Matter of sensitivity

High-end personal care retail chains discover the potential of Punjab and neighbouring areas.

For years, the high per capita consumption of Fair & Lovely in Punjab formed the basis of an oft-quoted marketing insight: sales depend on the consumer's perception of needs, not the marketer's.

Now, this north Indian belt known for its heightened appearance-sensitivity (among females chiefly) is in the throes of another beauty enhancement wave that covers a vast range of skin and haircare, make-up, well-being, fragrance and other such products and services.

Personal care retail chains "" from H20 Plus and Lotus Herbals to Forest Essentials and The Body Shop "" are readying for action in the region. Planet Retail Holdings, for example, is set to open The Body Shop in Ludhiana by November, adding to outlets already in Mumbai and New Delhi.

H20 Plus, which sells sea-sourced skincare products at an exclusive store in Chandigarh (apart from those in Delhi and Mumbai), is headed for Ludhiana and Amritsar.

"Chandigarh is a growing market," says a spokesperson for Sports Station India, its distributor, "which can be gauged by the fact that sales per month are anywhere between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5 lakh." H20 Plus hopes for a turnover of Rs 6 crore this fiscal.

Lotus Herbals, in the meantime, is busy strengthening its distributor network in the region. The company has 27 distributors in Punjab and Chandigarh.

Says Nitin Passi, director, marketing, Lotus Herbals, "In the next 13-18 months, with a 30-40 per cent correction in real estate prices, we will be looking at Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jallandhar as markets."

The brand, which aims to become one of India's top three in the personal care market, is ready to start a manufacturing unit in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.

"From the current capacity of manufacturing 1.25 million units per month, we will touch 2.25 million units in the next two months," says Passi.

Forest Essentials, with two stores in Delhi and Mumbai at the moment, is looking at both high-street presence and malls in the region.

"We are going to make ourselves very strong in north India," says Samrath Bedi, executive director, Forest Essentials, "The untapped potential is huge, and with customers coming all the way from Chandigarh, Patiala and Ludhiana, it's time we are there."

While India's metros may have been the first port of call for high-end personal care chains, as product penetration deepens, you could plausibly expect Punjab and Chandigarh to start setting wider trends.