Headquartered in Bengaluru, India, the personal care branch of Wipro Enterprises will inject further investment and focus its long-term strategic plan on its e-commerce arm and partnership with Happily Unmarried Marketing.
Announcing the move on 12th February 2018, this milestone represents a stand-out moment for the Indian consumer care and lighting equipment company, which first explored its entry into the personal care segment in 2007.
With a strong widespread presence in its home country of India, the consumer care heavyweight boosts personal care brands such as Santoor and Chandrika, which provide soaps, toiletries, personal care, baby care and wellness products.
Commenting on its high-growth markets, Vineet Agrawal, CEO, Wipro Consumer Care, said: “We continue to do well in south China. Both Guangdong and Hainan provinces are strong for us. Guangdong itself is about a $1 trillion (€815.3 bn) province. It’s not a small place so if you do well there, you continue to do well (overall).”
Economic challenges
During the 2016-17 financial year, the business made approximately $911 mn (€742.8 mn) in revenue. The tumultuous nature of India’s economic landscape, which has been dogged by policy changes such as demonetisation and currency variations, has slowed Wipro’s attempts to hit the $1 bn (€815.2 mn) revenue point.
Moving past these delays over the last couple of years, Wipro Consumer Care has focused breaking into, and growing, its position in Asian marketplaces, particularly China.
Since 2007, three out of the company's four acquisitions have been of Chinese organisations. As such, over 50% of its total revenue comes from China’s position within the global personal care industry, pushing Wipro’s place and reputation in the international marketplace.
Market entry
In 2017, before the company bought Singapore-based consumers good name, Unza Holding, — marking its first move into the personal wash, detergent and care industries — the Wipro organisation received around $10-12 mn (€8.2-9.8 mn) in revenue from China. Almost a decade later, and this has increased considerably to $75 mn (€61.2 mn) in revenue.
The importance of China
Wipro Consumer Care first entered two of China’s southern areas, Guangdong and Hainan. It then bought China FMCG company, Zhongshan Ma Er Daily Products, in 2016, in a bid to further develop its inroads in China.
Looking to the future, the company now also has its sights set on rapidly growing markets in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam and Indonesia.