India’s GlamEgo receives funding to scale business and launch own brand

07-Mar-2019 - Last updated on 07-Mar-2019 at 01:24 GMT

Beauty discovery platform and subscription service GlamEgo has received an undisclosed amount to expand its reach and launch its first brand.

The company raised funds from Brand Capital, the strategic investment arm of Times Group.

Scaling up

GlamEgo currently delivers all over India to over 38,000 pin codes. CEO and co-founder Lavanya Sunkari said the company will use part of the funds to continue broadening its customer base.

“We want to scale much higher. Customer care, logistics… that’s all in place for us. We already serve all over India but we want to go much deeper, not just the metro areas. ”

Currently, GlamEgo features over 85 brands but the goal is to expand past 200 by the end of the year.

The rest of the funds will go towards launching its own make-up brand. “There are so many local skin care brands in India, but make-up is pretty much untouched. We want to bring products of international standards to the market,” said Sunkari.

Sunkari declined to give details about the brand but told CosmeticsDesign-Asia that everything from formulation to packaging was finalised and the company will begin marketing in three to six months.

A changing market

According to Sunkari, GlamEgo currently has 55% to 58% of the market share in India’s subscription beauty industry.

A year ago, consumers still did not understand GlamEgo and the concept of a discovery platform. “The subscription concept was not understood by the people. It was a big question mark,” said Sunkari.

To educate the market, GlamEgo placed a lot of emphasis on social media marketing. “We used YouTube and Instagram. We had help from influencers who explained what a discovery platform is and why it’s so low cost for them.”

Sunkari also credits the growth of the brand to the rapidly growing beauty market in India, which is expected to be worth $25bn in 2025.

“Indian consumers are becoming more and more experimental. A year ago, no one cared about lip scrubs or hand creams. Today, it is part of the daily routine. [Consumers] put the lip scrub right beside their toothbrush and keep a hand cream in the bag with them.”

Standing out

While GlamEgo does have competitors in the market, Sunkari believes GlamEgo stands out as it provides premium products at an affordable pricing of Rs399 ($5.60)

Sunkari highlights that GlamEgo resonates with consumers because of the effort the company puts into understanding its consumers.

“There are so many states in India and they are all different. They need to be understood individually,” Sunkari.

To get into the psyche of the consumer, GlamEgo utilises a questionnaire that has to be submitted before confirming a subscription.

“We took the basic information and modulated everything from cost and packaging to brands. Initially, we targeted consumers aged 25 to 30. But as we went on, we realised discovery starts at 18 to 30 years. After 30, brand loyalty kicks in and they don’t change,” she said.

The company also has brands that work exclusively with them and helps brands launch products as well.

“Especially in the beauty industry, subscription commerce always has a ripple effect compared to other forms of marketing. It is also a cost-effective marketing choice for brands,” she said.

“We have a broader perspective on marketing for a brand. We work with brands from conceptualisation to branding to launch to marketing. We have 360-degree plans for brands. It’s not just placing the product in the box and waiting for revenue to come in.”