How AARDAE is Bolstering the Growth of Indian Beauty Brands in International Markets

The idea of beautifying has changed in current times. Today’s women not just opt for white, pinkish glow but also prefer clean beauty products that give healthy and even skin. There are several homegrown clean beauty brands in India that offer sustainable and cruelty-free products. However, the reach of these Indian beauty brands cannot go beyond India. To bolster the growth of Indian beauty brands in the international market, Darshana Balagopal, and Shweta Gupta co-founded AARDAE. 

“We carefully curate the best of clean, conscious, ethical, cruelty-free, sustainable, and highly efficient beauty products. We conceptualized it at the start of the pandemic, when the two factors of difficulty sourcing international products (thus discovering homegrown gems) and the increased awareness of being careful about everything we consumed at any level, was the need of the hour. This led to us realizing that there is a gap in the market,” Balagopal said. 

Developing Strategies for Business Expansion and Promotion 

The brand adheres to a customer-centric strategy. It focuses on creating positive brand awareness among Singaporean consumers. In terms of promotion, the company is employing social media platforms and influencer marketing along with conversion campaigns to increase traffic on the website.

It is concentrating on educating people about choosing conscious products and about their efficacy as well. After launching the brand in Singapore, it aims at paving the way for further expansion in the region and beyond. 

“We are aware that consumers in neighboring countries including Malaysia and Indonesia have been interested in accessing the amazing catalog that we have made available to the Singaporean market, and those are our immediate next target markets,” Gupta informed.   

The company also plans to expand in Europe and the Middle East and for this, it will require investment funds. 

“One of the great things about having started our journey in Singapore is that the stringent quality control there gives authorities, investors, and consumers anywhere in the world automatic trust in the value of what we deliver,” Gupta said. 

Having a Competitive Edge 

The brand has stringent in-house quality testing which means that every product in its catalog is of high quality. It counts this attribute as a vital part of its commercial platform and aids in gaining an upper hand over other beauty platforms. 

“There is no comparable platform like Aardae in Singapore. There is also no similar platform that takes clean Indian beauty abroad. Even elsewhere, there are just a handful of websites that are focused exclusively to clean beauty, and most are based in North America,” Balagopal unveiled. 

Owing to the pandemic, the company has not implemented its omnichannel strategy. Thus, it is purely focussing on its online channels, awaiting the threat of the virus to diminish enough so it can expand in offline retail as well. 

It is offering more than 1,000 products. It will reportedly be adding another 15 top brands to its catalog soon. It represents skincare, haircare, body care, and cosmetics categories, and also renders a unique system of age-specific recommendations for tweens, teens, and women with each category helping customers identify the best products for their range. 

“We can also see that options for men’s personal care products are emerging and will be huge in the next five years. ‘Boy beauty’ and gender-neutral products support this greater focus on inclusive beauty. This is a trend we are keeping an eye on,” Gupta said while sharing the plans. 

Future Plans 

The company started off as a bootstrapped brand, and gradually, is aiming to raise funds through investors for business expansion. The funding will enable the company to establish itself in new markets. It also asserts to have a growth target of $5 million by the cessation of 2022. 

It is currently pursuing expansion in other countries in South East Asia. Beyond that, it is eyeing Europe and the Middle East along with India as there are big target markets. 

“We know that the increased visibility and success of Indian brands across the world – brands which we at Aardae support and empower through our infrastructure – will have a positive effect on consumer demand back home,” Balagopal unveiled.

As the company is progressing further in the clean beauty segment, it would be exploring new dimensions and reaching new heights. It essentially addresses the needs of every woman and will certainly grow its offerings.