The people who know which beauty products you’re going to be obsessed with

Curatedbeauty marketplaces are growing in India at a breakneck speed. Here are the brains behind some of their growth

How did you become obsessed with the glossy lip oil you just bought online? Did you get targeted by an Instagram advertisement, or did you find it through your favourite influencer’s links? If you’re old-school, you might have found it while flipping through a magazine or by looking up an article online. If you’re really OG, you might have found it while walking through the aisles of a store. But how did it get there in the first place? A stockist decided that it was a product you—and many of your fellow consumers—would love.

In India, the beauty e-commerce world is primarily operated by behemoths like Nykaa, Purrple, Sephora and Tata Cliq—you can get a face mask from Sunday Riley and a tube of mascara from Lakme from the same place. But smaller retailers like Sublime Life, KOSA Wellbeing and Vanity Wagon are working to curate their offerings to meet their particular consumer. They are creating e-commerce experiences that are more personal and specific in the process. But how do they go about collecting that information, and how do they know what’s cool?

Doing the research

When it comes to beauty, there’s a new trend that crops up every minute. Splash masks, do-it-yourself skincare kits, single-ingredient beauty products: there’s something bright and shiny everyday. But if you’re speaking to just one kind of audience, knowing what they care about is important if you’re a beauty marketplace. “Our community is a great source of data and early signs of what could potentially trend. Social listening is an extremely important aspect of our sourcing for trends. As a company, we also look at global trends and keenly watch and interact with international organisations, companies, industry bodies and experts as well as visit trade and start-up seminars and exhibitions to know what’s going to be popular,” says Deep Lalvani, the founder of Sublime Life, a clean beauty platform that stocks brands such as K-Beauty favourite Dear, Klairs and homegrown make-up brands like Gush Beauty and Daughter Earth.

“We get customer insights as we offer various forms of consults that have thorough surveys and feedback. This helps us to identify the gaps, and subsequently look for products and brands,” says Dr Pooja Shah Talera, the founder of KOSA Wellbeing, another marketplace that champions innovative beauty offerings hand-picked by herself, a board certified dermatologist.

But before you decide what to stock, it is important for marketplaces like this to understand what they’re doing differently. For Talera, it was about scientific innovation and new research. “We are global in our approach, yet we love to support homegrown brands. But the same stringent metrics are used for all brands we curate, with science, brand philosophy and company transparency being the key pillars. For many brands we study the clinical papers or case studies before we bring them on board,” she says. In the case of Vanity Wagon and Sublime Life, clean beauty was the crux. Naina Ruhail, the founder and co-CEO of Vanity Wagon, her mission was to reach out to women from tier-1 and tier-2 cities, and convert their routines to cleaner, organic ones.

Stocking up

“At KOSA, we want to cater to the varied preferences but with an emphasis on skincare that works and ingredients that are safe. So be it vegan, herbal, Ayurvedic, Korean, French, pharmacy, homegrown, cult, indie, clinical—we curate a healthy mix of premium to luxury brands,” says Talera.

According to Ruhail, managing an inventory is the most crucial part of an e-commerce entity. “To grow and sustain in a market, a sound inventory is crucial. Our team studies product demand and sales patterns to stock the top-selling brands first. Forecasting future or seasonal demand is important to run the inventory smoothly. Our channel partners are from various destinations, and some of the promising brands are at a very nascent stage. We execute for all of them by setting minimum viable stock levels for every product we sell. Our goal is to make clean beauty a habit and to make seamless delivery a priority,” she says.

So what really is hot right now?

While all the three platforms have totally different consumer bases, consumers seem to like similar products. For KOSA, serums have been the highest selling category since they launched. “From the last financial year, we have seen a 1.5x growth in this sub-category. Additionally, single-ingredient serums are performing very well, as the audience now wants to customise their daily routine based on what their skin needs,” she says.

Another popular pick? Barrier repair products. Talera surmises that this is because people used a lot of active ingredients during the pandemic, so their needs for repairing their skin is at an all-time high. At-home skin tech is reaching a fever pitch too. “Skin tech has seen a large adoption with twice the increase in sales from last year. It used to be gua shas and face rollers earlier but now microcurrent and LED therapy is booming. We have seen customers aged 25 and upwards invest in our BOOST LED Face Mask,” she says.

At Vanity Wagon, serums are also the most favoured. In addition, K-beauty products get the most traction. Ruhail says that the popularity of K-pop, K-dramas and the convenient-to-use, affordable offerings make it easy for customers to add it to their routines. When it comes to hair, the curl category is up there. Lalwani says that he sees similar growth in the curl category at Sublime Life. “I think broadly the hair category is seeing a lot of interest and growth. Within the category, specific concern-based solutions, like hair care products for curly hair have seen a huge surge. What was non-existent as a category 18 months ago, accounts for over 20 per cent within hair care today,” he says. So what are they expecting to see next? All three founders say that wellness—whether it is in terms of nutraceuticals, sexual wellness, adaptogens and sustainable skincare—will show the most promise.

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