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Beauty & Bliss Beauty and wellness industry is riding high on the emergence of young, upwardly mobile Indian consumers with rising disposable incomes. Besides, the aspiration for good looks transcends territories, income levels and gender. The `200 billion beauty business is ready to take a quantum leap and provide immense entrepreneurial opportunities as most players in the organised segment are relying on franchising to drive growth ARCHANA ADNANI Founder of world-renowned beauty brand Revlon, Charles Revson famously said that the beauty business was all about selling hope in a jar. That definition has changed and how. Not so long ago, beauty industry giants like Hindustan Unilever, Marico and L Oreal were content selling fairness creams, moisturisers and shampoos. But somewhere down the line they began to feel the need to become more intimate with consumers by offering them beauty services, which led to a flourishing beauty and wellness market in the country. According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers-Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (PwC-FICCI), the overall beauty & wellness industry is estimated at `490 billion and wellness services alone comprise 40 per cent of this market. For the upwardly mobile urban Indian, investing in beauty and wellness is slowly but surely becoming a habit. Recession or not, there are little chances that they will stop buying beauty products or spending on beauty services. GROWTH TRIGGERS In developed economies, the beauty industry has historically grown faster than the GDP; and as economies mature, spends on beauty and wellness increase. The Americans, for example, spend more on beauty than on education. Compared to the global average of $ 36.4 per capita spend on cosmetics, Indians spend only $2.3 on their beauty requirements. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) has projected that the market size of cosmetics industry which is currently estimated at `10,000 crore will double to be worth `20,000 crore by 2014. The emer- www.franchise-plus.com JULY - AUGUST 2012 ı FRANCHISE PLUS ı 31
gence of the young, urban, elite population with rising disposable incomes has been spurring the growth of beauty industry. The industry has mainly been driven by improved purchasing power and rising fashion consciousness among people. Along with that, major industry players are also waking up to the promise of the market and spending heavily to expand and get a large bite of the consumer spending pie. The increasing market size is the direct result of the changing socio-economic status of the Indian consumers, especially women. Higher paying jobs and increasing awareness of the western world and beauty trends have served to change the tastes and customs of the middle class and higher strata of the society. Consumers from such social strata now are more conscious of their appearance and are willing to spend extra cash on sprucing it up further. EXPANDING ACROSS GENDER There s no doubt that the women are the largest consumer of the beauty services industry, but within this large group certain sections have now come to drive the growing demand. A case in point is women in the age group of 30 and above who are getting very selective about the type of products and services they choose. With more access to money and rising awareness of their appearance, this growing set of customers is willing to spend more on expensive facials and hair treatments. The influence of films and fashion trends has ensured that teenagers today don t want to wait to look their trendy best. As compared to their parents generation, they start using beauty services as early as at the age of 13. In a countrywide survey undertaken by ASSOCHAM S team seeking views of over 6,000 odd consumers in cosmetics, over 65 per cent teenagers said, their branded cosmetic consumption has gone up by about 75per cent in last ten years. Initially our core target segment comprised young consumers predominantly in the 25-35 years category. However, we have noticed a discernable shift towards 18-22 year-olds in our walk-ins, says Ajay Pawha, CEO, Kaya Skin Clinic. Beauty is no longer a female bastion and men are also turning looks-conscious. Today s metrosexual men want 32 ı FRANCHISE PLUS ı JULY - AUGUST 2012 www.franchise-plus.com
MAKING THE CUT As the market and demand for beauty services has grown, so has the way salons look and operate. Beauty salons in India are no longer only about the usual hair cut-and-dry routine. Gone are the days when women used to go to the neighbourhood parlour run by an enterprising housewife to get their eyebrows plucked. Men also are not content with a monthly trip to the local barber shop to get their hair cut. New services like hair colouring not just for the old and grey haired, streaking and straightening, eye massages, and even specialised facials to get rid of acne and wrinkles are being offered and consumed. Apart from the regular fare, special services like bridal grooming, festive grooming, party grooming are on offer to suit a particular occasion. Every Indian woman wants to look her best on her wedding day and will not hesitate in spending on pre-bridal and bridal services. It s no wonder then that this section of services accounts for almost 40 per cent of our revenues, says C K Kumaravel, founder of the Chennai-based Naturals beauty salons. With the beauty service industry growing rapidly in India, the spa segment in India is also attracting a lot of attention. The spa industry over the last five years has shown tremendous Today s metrosexual men want to look their best whether at work or in the social sphere. According to an ASSOCHAM study, about 75 per cent male teenagers have increased their expenditure on cosmetics to look their best whether at work or in the social sphere. According to an ASSOCHAM study, about 75 per cent male teenagers have increased their expenditure on cosmetics to `3000-4000 per month as against their average expenditure of less than `1,000 in the year 2000 due to growing awareness. The survey also came out with interesting facts, highlighting that males have developed a special craze for cosmetic application as compared to their female counterparts and their monthly expenses rose by about 60-80 per cent during the period. The fact is that men are increasingly going beyond haircuts. We see them getting pedicures, manicures and facials, and even getting their hair coloured. Even established chains are hopping on the unisex bandwagon. Lakme Lever, a unit of Hindustan Unilever, which already has over 170 salons across the country, launched its first unisex salon, Lakme Ivana, in July 2011. growth, not only in the number of spas, but also in the diversity of spas and products available. Another fast-growing segment in the wellness industry is the slimming services market. However, this vertical is still nascent and fragmented with only few pan-india players, such as VLCC and Vibes. In fact, most players are regional, catering only to select lo- www.franchise-plus.com JULY - AUGUST 2012 ı FRANCHISE PLUS ı 33
COVER STORY BEAUTY SERVICES cal markets with VLCC being the largest player in slimming services in India. Basic salon services continue to remain a steady footfall generator, though going forward, there will be an increasing shift to advanced services. ORGANISED MARKET Back in 2009, when Hindustan Unilever took a closer look at its salon business under Lakme, it realised that the traditional methods of running an FMCG company would not apply here. The company set up a 100 per cent subsidiary where Lakme was housed and looked after by a dedicated team having a separate CEO. The business got the attention it needed at a time when beauty was developing wings to take off in India. Three years later, Lakme is one of the leaders in the organised beauty services 34 ı FRANCHISE PLUS ı JULY - AUGUST 2012 www.franchise-plus.com
sector. And with 175 Lakme Salons and 11 high-end Lakme Studios, the brand is ready to go to the next level. It has ambitious expansion plans to add as many as two salons per week. HUL has also closely inter-linked the product business and the salon business. It has created a Lakme brand council which will advise on product innovation. SMALL IS BIG There is growing demand for wellness products and services in urban markets beyond tier-i cities due to rising incomes and awareness levels. Players are expanding into these markets to address this growing demand. Also, the penetration of the organised sector in these markets is very low. In addition to the favourable demand scenario, tier-ii and III cities have lower operating costs, primarily due to cheaper real estate prices. Even as established names like VLCC, Lakme and Jawed Habib expand their footprint from Lucknow to Aurangabad, giving them competition are regional players who understand every nuance of the local market. There is growing demand for wellness products and services in urban markets beyond tier-i cities Legaato, a Nagpur-based chain of salons has tasted success in a short span of time. Started in 2009, the salon chain has now expanded to more than 10 branches in cities like Pune, Nashik and Ahmedabad. Legaato s current turnover maybe just over `6 crore but founder Anil Adamane is hungry for more and says, Legaato is targeting a `100-crore turnover through 600 outlets in six states over the next five years. While small-town India has huge potential for salon chains, some, such as b:blunt, are sticking to big cities, as going beyond them might mean lowering prices. The chain has two formats: the flagship b:blunt, where a haircut costs between `850 and `4,000, and b:blunt mini, which charges half as much. Jawed Habib, too, has a compact and cheaper format - JH HairXpreso - for locations such as malls. SCOPE FOR FRANCHISING Entrepreneurship is intrinsic to the beauty services business and it s no surprise that it attracts a large number of aspiring entrepreneurs Many branded salons have been started up by entrepreneurs who have built their brands from single outlets into a chain. Enrich Salons was founded by a group of friends in Mumbai when they were in college. So, is the case with Chennai based Naturals that was started by Veena Kumaravel with an objective to be self-employed rather than seek a job. A veteran in the industry, Shahnaz Hussain began her herbal salon at home to implement her ideas of natural beauty that relied on ayurvedic cosmetics and treatments. Players in the organised wellness www.franchise-plus.com JULY - AUGUST 2012 ı FRANCHISE PLUS ı 35
Some companies in this domain steer clear of franchising fearing loss of control which may result in the erosion of their brand equity services segment are increasingly relying on franchising to drive growth as it enables rapid scale-up. It also provides access to local market knowledge and talent pool. Naturals, which has over 150 outlets, has set up shop in small towns in Tamil Nadu, such as Thanjavur and Chidambaram, through franchisees, and is exploring possibilities further north to nearly double the number of its salons. CK Kumaravel who co-founded the chain along with wife Veena says, After setting up six branches, we realised we couldn t run any more salons on our own. We wanted to share our success and profit margin with other entrepreneurs and decided to expand by taking the franchising route. Today, Naturals co-invests along with the franchisee in a 50-50 partnership and gives them all possible help to set up and run the business. One such franchisee Shanmuga Kumar had no idea about the beauty services business but now runs three successful Natural salons in Coimbatore, Ooty and Chennai. He says that the brand owners handled him till the time he was well entrenched into the business. Naturals helped me at every stage from selecting the location of the salon, designing the lay-out to selecting and training the staff. Even now the day-to-day upkeep of the salons is my responsibility while the staff is trained and managed by the franchisor. Another major player VLCC is also betting big on franchisees to help it expand its footprint across India and abroad. Out of its 160 slimming, beauty & fitness centres in India, 40 are franchised and another 15 are in the pipeline. In addition to this, out of the 51 VLCC Institutes of Beauty & Nutrition, 12 are franchisee-owned and run. According to Sandeep Ahuja, MD, VLCC Healthcare Ltd, Knowing that it would perhaps take us a long time to put up 36 ı FRANCHISE PLUS ı JULY - AUGUST 2012 www.franchise-plus.com
company owned centers in all these places, the management took a strategic call to expand rapidly via the franchising route. Since we understand our brand, our business and our customers, we are conscious of the need for the right kind of franchisees who can be as passionate about this industry and our brand as we are. However, some companies in this domain steer clear of franchising fearing loss of control which may result in the erosion of their brand equity. New domestic and international entrants find it difficult to tie up with franchisees. Hence, new entrants are initially compelled to opt for a company ownership model to build their brand before exploring the franchising model. We choose to run our outlets ourselves to ensure that every person who walks into Kaya gets the same quality service, says Ajay Pahwa, CEO, Kaya Skin Clinic. Lakme also realised it required highquality trained staff to have an edge. For that, is has launched a beauty academy with the objective to provide in-house training to stylists. Lakme has forged an alliance with Pivot Point, a leading beauty training company in the US. The simulation of a salon environment at the academy and the opportunity to intern at any of its salons helps students understand the requirements of the industry. With the beauty service industry growing rapidly in India, the spa segment in India is also attracting a lot of attention GROOMING TALENT While demand is no problem, what could stand in the way of salon chains expansion is the lack of skilled stylists. According to PwC-FICCI s report, wellness services will require 600,000 additional skilled personnel over the next five years. To get around it, the salon chains have started their own academies, whose graduates start with salaries of `10,000 to `20,000 a month, plus commissions and tips. Even companies such as L Oreal, which supply products to salons, play a role in skill development. We train 80,000 hairdressers a year, says Dinesh Dayal, chief operating officer, L Oreal India. We do not supply some products to salons without first training the staff to use them. Instead of launching its own salons, L Oreal has found a huge vacuum in the training segment. Stylists didn t have much knowledge on international trends, recollects Dayal. The company started off with two technical training centres, which have trained about 50,000 hairdressers in the art and business of salons. www.franchise-plus.com JULY - AUGUST 2012 ı FRANCHISE PLUS ı 37
The current market is being characterised by a discernible shift from a one-size-fits-all to customised services to meet the requirements of specific target consumers GOING GLOBAL High-end international salon chains like Jean-Claude Biguine (JCB) have also made their foray into the country. Launched in 2009, the chain is positioned as affordable luxury, says Dharmendra Manwani, founder & CEO, JCB India. Today the chain has six outlets across Mumbai and Bengaluru. In turn, a large number of home grown Indian companies are going global. The Middle East and South Asia are key international markets as they are similar in nature to India, thereby making it easier for companies to replicate their existing business models in these regions. VLCC currently has presence in UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Sandeep Ahuja, MD, VLCC Healthcare affirms the potential in market and says, The overseas market is indeed attractive and contributes more than a quarter of our revenues. We are keen on exploring new south Asian markets and are in talks to open new franchise centres in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka soon. EMERGING TRENDS The current market is being characterised by a discernible shift from a onesize-fits-all to customised services to meet the requirements of specific target consumers. CavinKare targets the high-income group through its salon brand Limelite and the middle-income group through Green Trends. Lakme Salons also has a mix of owned and franchised outlets. In nonmetros, the HUL venture looks to adopt unbranded outlets once they reach a certain size as franchise partners. Besides the right location, customer acquisition and retention are vital for these formats to be viable. Lakme Salons runs a loyalty program to help serve customers better and Enrich offers discount cards. Such repeat walkins constitute as much as 80 per cent of the customer base of these two chains. 38 ı FRANCHISE PLUS ı JULY - AUGUST 2012 www.franchise-plus.com
Enrich has gone a step further and created a system of processes for tracking customer satisfaction and rewarding employees based on feedback. It conducts customer satisfaction audits and quality audits periodically to measure the level of satisfaction. THE ROAD AHEAD One of the hurdles salon chains must overcome as they grow is the funding requirement. The PwC-FICCI wellness report notes that financing through internal accruals is not conducive to rapid growth. Jawed Habib filed in February this year for a `60-crore initial public offering (IPO), but is still awaiting clearance from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. In late 2010, Enrich Franchising holds the key to the glowing health of beauty and wellness market raised a reported $10 million from JM Financial India Fund. Analysts say Enrich s peers may also take the private equity route as they grow bigger. Naturals plans to raise `100 crore from private equity firms through a 25 per cent stake sale. The funds would be utilised to ramp up the company s salon network to 260 from over 150 now, which includes setting up 30 salons for express beauty services like hair cuts in Bharti Retail s hypermarket brand, Easyday. In the highly competitive business of beauty, all players -- established as well as aspiring -- are trying every trick in the trade to hold on to highly demanding as well as fickle customers. And, franchising holds the key to the glowing health of beauty and wellness market. Beauty may be transient and fleeting but the business of beauty is stable, growing, and here to stay. archana.andani@exchange4media.com www.franchise-plus.com JULY - AUGUST 2012 ı FRANCHISE PLUS ı 39