Online beauty and personal care platform Purplle is looking to double its sales to US$ 100 million during the current fiscal, as it is bullish on growing demand in the e-commerce space in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a company official said.
According to a PTI report: The e-commerce firm, which has raised US$ 35 million of funds from global investment bank Goldman Sachs and other investors, is exploring opportunities for acquisition in brands, technology and content space to fuel growth, Manish Taneja, Co-founder and CEO, Purplle told in a telephonic interview.
“The coronavirus pandemic had worked in our favour. In the short term, demand will continue to be robust as people prefer to stay indoors and online purchases. Given the economic situation, we may see some speed breakers in the long term,” he further told PTI.
Purplle achieved US$ 50 million in gross merchandise value in 2019-20.
“In the current fiscal, we expect US$ 100 million sales, out of US$ 7 billion beauty industry in the country,” he told PTI.
Taneja said the consolidation in the online beauty and personal care segment is expected to happen in the second half of the current fiscal.
“Consolidation will happen in this industry in the second half of the year. Some small firms and start-ups will find difficulties to tide over the crisis, and raising money is getting difficult now. We are open for acquisitions,” he told PTI.
The company concluded a mega sale programme on Saturday
“In 2017, we introduced our own brands. Now, our four in-house brands generate 45 percent of the total revenue,” Taneja was quoted by PTI as saying.
The online beauty and cosmetics firms have started witnessing good business from tier-II and tier-III cities after the lockdown restrictions were eased, he said.
“Our 70 percent of sales are coming from tier-II and tier-III cities. West Bengal and the north-east region are contributing nearly 30 percent of our sales,” Taneja told PTI.
The firm had opened a fulfillment centre in Kolkata recently, while two more such facilities will be made operational shortly in Hyderabad and Guwahati.
Fulfillment centres help the company to bring down logistics cost, he said.
Skincare, make-up and haircare are the largest volume drivers in the online shopping of personal care segments, he added.
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