Men's grooming on an uptick

Chennai: Abhishek Roy from Shillong was never a fan of beards, but he jumped on to the bandwagon and has been sporting one for a year now. He says he was influenced after he saw many celebrities and even his friends growing one.

"I am using products such as beard wash, almond and Thyme oil manufactured by The Man's Company. My beard is now thicker and shinier," says Roy. A clutch of startups are selling these products - on popular e-commerce sites and of course offline, with rural and urban markets showing equal interest in beard oils, washes, moustache waxes and combs to groom facial hair.

Men's grooming has so far been catering to face washes, shampoos. Treating and grooming facial hair has picked up now with the focus on looking metrosexual. Actors, cricketers and international celebrities are seen with a beard. This has caught attention.

"In western countries, there are separate aisles for men's grooming products, but here, men's grooming has so far been catering to face washes and shampoos. People have been buying products from abroad. With startups like us coming in, digital-native brands can utilise the platform to sell products on the e-commerce sites," said Rohit Chawla, founder, The Man Company.

The startup which was funded in 2013, sells products on a subscription model as well. While the company sells shampoos for the hair as well, beard products are one of the fastest moving, contributing to 40% of the sales. " While pop culture has led to an increase in the demand in urban areas, semi-urban and rural customers, who have traditionally sported beards are taking to the products equally," added Chawla.

Ustraa, which sells moustache and beard oil on its website and retail outlets, receives close to 500 enquiries every day from urban and semi-urban areas. "We have received payments through money orders as well. The major age group that buys from us is between 18 and 34, while older customers also take to the products," said Rajat Tuli, founder, Ustraa.

With nearly 150 orders a day, with a significant purchase from tier II and III towns, Beardo, founded by Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah encourages purchase on the popular e-commerce portals. "We want our brand to get popular on Amazon and Flipkart and hence, we encourage purchase there. Products are now available in salons in Mumbai. The online-offline ratio is 80: 20. We will increase the offline distribution next year," said Ashutosh Valani, co-founder, Beardo. The startup sees 30%-40% repeat orders from the customers as old as 72, with a substantial number of orders from semi-urban pockets such as Tiruvalla, in Kerala, as well.