Day 2 of ISP and BMI opened on an insightful note. Key strategies were discussed to expand the retail beauty market by G Ramachandran, Promoter, Gold’s Gym and Dilshad’s Salon; Kartik Sheth, COO, Lakme Lever; Rayed Marchant, Director, Beauty Palace; Rohit Arora, Director, Jawed Habib Hair and Beauty; Rohit Sood, MD, WAHL India; and Sabrina Hougaard, Director, Spa Operations, Sarena Spa. The discussion was moderated by Sandeep Ahuja, MD, VLCC Health Care and CEO, VLCC International. The conference began with the question – Is India ready and compatible enough with the international market, since the Indian consumer is becoming global traveler? According to Ramachandran: “Indian consumers love to pamper themselves. Instead of selling products from a business point of view, we need to think about whether it is good for my customers. The Indian consumer is ignorant so we need to educate them about what is actually good for them and what is not.”
Said Hougaard: “For growth to sustain, there has to be a bench mark. At the same time, growth of an individual in a organization is also very important.” The main emphasis was put on education, right awareness for consumers, and having a regulatory body for the industry by the industry itself. “Why to wait for the government to create a regulatory body for the beauty industry while we can do it ourself,” quipped Sheth.
