Speaking in response to Shiseido’s decision to launch their Za range earlier this year via a digital-heavy campaign, Tripti Lochan noted that India has a huge consumer base of web users: "digital, as a medium, has deeply entrenched itself in the Indian scenario,” she said.
“India is now the 3rd largest internet population, out of which 39% are women. It is therefore a necessary platform for a contemporary beauty brand, such as Za, to connect with their target audience.”
India online
While China leads the world for mobile purchases, it is closely followed by India, according a new PwC survey, with 69% of respondents saying they shop online.
The size of India's e-commerce market in 2013 was around $13 billion, according to a joint report of KPMG and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), and the emerging market is gearing up for an approaching explosion of online sales for the country.
Indeed, dna, a national news publication, reported recently that the e-commerce business in India is expected to reach around $50-70 billion by 2020, according to the chief executive of the country’s largest e-commerce firm, Flipkart.
This prediction for upcoming e-commerce growth for the country has been confirmed by the latest Ernst & Young report on the market, which states that; “India is at the cusp of a digital revolution”.
There’s room for beauty brands to better leverage this though; less than a quarter of respondents to a Nielsen market survey said they were intending to buy cosmetics online in the next six months.
Shiseido’s launch
With its recent Za range launch in the country, Japan-based Shiseido has shown itself to be one brand quick to respond to this increasingly digitally dominated marketplace.
Centred on a Facebook application, the launch focussed on the idea of communicable beauty sharing among female friends, with the app dubbed ‘BFFs’ (best friends forever).
The Facebook page for the brand now has just under 9,000 likes.