‘The gateway to the Indian consumer’: Invest India VP highlights importance of ‘three Vs’ to attract Indian beauty consumer

There is no doubt that India is one of the most exciting markets in beauty and personal care today. It is home to millions of young, aspirational urbanites that are eager to explore every facet of the beauty scene from skin care to fragrance.

“India is not just one market, it is an amalgam of many, many markets. It is important to customise the offering to understand the Indian consumer. It's also then important to look at the three V's which are the gateway to the Indian consumer – voice, video and vernacular,” said Shruti Chandra, vice president at Invest India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry Retail, Consumer Goods and E-Commerce.

To hear more of Shruti’s insights into India’s beauty and personal care market, check out the full podcast episode.​

‘Unparalleled’ growth

Chandra described the growth as a ‘hockey stick’ and believes the growth moving forward would be ‘exponential’.

“When you look at the beauty and personal care sector itself, India is a shining star. The Beauty revolution that is taking place is really unparalleled in terms of the growth we’re seeing – not just in the metro cities but at some of the smaller markets within India itself.”

Speaking on the Beauty 4.0 Podcast ​Chandra emphasised that the beauty and personal care market holds a myriad of untapped opportunities.

“They say that about 30 people are moving from a village into an urban city every minute in India… That's the rate and pace at which urbanisation in India is taking place.”
Some of the growth drivers she highlighted were the advent of social media and e-commerce, the booming young population, and the rise of lower-tier cities.

“Increasingly, the growth we are seeing when you look at consumption patterns is that demand in tier two and tier tree cities across the categories are growing two times the rate of growth you’re seeing in the metros.

“Definitely tier one cities, the metro cities are important, but it is also very, very important for brands to also look at the tier two tier three cities, which will be the bedrock for the growth that we're seeing,” she said.