How Upakarma Ayurveda is Planning to Expand its Presence in International Waters
How Upakarma Ayurveda is Planning to Expand its Presence in International Waters

Vishal Kaushik along with his brother Parag Kaushik founded Upakarma Ayurveda in the year 2017. Coming from a humble service class family, they both set out on this entrepreneurial journey with a vision to give a contemporary twist to the traditional wisdom of Ayurveda. With the combined experience of marketing management and product development, they embarked on a journey of entrepreneurship, where they started everything from scratch as being 1st generation entrepreneurs. 

“Based out of New Delhi, we offer the best quality Ayurvedic products at budget-friendly prices in premium packaging PAN-India through 10,000+ stores across the country,” states Vishal Kaushik, Co-Founder & MD, Upakarma Ayurveda.

“Starting with ayurvedic and wellness products, we have expanded our brand into skin and hair care and immunity range during the pandemic. In a short span of time, we have established our brand as a genuine-quality and trusted brand, aiming to capture space between old and new brands in the organic and Ayurveda-based segment. Our most popular offering, Pure Shilajit Resin Form, is one of the novel features that we have garnered recognition for,” he further adds.

Retail & Marketing Strategy
 
Upakarma Ayurveda is a D2C brand, with a strong presence at all leading online shopping portals like Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, 1mg, etc. 

“Apart from this, we have a strong presence on social media as it keeps us connected with consumers and helps us understand their behavior, interest, and feedback,” he says.

“Since social media marketing and influencer marketing have now become a very effective and eminent tool for all the brands, we recently engaged with celebrities including Vidya Bakan, Karisma Kapoor, Malaika Arora, Taapsee Pannu, Urvashi Rautela, Hina Khan, Lakshmi Manchu for expanding and retention of our consumer base,” he further adds.

Betting Big on Omnichannel
 
Careful and constant innovation has enabled the brand to achieve diversification in its product portfolio. 

“Each of our new products is launched after months of hectic R&D and suggestions from industry experts. To amplify on this with the aim to capture space between old and new brands in the organic and Ayurveda-based segment, so we opted for the omnichannel route,” he elaborates.

How Upakarma Ayurveda is Planning to Expand its Presence in International Waters

Impact of Pandemic

During the initial phase of lockdown, the brand faced some challenges with logistics and supply chain for some time. But when things settled down a bit their dedicated logistics and warehousing teams ensured that all their systems are accurate and running especially when it comes to deliveries, so they managed well. 

“Since the onset of COVID-19, the consumption pattern among the people had changed. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is something everyone has been keen to practice.  Initially, we witnessed 45 percent monthly growth in turnover for our products and the numbers are ever-increasing since then,” he asserts.

“We launched our hair and skincare category and 11 new immunity-boosting products. Within a fortnight, we saw 70 percent growth in sales of our premium quality immunity products which are made with 100 percent natural ingredients,” he further adds.

Future Plans

The brand has seen over 100 percent year-on-year rise in its revenue for the last 3 years. During the lockdown, the brand heavily relied on its D2C strategy; which helped in increasing the sales by about 55-60 percent on a monthly basis.

“We have already expanded our product infrastructure with Ayurvedic skin and hair care and immunity products. With more new innovations in the pipeline, we continuously keep on expanding so that we can bring forth more quality products,” he says.

Now, after gaining a strong foothold in India, the USA, and the Middle East, the brand is planning to further expand in Mexico, Canada, and Europe considering the scope of the Ayurveda market globally.  

“Within the span of 4 years, with the consistent growth in the Indian subcontinent, we are now catering to multiple cities in the US including New York, California, Boston, Houston, Las Vegas, New Jersey, Dallas, Texas, Beaumont, Kansas, Salt Lake City, Bakersfield, Baltimore among many others, and in the UAE including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Al Ain, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, and Umm Al Quwain. The global market, which is increasingly embracing Ayurveda as a healing system, we now aim to further expand in Mexico, Canada, and Europe,” he concludes. 
 

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