Why SkinKraft is Betting Big on Personalization to Expand its D2C Customer Base

Indian consumers are caught in an unrewarding cycle of experimentation in trying to find even the basic skin and hair care products. In many cases, this trial and error process ends up damaging their skin and hair. They are just trying to find the product that ‘suits my skin’, ‘suits my hair’. 

Apart from this, every person's skin/ hair is unique biologically. Even people in the same family living in the same house have differing skin and hair characteristics. The industry's solution, however, driven by mass-production, is generic. The same formula used for different people, which is what led to the problem of constant experimentation by the consumer to find the right fit.

To solve these issues, SkinKraft Laboratories was conceptualized in 2017.

“By taking a dermatological approach and using extensive data-driven analysis, we classify people into thousands of profiles and recommend the right ingredients and formulations for them. All our products are backed by over 10,000 hours of intensive research and collaboration with Indian, Taiwanese, and Japanese dermato-cosmetologists, pharmacists, and pharmaceutical engineers,” says Chaitanya Nallan, Co-Founder & CEO, SkinKraft Laboratories.

Betting Big on Personalization

Consumer insights and artificial intelligence aids the brand in understanding the skin profiles of individuals better and match them to the right set of products. Data also showed it that a generic product, mass-produced by an FMCG firm cannot be the most effective way to care for your skin.

“I feel personalization will be the next big thing in D2C and we are India’s first AI-enabled customized beauty and personal care brand offering one-step solution for those who seek skin and hair care products. This is done after a complete analysis of a person’s skin and hair through an online questionnaire,” asserts Nallan.

“Personalization, Customization, Clean Beauty, AI, E-commerce and Beauty tech will go mainstream and currently, we are working towards building it stronger. SkinKraft is one of the top 3-4 brands globally at the cutting edge of this wave. We are gearing up to be the market leader in this space of AI and data science-driven skin, hair, body care and body sculpting with both topical and nutra-cosmetics in multiple countries,” he adds.

Marketing Strategy

SkinKraft 's marketing is very educational in nature. It is a heavily content-driven brand where they try and explain ingredients, issues and the importance of customization to find the product and regime that suits a particular person. It uses platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TV to convey our message. 

“#Iammytype is our core narrative. Celebrating uniqueness cause each of our customers is fundamentally unique and so are we vis-à-vis 1,000s of generic beauty and wellness brands. While the campaign film focused on shedding stereotyping and urging women to be their own kind, the brand’s core value proposition has now seen acceptance from the think tanks across the globe, who have shared their thoughts on being your own kind by discussing their struggles on how they have strived to create their own niche, sharing individual successes and inspiring stories,” explains Nallan.

“We are so proud to see acknowledgement from these powerful, inspiring voices and for believing in our brand thought. The unscripted video messages and their real-life stories is an extension for a call to action to embrace your type, enrich your type and to shatter every possible stereotype,” he further adds.

Future Plans

With revenue of Rs 155 crore, SkinKraft has seen an exponential growth over last year. The brand is looking forward to doubling its revenue again this year. Currently, the brand has 7,50,000 users with repeat rates as high as 40 percent. It boasts having on an average 5,000-6,000 people answering the questionnaire every day.

“Our current energies are focused on distribution. We are working round the clock to ensure presence on all key platforms. We are also building key product portfolio expansion to cater to demands on such platforms,” he states.

“We are currently focusing on expanding our online presence across Tier II and III markets. While D2C is expected to triple for us this year, we are also planning to launch on Amazon India, US and Middle East as well as Purplle, Flipkart, Trell, Health & Glow, and Tata Cliq,” he adds.