Beauty and wellness industry scenario post-COVID
Salon is a business which over time has built his own strong science. Salon is considered to be an essential service. This is a time for consolidation, time for consumer shift which would happen. This shift would come for various reasons like smaller salons lack talent, infrastructure, etc., and consumers would find a big opportunity to shift from the unorganised brands to big brands.
In conversation with Franchise India, Pushkaraj Sahani, CEO of Lakme Lever, talks about the fundamentals that will drive growth in the coming months. He also talks about the importance of entrepreneurial-driven franchise and the beauty and wellness industry scenario in the coming future.
Fundamentals to drive growth
The need to look good might be down this year but it will surely rise in the year to come. The social occasions will continue to rise even in this social distancing world, maybe with a new normal but they will be there. Even at this time, the amount of information that is available as well as demand is disproportionately high.
Pushkaraj said, “At Lakme, our consumers wanted us to keep engagement with them, so we did lots of DIY. We also started this format called ‘Beauty from Home’ which we do at every Tuesday and Friday where our National Creative Director come in and answer some questions, give beauty hacks.”
There might be some pressure in the discretionary income in the short term but after some point of time, the need to look good will take over and we will start seeing people spending time and money in consuming beauty and beauty services. In economics, there is a theory called ‘Lipstick effect’ which means that when times are tough, people actually spend in the small indulgences.
Both on the supply and demand side, things might be different today but in the year to come, things will be back to maybe not the first normal but to a new normal. The new normal means that services will be done in a different environment, consumers will be interacting differently and every touch really counts.
Entrepreneurial-driven franchise is important
People franchise not because they are short of capital but they franchise for entrepreneurship. They franchise to bring a certain spirit of entrepreneurship, a certain way of motivating, engaging, and building a team.
“At Lakme, the first thing we look in our franchisee is the ability to manage and motivate a team. And second, the ability to execute processes with discipline. Capital has never been a big constraint,” he added.
ROI in salon business means ‘Return on Entrepreneurship’. The more entrepreneurial the business partner is, they will be successful all across.
Beauty and wellness industry scenario post-COVID
Going forward, talent would want to work with a larger, more governed, and a stable brand. Also, consumers would want to move to a more trusted environment and a more expertise-driven environment. Therefore, if this kind of move will there be in the supply and demand side, there will be some form of reorganisation.
The whole industry has adapted safety and security as their first priority. Even the small beauty parlors and barber shops have done their bit. The Beauty & Wellness Sector Skill Council has formulated guidelines. The industry players have also made the simpler version of those guidelines and they are putting their resources in training people from smaller salons and smaller beauty parlors to raise the standards of safety and trust from the consumers.
Pushkaraj further stated, “We are coming together as an industry to raise the standards and raise the bar for the beauty and wellness industry. I think this is the huge welcome shift and shows that in adversity people come together and think about the community and country before them.”
