Mumbai: I have naturally curly-wavy hair and used to truly wonder about what it is like for those like me to deal with such kind of hair. It came as a sign of relief when brands catering categorically to curly-wavy hair made an entry into the market. One such brand was Curl Cure, a D2C cruelty-free homegrown brand that offers an exclusively formulated product range for Curly and Wavy hair texture for all age groups. Curl Cure began its offline sales in 2018, but made a formal D2C launch with its website on 29 August 2019.
After tasting success in the Indian market within three years, Curl Cure is all set to launch in the international terrains of Dubai, Mexico and Canada.
Mumbai: In a confab, Indiantelevision.com spoke to Curl Cure founder Simran Sainani who elucidated on the purpose of launching a brand such as Curl Cure, the presence of the brand in the Indian market, taking the plunge of expansion to foreign markets and much more.
For starters, the hair care segment in India amounts to Rs 237.70 billion in 2023. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.79 per cent (2023-2027), as per Statista. Additionally, the global natural hair care products market size was valued at $10.30 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to increase to $13.84 billion by 2028, with a growing CAGR of 6.51 per cent in the next six years, as mentioned in a report by Market Data Forecast in June 2022.
Talking about Curl Cure’s revenues Sainani reveals that the revenue growth for the brand in FY 2020 - 21 was 29 per cent with a turnover of Rs 4.5 million, and for FY 2021 - 2022 was 66 per cent with a turnover of Rs 7.5 million.
With digital and TV being important mediums, Curl Cure spent approximately 80 per cent on ads for digital media and 20 per cent for television, as of last year.
The brand has worked with around 200 influencers nationwide to create engaging content using reels, storytelling, product reviews, and contests. This collaboration has helped Curl Cure raise awareness, strengthen the brand's image, and boost social engagement through content. The influencers with whom the brand has worked are:
Deliberating on the brand’s competitors in the Indian market, Sainani says, “While we are focusing on customisation for providing solutions to fix curly hair problems, there are other brands who are working in the same field and providing hair care solutions for curl heads. These are "Fix my curls, Ashba Botanics, Curl Up.”
She feels that Plex and bond treatments are the new trends that have been observed. As the hair colour industry is growing, treatments to “fix” the damage will also be in need going forward.
Shedding light on the bestsellers of Curl Cure in the Indian market, Sainani points out that while all their products are loved by their customers, some of the hero products which have maximum repeat purchases include the Hair Growth Elixir (50ml) which revives hair growth, reduces hair loss and increases hair density; the Define & Shine Curl Cream (200ml) which helps in achieving better style control for naturally curly hair; and the Travel Kit which includes the Untangled Shampoo, the Hydrate Don't Hate Deep Conditioner and the Define & Shine Curl Cream (50g of each) which helps one travel light with a 3-step curl routine that fits right into one’s pouch.
The top-selling product offerings that Sainani intends to sell in the international markets includes the Untangled Shampoo, Intensive Hydrating Conditioner, Define & Shine Curl Cream, Hair Growth Elixir, and its travel-friendly Curly Hair diffusers. Out of these, the latter three are some of Curl Cure’s fast selling products that will give tough competition to other brands in Dubai, she mentions.
Edited excerpts:
On how you got started with your brand Curl Cure
During my childhood, I was constantly bullied by my friends for my hair texture. I was on the lookout for heating and straightening tools in order to meet societal expectations of having straight and flawless hair, until my hair volume was reduced by half. After years of hair torture, I decided to embrace my natural curls. Inspired by my own experience, I launched Curl Cure on August 29, 2019, during the lockdown, with the goal of assisting people all over the world to love and embrace their natural hair and break free from the allegory of straight hair. We received tremendous support from the audience and built an army of over 47,000 women in India in just three years. We are now expanding our reach into international markets with a vision to become a household name in the hair care industry.
On the USP of Curl Cure and its differentiating factors
Curl Cure's unique selling point is that it is a homegrown, organic, and cruelty-free brand that focuses on personalization and customized services to people of all ages. We ensure a personal connection with each customer by tracking their purchase history, product usage, and requirements via digital channels and implementing these data points to provide the best experience to the customers. The well-formulated product line caters to all age groups, providing superior hair care without the use of synthetic additives, promoting a healthy lifestyle and keeping it natural.
On the adoption of social commerce and making Curl Cure India's first D2C hair care brand with its own salon
The brand started as a digital-first approach in India and soon made inroads into e-commerce marketplaces to scale along with physical salons and retail stores. In response to the surge in demand for the brand from the international market, we set up a salon and retail business in Dubai to provide a personal approach. On the other hand, the US market is popular for e-commerce businesses, so we made the products accessible on e-commerce platforms like Amazon. We, as a brand, further aim to expand our footprints to the Mexican and Canadian markets.
We are active on all social media platforms and have worked with over 200 influencers from all over the nation. Initially, we began with 28k followers and have seen a 20 per cent surge in the follower count on our IG handle. We also offer tailored services at our exclusive salon in Thane, Mumbai, which is soon expanding. In addition to the exclusive Mumbai store, we organise curly hair care workshops in multiple cities to help curly heads embrace their natural locks and feel confident in their hair rather than shying away from them. During the workshops, we offer hair care mentoring and share knowledge and expertise with people.
On the growth of Curl Cure in India in terms of sales volume, and the expected increase in sales from global markets
We began our offline sales in the Indian market in 2018 where we sold out the entire batch of Curly Hair Shampoo, Conditioner and Curl Cream within 2.5 months of launch. These were 3000 pieces which were purchased by over 4700 customers. The curly head community absolutely loved our products which helped us in gaining 8x ROI for the first three months, and aided us in acquiring 35 per cent of the Curly Hair market share.
Through our global expansion, we aim to make Curl Cure a household name worldwide by focusing in the Mexican and Canadian markets. Curl Cure already has a presence on Amazon US in the US. In response to the surge in demand for the brand from the international market, we set up a salon and retail business in Dubai to provide a personal approach.
On the challenges in establishing the curly hair care brand as a niche in India
Despite the fact that 60 per cent of the world's population has curly or wavy hair, Indians have always considered straight hair to be the ideal type. The irrational obsession has manifested itself over the ages in society's perception and cinema's projection of curly-haired women as quirky, wild, or rebellious; breaking this stereotype of straight hair is one of the most difficult challenges. Our vision while creating Curl Cure was to help the curly hair community and encourage them to be confident in their natural curls so that they don't need to end up using harsh chemicals to fit the societal expectations of being beautiful.
On being a young female entrepreneur in a world which still runs strongly on a patriarchal note and not many women in senior roles or at the C-suite level yet, and how difficult or easy it was to find and make your place in a highly competitive industry like haircare
Not being from a business background was quite a challenge initially, but I was constantly determined and passionate to work hard for my curl head community. A positive attitude kept me going strongly towards my journey of establishing Curl Cure. Understanding the customer perspective and continuously working towards customer satisfaction is the ultimate key to a successful business. Following this notion helped me as we at Curl Cure constantly monitor our customers' feedback & specialize in providing personalized services to them through our offline salon.
On the advertising and marketing strategy that you have adopted for Curl Cure
Influencer marketing is one of the marketing strategies for our brand. Besides that, we run promotional offers and discounts on our website on special occasions like Diwali, Christmas, Republic Day, etc. and promote it with the help of our influencer network and also offer certain rewards in the form of gift cards and referrals to our esteemed customers which helps us to maintain the brand loyalty and ensures repeat purchase.
On myriad D2C brands taking the influencer marketing route and your take on this for the brand, Curl Cure
Influencer marketing is the most effective way of creating awareness regarding one’s brand. I believe content/storytelling plays a very vital role which eventually helps to attract the audience towards the brands. It allows the brand to stand apart from others and shine in the crowd. We use our influencer relationships to spread love and promote natural curls! We tend to create experiences that strengthen our bond with our customers through engaging content from influencers nationwide. It has helped the brand to gain more visibility and has developed trust amongst its target audience, both of which have assisted in scaling up its revenue by 25 per cent.
On footprint expansion in India – digitally and retail expansion too, and if you are looking at opening the brand’s stores across the country – selling through standalone brand stores or the marketplace model
While our current focus is global expansion, we will be continuously working towards increasing our presence across India, by way of the retail market and entering into tier II & tier III cities. Along with this, we will also look at offline stores and distribution channels.
On the trends that have been observed in international markets and how different they are from the Indian market
- Growing demand for organic hair care products - consumer preference is shifting towards organic and herbal due to increasing awareness regarding the adverse effects of chemicals used on health and the environment, thus heightening the consumption rate.
- Early acceptance - People outside of India are less concerned with what others think of them and do not feel pressure to conform to social standards of beauty. They accept themselves as they are and recognise the value of using organic products over those laced with chemicals in the long run.
On establishing a niche in the Indian market, and your strategy to position the brand in the international markets of Dubai, Mexico and Canada
With a focus on making the brand a household name all over the world, we aim to increase the brand's footprints in the Mexican and Canadian markets. We already have a presence on Amazon US in the US. On the other hand, we have observed a significant demand from the Dubai market. Additionally, our internationally sourced ingredients set us apart from other players and we intend to provide our customers with superior hair care without the use of synthetic additives.
On the kind of advertising and marketing strategy that you plan to adopt for expansion in the international markets
Influencer marketing is currently the highly effective way of promoting the brand and also connecting with a wider audience of all age groups. Creating engaging content on social channels helps to attract the audience towards the brand and helps us reach a wider pool of audiences. In the international markets, we will be continuing with performance marketing, and influencers for our brand messaging. Along with this, we will also be focusing on Google ads and Amazon.
Your vision and way forward for the brand Curl Cure in 2023
Curl Cure is a homegrown, cruelty-free, organic hair-care brand that offers an exclusively formulated product range for Curly and Wavy hair texture for all age groups. We aim to help people embrace their individuality by assisting them in nurturing their natural curls and assisting them in becoming the best version of themselves. We aspire to make Curl Cure a household name all across the country. The products are made of natural ingredients without any adhesive use of chemicals, promoting a healthy lifestyle and keeping it all natural.
