Business was running smoothly for cosmetics-making startup MyGlamm before the pandemic, which, for like most non-essential products, led to a sales washout. The recovery, however, was equally fast, thanks to an acquisition it made in August.
MyGlamm acquired women-centric ditial content platform POPxo for an undisclosed amount, welcoming 100 of its employees and 88 million unique female users. To put that into perspective, Facebook had 310 million users in India as of October 2020. Since Sept. 1, both companies have managed to integrate themselves in most ways — loyalty programmes, targeted branded content, pre and post consumption surveys — to harness POPxo’s strength in favour of the cosmetics brand.
“Since we’re able to target them that amplification is a lot more and we’re able to do it cost effectively because we’re able to do it through POPxo content which is why it’s coming more into visibility,” Darpan Sanghvi, founder and chief executive officer at MyGlamm, told BloombergQuint in an interview.
According to Priyanka Gill, MyGlamm was already successful but POPxo has been able to amplify that to a large degree. A British fashion journalist in her early days, Gill went on to launch POPxo in 2014. She is also co-founder and president at MyGlamm since the acquisition.
The startup’s revenue rate has jumped to Rs 200 crore per anum now, 40% above the pre-pandemic levels, according to Sanghvi, and is expected to reach Rs 400 crore in another four-six months. It has managed to reduce ad spends by 90% since acquiring POPxo, and added 1 million subscribers to the common loyalty programme — MyGlammXo since Sept. 1.
Besides, the company turned profitable in October, increasing investor interest. MyGlamm hoped to close another round of funding by January, the founders said.
Going All Out
“Cosmetics sales, surprisingly have been the same pre and post pandemic,” Sanghvi said, adding initial fears of a slowdown in sales of cosmetics because of work-from-home and masks were unfounded.
“It’s also psychological, right. A lipstick is an instant pick-me-up. It’s a very easy purchase you can do to change your mood,” Gill said.
On the other hand, personal care products have boomed as people find more time on their hands. MyGlamm launched two personal care sub-brands over the pandemic, which are already contributing to 25% of total revenue.
The startup has also launched a 3,000-square-feet flagship store in Mumbai, and calls it an “experience center” equipped with virtual technology that allows people to try on different makeup without physical touch, content creator booths, beauty masterclasses and a cosmetics development lab.