their D2C approach, Zivame is continuing to achieve 2X growth as well as double digit month-on-month growth percentages.

What’s in it for me?

Reinvention is the key word when it comes to the innerwear segment in India. Brands taking the reinvention approach are achieving tumultuous growth. Men and women have suffered due to the lack of innovation or inspiration in loungewear and innerwear categories.

Aspiring entrepreneurs need to do their bit to change this scenario. Start-ups venturing into innerwear need to adopt sustainable fabric and manufacturing approaches. Plush, ultra-soft and cosy products are in high demand as customers in the work-from-home segment demand higher levels of comfort and ease in loungewear. The premium and luxury segment have high potential in men and women’s innerwear since Tier II and Tier III city consumers are willing to purchase from premium brands.

Inclusive marketing campaigns and targeting niche segments will work very well for brands. If you are interested in women’s innerwear, expect high competition. But the opportunities are massive especially for innovative product offerings that address women’s intimate wear challenges.

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Heyday, A Feminine Hygiene Startup Aims to Revolutionise the Sector

Shalmoli Sarkar — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 06:27:54 +0000

Menstrual waste is aggravating India’s environmental pollution. Before you begin to ponder upon the premise ‘how’, allow us to present you with some glaring facts. Following statistics are from the report titled ‘Menstrual Products and their Disposal’ released by the environmental group Toxics Link.

Disposable sanitary napkins are manufactured with 90 percent plastic.
About 12.3 billion or 113,000 tonnes of used sanitary pads are dumped in landfills in India every year, adding to the 3.3 million tonnes of plastic waste already present in the country.
A single commercial non-organic sanitary pad will either take 250-800 years to decompose or may never decompose at all.
The amount of plastic a pad consists of is equivalent to 4 plastic bags.
Currently, India lacks a proper recycling facility for this non-biodegradable menstrual waste. The menstrual waste dumped in landfills can stay undecayed for 100 years contributing to micro-plastic pollution and if burnt in incinerators can release toxic components like dioxins and furans.

The statistics and facts presented displayed the sorry state of curbing plastic waste and menstrual waste in India that bothered Deepanjali Kanoria to launch her eco-friendly range of feminine hygiene products under the name ‘Heyday’.

What is Heyday?

Heyday is a Gurugram-based feminine hygiene startup founded in 2017 whose product portfolio comprises organic and biodegradable sanitary pads, panty liners, menstrual cups and baby diapers. Heyday currently has 24 SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) in total with prices ranging from Rs99 to Rs 399. Its products are available on e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart and Nykaa, apart from its website.

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According to a report titled Menstrual Products and their Disposal’ released by the environmental group Toxics Link around 12.3 billion or 113,000 tonnes of used sanitary pads are dumped in landfills in India every year.

How Did Heyday start?

Deepanjali Kanoria left her comfortable job as a financial analyst in Ernst & Young with a dream in her eyes to step into the journey of entrepreneurship to disrupt the feminine hygiene sector by introducing eco-friendly products.

The unawareness regarding the plastic component in sanitary napkins, diapers and tampons causing environmental harm has helped her to envision Heyday – an eco-friendly brand – in the feminine hygiene space in 2017. In March 2021, she was recognised as a Forbes 30 Under 30 in India and Asia.

How Heyday is planning to revolutionise the feminine Hygiene market?

Unlike feminine hygiene giants that use harmful synthetic raw materials, Heyday’s products are manufactured using plant-based fibres of corn and bamboo that are free from chemicals and plastics, whose usage gives a rash-free and comfortable experience. The products are biodegradable within two years of disposal.

What is in it for startups in the feminine hygiene space?

According to Research and Markets, the Feminine hygiene product market in India was valued at 32.66 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.87 percent during the 2021 – 2025 period. The tailwinds to this growth can be owed to improved awareness regarding feminine hygiene and the benefits of using personal care hygiene products.

Here are some of the factors about how will the space look for the new entrants planning to foray in the organic feminine hygiene market:

The dominance of FMCG giants

The market looks promising for feminine hygiene space in India. However, 90 percent of the market is dominated by P&G and Johnson & Johnson due to their early presence and penetrative distribution model that makes its products available in all the brick-and-mortar stores.

The remaining 10 percent comprises organic feminine hygiene space where the market share is distributed among brands -NUA, Carmesi, and Pee Safe other than Heyday. These new feminine hygiene brands majorly operate online or in a D2C channel, whose awareness is limited to women belonging to tier-1 cities.

Price

Price will play a pivotal role in the acceptance of organic sanitary napkins. The price of Whispers sanitary napkins that start from Rs 40-50 gives 15-20 pads in total whereas one pack of Heyday’s sanitary napkins costing between Rs 199 -299 gives 14 pads in total. The price aspect will influence the buying decision coupled with the benefits of the product being rash-free, chemical-free, and environment-friendly.

New Products are Nascent

New products launched by these brands like tampons, panty liners and menstrual cups are in their infancy in India for their usage.

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A Taste for Recruitment, Job Market Trends in Restaurant and Food Services

DU Desk — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 08:35:12 +0000

The restaurant food services job market has worn a deserted look ever since the second wave began. Employees suffered from job losses, pay cuts, and were forced to change their career paths this year. But now that the curve has flattened, restaurants are scrambling to hire people to recover the losses quickly before talks of a third wave emerge. If you are looking to venture into this space, you need to be aware of the pitfalls and the opportunities in the food job market so that you can hire with precision.

Has recruiting halted?

The Restaurant industry came to a standstill early this year, with mass layoffs and a complete full stop on recruitment efforts. But once again, restaurants are looking to salvage the losses incurred during the second wave lockdowns. They are taking advantage of the lockdown lifting and have resumed hiring for key positions like Bartenders, Restaurant Managers, Waiters and Kitchen Staff. Recruitment is picking up from where they had left off in the Food Services business.

Current Recruitment Trends in Restaurants and Food Services

Disinterest among food service job seekers

Currently, only 10% of job seekers in Restaurant & Food Services are seeking urgent job opportunities. Since food businesses are struggling to cope with losses, being employed only means low wages, pay cuts, fear of being laid off, and nil tips earned since operations are no longer happening in full capacity. Finding suitable candidates who are actively applying for jobs and willing to work for meagre employment benefits will be tough for businesses.

Low salaried jobs

The industry is currently unable to entertain or fulfil high salary demands of workers joining or re-joining the workforce. As such, low salaried jobs are trending since industry standards have significantly dipped. Competitive salaries are no longer being offered to otherwise high paying jobs like Executive Chef and Restaurant Managers.

No employment benefits for recruitment in the unorganised sector

The unorganised sector in the Restaurants & Food Services industry comprises solopreneurs or families selling RTE (read-to-eat) meals through roadside stalls, dhabas, food carts, and street stalls. They were once the biggest employment generator and contributor to the workforce in the industry. However currently, employees being hired in these firms will be unable to enjoy benefits since the unorganised sector cannot afford to provide them.

Good news for job seekers – Hiring activity saw growth of 15% in June 2021

As per ‘Naukri Job Speak Index’, a report by Naukri.com, the job market saw a 15% growth in the month of June and is recovering post the second wave. This is good news for job seekers since hiring activity was up by 87% in June across Hotels and Restaurants ever since recruitment took a nosedive with the onset of the second wave.

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Competitive salaries are no longer being offered to otherwise high paying jobs like Executive Chef and Restaurant Managers.

What’s in it for me?

The Restaurant and Food Services Industry is one of the largest consumers of skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled staff in the country. But due to lack of Government support and relief measures like moratorium on rentals, tax compliances, interest payments, it’s not feasible to hire salaried employees, especially for luxury hotel and restaurant chains.

As per the current job market trends in this sector, the salary standards in the industry have been thwarted. You can offer low salaries but make sure to consider the needs of employees trying to make a living in this space. If you are opening a food business, focus on hiring for online deliveries. You will need a fleet of delivery executives especially if you are going D2C and a complete Digital Marketing team to improve outreach and orders. Hiring must be very precise, and your staff must run on limited capacity to reduce the possibility of Covid transmission.

The post A Taste for Recruitment, Job Market Trends in Restaurant and Food Services appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

These 10 Apparel Brands Have Taken the D2C Route in India

DU Desk — Sat, 10 Jul 2021 03:35:04 +0000

Sales of formal wear, ethnic wear, and party wear nosedived in the pandemic amid the prolonged closure of shops, malls, and offices and curbs on out-of-consumption that kept most consumers indoors in 2020. It was not long in 2021 that the falling number of cases created a beacon of hope for the apparel businesses by reopening of malls but soon the second wave brought the businesses again to the brink of losses and zero sales.

High-end apparel brands in the face of the largest human health crisis are considering the D2C route to stay afloat and keep the demand ongoing despite lockdowns and limited opening store hours. Apparel brands such as Ritu Kumar, Forever New, Marks, and Spencer, United Colors of Benetton, Shoppers Stop, Raymond, Van Heusen, Peter England, and Ensemble have launched or are yet to launch their online store in the pandemic.

What was the need for Apparel Brands to take the D2C channel?

According to the domestic rating agency Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA), the apparel businesses to generate revenues like pre-covid times will have to wait till 2023. ICRA also stated that after cases began plateauing in the December quarter of 2020, the apparel brand’s revenue had touched 70 percent of pre-covid revenue levels. It was expected to show revenue growth of 23-25 percent in 2021-2022, but the strike of the second wave crumbled the revenues again. Zero to less footfall in shops has hampered the apparel brands business due to mounting rental costs, and lower demand for new clothes especially formal wear, party wear, and ethnic wear. Though the brands have listed their products on the e-commerce aggregator platform, it prevented the apparel brands from engaging better with consumers with a sensitive approach. Hence, the D2C strategy will be the coping mechanism for the brands in such times.

What are the Apparel Brands Doing?

With Work-from-home becoming the norm, the formal wear segment has taken a backseat impacting brands like Van Heusen, Peter England and Raymond. Brands are introducing a new clothing wear range to focus on comfort and casualisation. Raymond has introduced a virtual shopping experience through WhatsApp and Zoom video calls for fulfilling the demand for tailored garments from the comfort of consumer’s homes. Shoppers Stop has introduced its D2C store where it has introduced 100 of its exclusive brands that are not available on other aggregator platforms. Brand Ritu Kumar receives orders from its online portal as well as WhatsApp.

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According to ICRA, the apparel businesses to generate revenues like pre-covid times will have to wait till 2023.

Apparel Brands Exploring Channels Other than D2C

Beleaguered by zero footfalls in stores, Pepe Jeans launched its fashion retail truck in Delhi and Gurugram to allow customers to buy denim clothes. This strategy will aid Pepe Jeans to scale their business in small cities as well. Besides, apparel brands malls are seen taking the shop on wheels. Inorbit Mall reached the premier societies with its mobile shop consisting of brands like Soch, US Polo, Skechers, Flying Machine and Ceilo in the cities of Hyderabad and Mumbai. A similar strategy was adopted by fashion retail chain Bazaar Kolkata that introduced a movable mini store ‘Bazaar on Wheels’ to cater to the fashion needs of shoppers in Kolkata.

The Gain and Reach of D2C stores of Apparel Brands

Brand label Ritu Kumar’s WhatsApp shopping accounts for 10-12 percent of its store sales while online sales account for 14 percent of the overall sales. Online sales for Forever New account for around 25-30 percent of its total sales. Similarly, for United Colors of Benetton, its online sales cover 20 percent of its overall sales. Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail has witnessed a strong double-digit growth of 15 percent in 2021 from 7 percent in 2020 from its e-commerce platform.

Learnings for Apparel Brands

For survival it will be imperative for apparel brands to consider the following:

Curbing the unnecessary expenses
Bolstering the last-mile delivery operations
Adopt click-and-collect model
Timely delivery
Offer quality products and value for money
Taking the D2C channel for better linkage with consumers and not neglecting the omnichannel power

As more people shop online, apparel brands should evaluate their sales channels and supply chain systems to elevate the online shopping experience for customers. In addition to this, brands should quickly adapt to new consumer interests of leisure, activewear essentials, and lightweight clothing and serve their needs in the best way possible.

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