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The Man Company hopes to achieve twofold growth and end FY22 with a net revenue of Rs 90 crore. Hitesh Dhingra talks to Vaishnavi Gupta about the company’s offline retail push, its foray into the sexual wellness and personal appliances categories, and its focus on tier II and III cities for expansion. Edited excerpts:
Last year, you started selling in hypermarkets, supermarkets and pharmacies. Which other retail format will you tap next?
We will start retailing from general trade or traditional stores in 2022. We have shortlisted around 12 states to start with, and appointed super stockists and distributors for the same. We expect this channel to contribute at least 10% of our total revenue in FY23. We will also expand our presence in hypermarkets, supermarkets, pharmacies and luxury format stores, from the current 1,200 to 2,500 stores by FY23. Last year, we collaborated with supermarkets like Spar, Spencer’s Retail, More, Reliance Smart, hypermarkets like Metro Cash & Carry, and Lulu, and lifestyle pharmacies like Apollo, Med Plus and Guardian. We also expanded our luxury retail format last year by partnering with Pantaloons. Around 20-25% of our total revenue is coming from these formats currently.
Will you be launching more exclusive brand outlets, too?
We currently operate 42 exclusive stores, and plan to touch the 70 stores mark by the end of this fiscal. Our plan was to achieve the 100 stores target in 2021, but the disruptions caused by Covid-19 halted it. We now expect to have 100 outlets by July, 2022. We plan to expand the brand in two formats: exclusive stores of 200-250 sq ft, and kiosks in malls. Targetting the age group of 18-35 years, we will launch new outlets in tier II and III cities like Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, and Coimbatore.
Why the focus on tier II and III markets for expansion?
Around 45% of our sales comes from these cities. In tier II and III towns, we get good brand exposure. For instance, we are present in VR mall in Surat, and almost half of Surat visits that mall every weekend; therefore, it aids good recognition, reach and trust for the brand. Also, the rentals in these cities are comparatively lower than that in the metro cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Hence, we turn operationally profitable in the first two to three months in these cities, whereas in the metros and tier I cities, it generally takes around six months to turn profitable.
Which product categories do you plan to foray in?
We will add sexual wellness and personal appliances as new categories this month. In personal appliances, we are initially launching beard trimmers and shavers. In sexual wellness, we are coming up with two products in the ingestible category. These categories will initially be launched on our D2C platform as a test, and later, will be followed up by other marketplaces and offline stores.
How much do online platforms contribute to your total revenue?
Online channels contribute around 70% of our total revenue. Apart from our own website, most of the business comes from four marketplaces — Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, and Myntra. We expect online channels to contribute 60% of our total revenue by the end of 2022, while 40% will come from offline channels. We generated a net revenue of Rs 45 crore in FY21, and expect to reach Rs 90 crore by the end of FY22. Our target is to touch the Rs 300 crore revenue mark in the next two years.
What is lined up on the marketing front?
This year, we will be focussing heavily on marketing; almost 40% of our total revenues will be spent on marketing. We will partner with regional influencers who can create authentic content in vernacular languages. We will also be investing in creating our own content, like podcasts and videos on YouTube.
How differently did consumers shop during the pandemic?
During the first wave, we observed that people searched for DIY products online, so we launched some DIY products using our existing range, including for face care and pedicure. These were small, single-time-use kits. Furthermore, during the pandemic, men have invested a lot in skincare. Therefore, we helped them create personalised boxes for their skincare regime. Additionally, our under-eye roll-on gel, lip lightening balm and lip scrub became our hero products.
Read Also: Gillette India Ltd commences marketing and selling of Braun in India
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