All in good time: Growing interest in fragrance among Indian consumers spurring on local brand to expand line-up

The brand’s founder and creative director Rajiv Sheth was born into a family with a long history in the essential oils business which eventually led him to study the art of perfumery in France.

“I stayed for almost 16 years in France creating fragrances. And all the time I saw that India had made a lot of progress. We saw a lot of international brands coming into India, but not in perfumery – that we didn’t see much.”​

In 2009, Sheth moved back to India with the intention of establishing a truly homegrown Indian perfume house and “modernise perfumery in India”.​

All Good Scents launched in 2013. Drawing on the booming online retail trend, it launched the brand exclusively online. It also devised a try-before-you-buy system, Scentbox, where consumers could sample any three scents for the price of INR199 (U$2.70).

“We send them three testers and coupon code so if they like it, they can purchase a full-size bottle, and get the INR199 refunded,” ​explained Sheth.

Growing the line-up

The company is set to extend its line-up of products in the coming year. This expansion would include a new collection of perfumes as well as scented candles and more home fragrance products.

“We have focused on providing a new collection in fragrances. At the same time, we are expanding in other categories where we can use the same fragrances. For instance, we have already started with scented candles in the home category,” ​said Sheth.

This expansion comes at a good time as India’s fragrance market has been evolving rapidly. Sheth has observed a shift in the last couple of years and has seen consumers paying more attention to fragrances.

“Back then, people were mostly using deodorants as perfumes. Indian brands would make deodorants and foreign brands would make fragrances – that was the common mindset. At some point, they realised that deodorant is more of a utility product to mask body odour.​

“People now understand that perfumes could be for the pleasure of surrounding yourself with a good fragrance. Such factors are bringing more people towards perfumery.”​

Furthermore, there has been a growing interest in homegrown brands, fuelled in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and the fewer travel opportunities.

“There are more homegrown brands and because people aren’t travelling and buy from duty-free, they’ve decided to buy Indian brands and they’ve discovered that they are good for their price and value.”​

Despite this welcomed development, India’s fragrance market was still in a “very nascent stage,”​ said Sheth. He added that more education still needed to be done and was not expecting changes to happen overnight.

However, he was optimistic about the future of local fragrance labels, noting that more consumers have become interested in local fragrances, concepts, and ideas.

“The Indian story, the Indian culture is where local consumers would find a connection. There are a few ingredients that are very much local and liked by the Indian culture. So, I think perfumes driven with those ingredients in mind are going to be much more popular.”​