Female Hygiene Brands Can Reach Out to Rural Market via Franchising

The stereotypical notions in the Indian society have always been the biggest barriers towards many developmental projects at the ground level. Menstruation and female hygiene, being the most targeted sector by the stereotypical people, take a major toll when it comes to intrinsic development of India as a nation. Apart from facing the social stigmas attached to menstruation, a major chunk of Indian female population has to go through the lack of sanitary hygiene – sanitary hygiene which is considered as a basic necessity for the females – and this is the case for both rural as well as urban population.

With rapidly evolving world, the female hygiene brands are heading towards removing this stigma, but penetrating into the rural India is still difficult. Franchising can help brands to penetrate deeper into the rural market.

Changing the Mindsets

As per recent reports, 66.46% of Indians live in rural India. It is evident that the rural India serves as a big market for female hygiene brands. So, what is it that hinders the brands to focus on such areas? It is the lack of awareness that becomes one of the major hindrances towards the growth of the industry.  

Pee Safe, one of the most renowned names in the female hygiene industry, has been majorly focusing in the rural Indian market and has seen the market closely. In conversation with Franchise India, Vikas Bagaria, Founder and Managing Director, Pee Safe, sheds some light on how important it is for female hygiene brands to reach out to rural areas.  

Talking about the rural Indian market, Vikas Bagaria says, “The rural Indian market has a lot of potential for female hygiene products, but this is also a segment that is severely affected by social stigma. The overall awareness about female hygiene and products like sanitary pads is low. There is a need for sustained and long-term awareness campaigns to help them understand the importance of personal hygiene. The penetration of internet and smartphones augurs well for us in terms of outreach and connecting to the non-urban audiences. We hope to see better market traction in the hinterlands of India going forward.”

 “With Internet penetration and awareness, even women in Tier 2 and 3 cities are becoming more conscious and aware. The brand has witnessed an unprecedented growth of 200% in FY18 and raised $2 million from a group of investors,” adds Bagaria.

Market Status and Potential

With regards to consumption of total absorbent products in India, 73% of the consumption is contributed by feminine hygiene products, which includes sanitary napkins too.

But when we go as per the recent studies, only 20% of women in India use sanitary napkin, which has a market-size of approximately Rs 4000 crores. This means that nearly 80% of the women don’t use sanitary napkins, which is a huge number of women.

This suggests that the market is either unable to cater to the target customers or these women are unable to access the sanitary napkins.

This data also suggests that the range of target customer is very wide, and the companies that manufacture could generate decent revenue if they cater the needs of the customers.