Hardeep Singh
For a long period prior to the introduction of online business and Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) marketing, the Indian beauty sector had been dominated by beauty care product majors. It’s difficult to ignore the effect of direct-to-consumer firms like Nykaa, Mamaearth, WOW Skin, Plum, and Sugar Cosmetics in the cosmetics industry, which are quickly becoming clients’ go-to solutions in metros and Tier 1 and 2 metropolitan regions.
Sugar Cosmetics launched in 2015 with only two products: a dark matte eyeliner and a dark kohl pencil. Since then, the group has expanded to 450 stock-keeping units. Anyway, what pushed Sugar to become one of India’s most prominent beauty chains in only five years? Let’s find it out!
About Sugar Cosmetics
Sugar Cosmetics is one of India’s fastest-growing premium cosmetic enterprises, having a fan base of twenty to thirty-year-olds, Sugar is the beauty care product of choice for bold, independent ladies who refuse to be categorised because of its stereotypes, thanks to its clutter-breaking attitude, unique low-poly packaging, and chart-topping products. From cutting-edge offices in Germany, Italy, India, the United States, and Korea, the brand’s smash hit items in the Lips, Eyes, Face, Nails, and Skin classes are sent all over the world.
With a remorseless free collection that is high on design and high on performance, the brand is devoted to offering things that are perfect for each Indian complexion all through seasons and around the calendar. Sugar Cosmetics is aggressively expanding serious areas of strength with 10,000 or more retail locations by the year 2021 across 130+ urban communities, with a reason to arrive at the doorsteps of every beauty care products client in the country, backed by the trust of marquee financial backers and the passion of millions of fans.
Founders and Team
Sugar Cosmetics was founded in 2015 by Kaushik Mukherjee and Vineeta Singh.
Kaushik Mukherjee
Kaushik Mukherjee, Co-Founder, and COO of SUGAR Cosmetics, is a former BITS Pilani and IIM Ahmedabad student as well as a TEDx speaker. He’s also a marathon runner and is an Ironman triathlete.
Vineeta Singh
Vineeta Singh is the Co-Founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics, India’s fastest-growing cosmetics company. She is a TEDx speaker and a graduate of IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad. She is a marathon and ultramarathon sprinter. Vineeta is a well-known figure from the Indian Indian business family drama Shark Tank. Vineeta has also invested in a number of new ventures.
Startup Story
Vineeta’s husband and colleague, Kaushik, was working at McKinsey before the two of them started this business, and she was attempting to build and improve her skills at another firm. Cooperation had never occurred to either of them, although they had high esteem for one other’s abilities. Soon, the two realised that they valued different things, such as Kaushik’s revenue in invention and hers in product development and advertising.
As a result, they decided to collaborate, with Kaushik working on an eCommerce project and she starting a women’s business. They discovered areas of strength that may counteract their common advantages.
Business Model and Revenue Model
Sugar Cosmetics has a direct-to-consumer (D2C) business strategy and uses an omnichannel approach to sell its products, which enables Sugar to sell its products on various eCommerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Nykaa, and so on. Sugar Cosmetics’ huge income increases recall the offer of its things for India and other commodities transactions.
Funding and Investments
Sugar Cosmetics has raised $85.5 million in capital throughout the course of four financing adjustments (till writing this article). Sugar had continued to see the Series C round of financing on October 21, 2020, which implanted $21 mn into the organisation, after which it shut a $50 mn Series D financing round came from Asia Fund of L Catterton and a few other existing financial backers including Elevation Capital, India Quotient, and A91 Partners.
Challenges Faced
The impact was exacerbated by the fact that retail outlets accounted for 60% of their income. Following that, during open 1.0, the group was motivated to a net income target of no less than 5 crores. According to Vineeta Singh, the group needs to go through salary cutbacks and job reshuffles to deal with the problem. Regardless of the difficult circumstances, the business had regained productivity by the second last quarter of FY20.
SUGAR went forward and extended its number of locations at a time when most retailers were lowering their shop count. They increased their shop count from 1000 to 2500 this year. They realised they were going to broaden their investment. They had the opportunity of attracting occasional clientele because they had expanded their territory prior to the Christmas season.
The company expected a 40% increase in net agreements by the end of FY21. It is important to mention that the company has intentionally flooded its domestic transactions by 34.1 percent.
Future Plans
SUGAR Cosmetics has expanded outside India, with a store in Russia and an online store in the United States. SUGAR Cosmetics intends to extend its sectors in FY22. The brand, founded in 2015, now manages 70+ shops on its own, with plans to increase that number to 100 by December 2022.
According to some estimates, 95 percent of trading in India takes place over the phone. SUGAR intends to use this to expand and modernise its retail base, as well as to improve its retail marketing and visual merchandising experience.
SUGAR Cosmetics created five new brand-owned retail outlets across the epidemic, prioritising sanitation and security for its retail customers. To strengthen its D2C channels, the company is focusing on expanding its flexible application, which previously had 800,000 application setups in less than a year. Content marketing, strong alliances, and offering new items will all be on the agenda in 2022. Sugar CEO Vineeta Singh has revealed the organisation’s most current aim is to surpass Rs 300 crore in revenue during FY22. In addition, she stated that Sugar will be venturing into new categories, including hair care, which the business will undoubtedly join very soon as a result of its acquisition of ENN Beauty.
