How D2C Ayurvedic Brand Vedix is Planning to Go Global

Hyderabad-based IncNut Digital, launched Ayurvedic brand Vedix in 2017.  IncNut was founded by Chaitanya Nallan, Sangram Simha, and Veerendra Shivhare in 2011, and it also houses the personalized skincare brand SkinKraft. 

Vedix was introduced with an aim to usher in a global trend of customized beauty. However, the approach of the brand is to leverage the secrets of Ayurveda which has been a part of our lives in different forms for thousands of years. 

“Our prior experience of working on a digital lifestyle platform and several other brands helped us curate these products based on the user’s prakruti. And today we already have a 65 percent return rate on our customers,” says Jatin Gujrati, Business Head, Vedix.

“Today, Vedix is reckoned as India’s 1st customized Ayurvedic lifestyle and wellness brand that provides personalized haircare, skincare, and wellness regimens. Our unique proposition is to curate products to suit each individual’s body characteristics, as identified by their doshas,” he further adds.

Retail Strategy

Vedix is a digital-first brand. Currently, the majority of its customers engage with the brand through its D2C platform  

“As of last month, we have gone live on Amazon India with select offerings as personalization is our DNA and we want to explore other leading marketplaces with this DNA intact,” Gujrati says. 

“We are also exploring creating an experience centre in strategic locations to extend the brand experience for our customers, which will include consultation with Ayurvedic doctors regarding your hair, skin and wellness concerns. As a brand, we want to be present across all the touch-points where today’s customers are looking for authentic, high-quality Ayurvedic products that are reasonably priced,” he adds.

The brand is building a strong customer network by leveraging the strength and reach of social media. In the future, it plans to get much stronger on programmatic and affiliate marketing too. The brand is also planning to explore various traditional and offline marketing platforms going forward.

Foraying into New Categories

Over the last few years, Vedix has created a dominant position in the Indian D2C haircare market with its range of customized Ayurvedic oils, serums, and shampoos. Capitalizing on its position, the brand launched a skincare range in December 2020 and is still scaling it up.

Ayurvedic skincare solutions have always been considered safe for the skin. While most Ayurveda products in the market revolve around a fixed set of ingredients, Vedix dives deeper to understand the prakruti and vikruti of the person to customise his/ her solution. 

“With this consideration, Vedix has been exploring the potential of Ayurveda and has introduced a range of hyper-personal skincare offering to create a more holistic experience for its consumers. The customized skincare regime is a combination of cleanser, moisturiser and serum with multiple, rare herbs and actives compatible with each skin-type ensuring that skin gets natural nourishment. Customers can select their primary concerns, sharing additional insights on habits, lifestyle, location and health patterns by taking V– a questionnaire which they fill when they visit our website. The information shared by our customers is then further mined using AI and analytics to design a complete personalized beauty regimen,” he says.

Vedix will soon be launching a range of face oils, leave-in hair conditioners and face masks. 

“We are also working on building an app for customers enabling them to track their orders, get instant notifications and continue their hair and skin care regime seamlessly and uninterrupted. Going forward, we plan to introduce wellness and body care products, thereby expanding our offerings to customers,” he asserts.

Betting Big on Personalization

Vedix believes that personalization is the future of beauty as generic brands haven’t been able to address specific skin or hair concerns. 

“Ayurveda tells us that each individual is different and thus solutions for each of us can’t be a replica. Vedix was born out of the current state of the personal care industry. Women trying to find personal care products are often caught in a fruitless cycle of experimentation. And despite growing levels of frustration among their consumers, personal care brands continue to churn out generic formulations catering to the mass market. Customers are looking for products that are customized to their specific needs. Given all the macro indicators, we believe that personalization will be the main pillar in the beauty industry going forward,” states Gujrati.

Technology: Enabling Change

Vedix leverages the power of AI and Ayurveda to design hyper customized hair care, skincare and wellness regime to deliver the maximum benefit for skin, hair and wellness problems. The core of the brand is the Tridosha theory of Ayurveda. 

“Every person is born with their unique set of Doshas (Vata, Pitta and Kapha) that make their Prakuriti, and true Ayurvedic solutions are customized to address each individual’s uniqueness. Vedix seeks to achieve this by understanding the imbalance in one’s current state of doshas (vikruti) through a questionnaire, and then leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence-driven technology to craft individualized products. Vedix aspires to evolve the brand that continues to innovate in the area of modern Ayurveda,” he says.

“Combining 30,000+ hours of intensive research, collaboration with experts and historical evidence on Ayurveda, herbal extracts and essential oils, we have created a detailed evaluation process to offer our customers a hyper-personal remedy, backed by modern technology and the goodness of organic ingredients,” he adds.

Future Plans

IncNut raised Series A of $4 million (approx. Rs 30 crore) from RPSG Ventures last year. The funds are being utilized to strengthen and expand the research and development (R&D) labs, overall infrastructure, and artificial intelligence (AI) driven data technology. The brand is in the process of raising more funds.

“Currently, the annual recurring revenue of Vedix is Rs 160 crore, which is expected to grow to Rs 500 crore by 2025. Since the launch of the brand, 3 million customers have taken the personalized questionnaire VPQ to understand their hair and skin problems in depth. We have served more than a million orders since its launch and continue to add 50,000 customers every month. Vedix has a repeat customer’s rate of 65 percent which is double of the industry average. Among its customers' base, more than 90 percent opt for a subscription plan as against a single time purchase option,” he says. 

“The ambition is also to take the brand global by diversifying the portfolio and launching products tailored to the environment and consumer needs of each market,” he adds.

Vedix plans to launch in key international markets like UAE, North America, Europe and Australia through a combination of D2C and platform partnerships. 

“The team at Vedix also intend to create an exclusive range of products suited for international audiences using Ayurvedic formulations,” he concludes.