More than skin deep

Huge investments, product placements and competitive retail strategies are spurring the wellness industry.

Beauty and India are almost synonymous. With brand India going places, Indian beauty brands are also eyeing the global market and also creating greater demand in the domestic market.

With that in mind, beauty and wellness majors Shahnaz Husain Herbals and VLCC have announced big expansion plans and are looking at investing anything between Rs 150-300 crore within the next three years.

Even though Shahnaz Husain admits to having lost "leader place" in the beauty products segment in India, hers is the only Indian company to find place in UK's Harley Street where she recently opened the Shahnaz Ayurveda Aesthetic clinic.

With almost 100 overseas centres, she now plans to open a chain of Shahnaz Forever Beautiful lifestyle shops across Britain and with the estimated $100 million turnover a year, that shouldn't be a very tough task. The company is in talks with three foreign companies for further investments.

The influx of foreign brands and even Indian herbal and ayurvedic brands dismounted Shahnaz Husain Herbals from the number one position in the country. And though the upper crust is still their target market, they now want to address the masses.

"We are going to relaunch Shahnaz Forever by rebranding it as a mass market product. We are also going to launch Miss Shahnaz for the younger generation and another range called Oops 6 to 16 for the same age group as well as a shampoo called KlearOne," discloses Shahnaz Husain, chairperson, Shahnaz Husain Group.

Meanwhile, VLCC's expansion is targeting organised retail space, looking at setting up 450 beauty zones across the country by 2010 with an investment of about Rs 300 crore. The beauty zones will be a combination of products and services.

"We may be tying up with a foreign colour cosmetic brand to distribute their products at our beauty zones," says Sandeep Ahuja, CEO, VLCC Personal Care.

Having already received two fundings of Rs 50 crore each from private equity firms, the company will pitch in the rest from its own pocket.

A major emerging market for Indian beauty products is the GCC including UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. VLCC has already tested waters in Abu Dhabi, where it launched its seventh outlet earlier this year besides the existing outlets in Sharjah and Dubai.

By the end of this fiscal, the company promises its presence in 15 locations across the GCC including Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and even centres in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Shahnaz Husain Herbals is also bringing under its umbrella countries that include the UK, Russia and Korea. Incidentally, the launch of the brand in Korea was preceded by the signing of a $11 million agreement.

Interestingly, while VLCC launched its health foods under VLCC Alive and opened VLCC Alive outlets, Shahnaz Husain is now thinking of opening a kind of mini mall cafe, which she promises will be a unique concept for India.

"The cafes I am planning will sell not coffee alone but coffee, chocolate and tea-based creams, masks and rinses and books, gifts and a line of clothing... similar to what I wear," smiles Husain.