How Paree is Bringing Change in Women Hygiene Segment

Women's hygiene is invariably a pivotal area. Talking about the menstruation cycle, every woman in the world has two days of heavy flow. These initial two days are daunting for women, in turn, enabling them to look for good quality sanitary napkins at affordable prices.

Keeping this issue in mind, homegrown women's hygiene brand, Paree Sanitary Pads set foot in the market. Paree Sanitary Pads is initiated under the parent company, Soothe Healthcare. 

“We want Paree to be positioned as a household brand. The idea is that when you think of sanitary napkins, and when you think of heavy flow, you should think of us (Paree) and that is how we position the brand,” Sahil Dharia, CEO and Founder of Soothe Healthcare said. 

While getting the business off the ground, the company began its journey by doing hardcore research. It is immersed in collecting data, doing research, and understanding consumer sentiment and consumer behavior. 

Investing in Technology and Marketing 

The company asserts that technology is the core reason for gaining competence. It employs hi-tech machines to create a product that is capable of absorbing heavy flow in three seconds.

“The reason that we are saying or calling ourselves the heavy-flow champion and the reason we can deliver 3-second absorption of heavy flow is actually because of tech. So, our machines are state-of-the-art and we can manufacture thousands of pieces in a minute. That's the capability that we bring to the table,” Dharia added. 

In the post-COVID phase, consumers have shifted to digital platforms. Internet consumption has dramatically increased as people are more engaged in digital channels. The company has observed this change and adopted it too. Its customers are essentially young audiences.

“Given that bulk of India FMCG sale remains offline, 90 percent of the company’s revenue still comes from offline channels. So we still do a meaningful amount of television and print marketing. Those are mainstays. I would say that 80 percent of our spending remains on print and television,” Dharia informed. 

The company’s product portfolio primarily includes sanitary pads, which is its flagship brand. Besides this, its offerings are baby diapers, adult diapers and other related products. It is planning to add more products in the offing. It is also shifting focus on distribution since it is chicken and egg for the FMCG market. 

Following Traditional Retailing Practice 

After the brand inception, it chiefly aimed on reaching the end consumer faster. It initiated its journey with general trade (GT) stores. In essence, GT stores are a traditional offline distribution channel today adding it in the Indian market scenario which is one of the biggest assets.

“The company took the opportunity to list itself at the B2B stores, which was primarily Walmart and Metro, which is one of the most difficult things for every normal or an Indian brand would just get listed as soon as it launches. So, we did that within in few years, we reached into double digits market share,” Mandeep Singh, Vice President in Sales and Strategy, Soothe Healthcare shared. 

The company claims to have a presence in 250,000 stores and aims to increase two-fold in the coming years. It is doing retail distribution on the ground like other FMCG brands in the segment. In the last few years, it has started with modern trade and has quickly reached a double-digit market share market.

“At the end of the day, for any brand to be successful in India, it has to be the core distribution which is offline covering stores, GT stores are working well for us. GT is something which will kind of give us depth to reach into the hinterlands of the country to go to the right consumer and sell our products. So it's a mix of both,” Singh explained.

As the time unfolds, the brand plans to expand in the women's hygiene market that still has fewer players at the moment. This shows that the women's hygiene sector has a considerable gap that can be filled with penetration of new players.