It has been raining brands in the Indian skincare industry. From home-grown brands to Korean, American, European – you name it and India has it all. One such brand is Foxtale, which initiated its operations with four stock-keeping units (SKUs) in January 2022 as it launched its direct-to-consumer (D2C) platform. “Skincare market in India is growing so there is a lot of scope in terms of growth in the number of users experimenting with diverse product portfolios. Earlier, consumers were limited to using face wash and moisturiser, but now they have a range of options from serums to sunscreens, among other products. I think Indian consumers just want results from products and if you can deliver that, you will be able to penetrate the market and that’s where we lead the market,” Romita Mazumdar, founder and CEO, Foxtale, told BrandWagon Online.
The skincare market in India is projected to generate a revenue of $9.88 billion in 2024 while the per capita figures in India is expected to contribute $6.85 towards the total revenue in 2024, as per a report by marketing intelligence platform, Statista. The report further suggests that the market is anticipated to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.6% during 2024-2028.
The company’s revenue from operations in its very first year, that is FY23, stood at Rs 14 crore, as per regulatory filings accessed by business intelligence platform, Tofler. It reported a net loss of Rs 18 crore. The company did not mention its advertising and marketing spending in the filings. “Roughly 30-40% of our revenue goes into marketing and almost 100% of our marketing spends is on the digital medium which includes advertising on platforms such as Meta, Google, along with influencer collaborations,” Mazumdar claimed. However, she declined to comment on the cost of customer acquisition and the revenue split between different channels of distribution, which includes D2C, e-commerce and retail stores.
The company claims to have 15 SKUs across categories such as face wash, serum, moisturiser and sunscreen, within a price range of Rs 350-550. Of this, the Glow series products are high in demand, it claimed. “Our glow moisturiser, glow serum and sunscreens are our hero SKUs,” Mazumdar added. Furthermore, the company claims to have a retail presence in eight states including Maharashtra, Gujrat, Delhi, Punjab, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Telangana.
Meanwhile, the company which aims to target the Internet-first women audience between the age group of 20-40 years claims that 50% of its revenue is generated from repeat customers. Mazumdar further stated that she aims to turn in it a business worth about Rs 1,000-1,500 crore in the next three to four years. “We will continue to do what we do which is to acquire more customers and provide a better customer experience. We have not invested much in the brand so far, but we want to invest in the brand and do it profitably. We are about to break even in FY24 and we will be profitable in FY25,” she added.
Moreover, the company which is venture capital-backed raised $4 million from Matrix Partner India in June 2022. In addition to this, the brand also raised funds from Kae Capital. Furthermore, the company believes that packaging is one of its key differentiators as it plays an important role in grabbing the consumer’s attention. “Packaging to me is very critical, it is my way of getting the consumer experience of the brand. The illustrations on the front of a pack reveal the story of a real woman, like every woman has a different personality, every pack is inspired by that,” she noted.