The coronavirus may have forced many companies and brands to take refuge in online business and brand building. But WOW’s Manish Chowdhary, the co-founder has a different story to tell. He feels that the brick-and-mortar setup in India is here to stay and will continue to remain aside from a virtual presence.
The WOW skin science owner attributes the reason to the country’s population and there’s still some time for the concept to settle fully in India. Having said that, let us find out more about his side of the story.
WOW Skin Science’s D2C Brand Building and Hybrid Model
He believes that the next ten years at least will witness several brands emerging from India. The only reason that will make it happen is the country’s internet penetration rate. This will, in turn, make room for customer personalization and in the process create space for the D2C model in the country.
The WOW skin co-founder also said that he believes that if a brand is aiming at building it, the company should be able to sell the products “everywhere and anywhere”. And if the brand sticks to only one channel and leaves the other out, it will take a lot of hard work to build the brand. As such, according to him, offline is the ultimate frontier and perhaps the largest one.
Manish Chowdhary also stated that a major portion of the consumers may engage in a lot of online shopping and purchase but when it comes to making a purchase, they would ultimately prefer dropping by an offline store for the same.
WOW Skin Science Products – Offline Presence
WOW, skincare has carved out a niche for itself and is loved by consumers in the country, however, the co-founder believes that the brand will be recognized in the real sense when it finally can make an offline presence and get established in this mode.
WOW, cosmetics boasts of 12,000 plus stores in the country. He also said that the company aims at taking the figure to 50,000 in the next year, with “precision, patience, and discipline”.
According to the WOW skin co-founder, the main challenge lies in being relevant in both scenarios, whether it is offline or online.
The entrepreneur said that another reason for growth and becoming popular is that the products have benefited people of Tier II and Tier III cities in the country where not many can access different types of products and experience them.
He also said that many such offline brands are developing or working upon their digital potentialities to stay put in the game and the competition as it is necessary since the choice of consumers is increasing, and the rat race deepens with every passing day.
Word of mouth, according to him can play a significant role in making your products reach your target audience. If the needs of the consumers are met, it goes a long way in removing the clutter and allowing the brand to get noticed.
The company, according to Manish is still working as a startup and from trying out supplements to making inroads into the health and beauty domain, the company operates as a large startup and presently caters responsibly to meet what the customers are looking for.
Few reasons why the company has reached where it is today within a short time include using no chemicals in the products, using natural ingredients, and being inspired by nature. The packaging is eco-friendly, no tests have been done on animals.
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