Make in India acting as a catalyst in boosting local beauty brands

Beauty brands have always been an essential part of our lives. But the ‘Make In India’ initiative brought a wave of change in people’s choices. It has paved the way for local beauty brands and provided umpteen opportunities for them in the market. This combined with the mass realization that ‘most international brands don’t cater to Indian skin’ further helped boost local beauty brands in the country.

The Indian beauty industry was valued at nearly $11.16 billion in 2017 and is expected to grow at a very fast pace within 2025. As per the annual sales report of cosmetics, the growth range is almost 15-20%. The Make In India movement made people realize the importance of supporting our local businesses. After all, who else would better understand Indian skin other than Indians themselves?

Local beauty brands have a deep understanding of Indian skin types, texture, issues and environmental needs. Consumers have also been demanding safe, chemical-free products that suit their skin type and solve particular skin issues like stretch marks, acne, fine lines, dark circles or repairing the damage caused by the pollution in India. Emerging Indian beauty brands have cracked the code and are delivering products that match the expectations of today’s consumers.

Lower lead time and faster iteration:

It is very important for digital D2C brands to turn around innovative concepts very quickly. Global supply chains generally are more susceptible to external shocks, shipping time and custom clearances. New product developments and prototyping could take 6-9 months at the minimum. By establishing a domestic supply chain, new digital brands are able to turn around new concepts in 6-8 weeks and thus rapidly test out innovative concepts.

Lower MoQ:

Digital brand are testing out new concepts with MoQ (Minimum order Quantity) of few thousands versus few lakhs that would be the norm if one were to procure from international markets. Low MoQ also means lesser capital is blocked and split order into requirements of 1-2 weeks rather than buy for 3-6 months in advance. Low MoQ has come as an advantage to beauty startups and accepting and delivering niche products.

Better credit and lower transport cost:

Working with local supply chains allows companies to procure better credit terms versus dealing with international vendors. Domestic vendors easily extend 30-60 days of credit to reputed brands versus advance payments required with international vendors. It also helps maintain lower transport cost for key raw materials and packaging materials. This further helps small vendors to promote and stock domestic brands. Vendors are stocking up more and more Make In India goods due to high demand from customers.

Just in time manufacturing

D2C brand are mostly all custom made just in time for discrete manufacturing process (DMP) and that’s only possible close to market. D2C brands are rapidly moving to more and more hyper personalised 3D printed and dmp SKUs, servicing very specialised needs of skin, hair, body and eyes. It is quite possible that no two custom made beauty products can be exact same.

IP Protection

The company R&D scientists are developing custom formulations for different skin issues, hair types etc. By exposing these formulations to international vendors, brands could weaken our intellectual property. Domestic supply chains help them hedge that risk. To build a strong future for Make In India initiative brands need to safeguard their hard work and prepare to move forward for the long run by protecting our interests like all major international brands had done for decades. Now it is our time.

Beauty brands trying to make big with Make In India initiative by ticking all the right boxes bringing innovation and staying ahead of the curve.

About the author:

Chaitanya Nallan, Co-Founder & CEO, SkinKraft Laboratories