Inspiring global beauty

The Body Shop has been spreading the beauty quotient factor with its products worldwide, Ms. Shriti Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer, The Body Shop India, gives a lowdown on the impact of the brand on the country over the years.

Aadeetya Sriram (AS):  Which market segment does The Body Shop target?

Shriti Malhotra (SM): In India, people have difference of opinion in terms of fairness cream. We are targeting a much wider space that understand the difference between the terms and also want clearer skin rather than fairer skin. Ours is a blemish-free and glowing skin market.

AS: How has The Body Shop been operating in India?

SM: We operate our stores ourselves; we have 65 stores in the country, under our operation. We have closely-run operations like speciality retailers; we have our National Operation Team, our regional operations team. Etc. Training is a vital cog of our operation set- up; they both go hand-in-hand.

AS: Could you elaborate on what kind of training procedure you undertake?

SM: Our training has been set-up The Body Shop way; we have a global training programme called the Retail Academy, where there is a lot of focus on product, brand and customer. We spend a lot of time in hiring our staff, as we understand the importance of inculcating the right ethics comes only when you have a team of qualified and capable recruitments. We get them trained in the stores itself, making them understand about the brand, different products on offer as well as developing the level of expertise required to handle the customers. For this we make them familiar with art of selling, then art of customer service, which is all about inspiring the customer, keeping him happy and provide him with a positive image of the brand.

AS: What is your marketing strategy for The Body Shop in India?

SM:  Our primary strategy has always been to reach out. The products, pricing campaigns, campaigns like brand celebrity ambassador, reaching out to Tier II & III cities, to work with vernacular magazines, The Body Shop involves itself in anything that could provide us with an opportunity to attract more customers. We also have our marketing done through 360 degree way as well, be it T.V, radio, print as well as the ever-growing internet, in-store, out-store we make sure that every possible mode of communication is utilised.

AS: How has the re-alignment of pricing strategy in Tier II & III cities result for you?

SM: Our re-alignment strategy to cater to the Tier II and III cities has been to our benefit, we operate at the same price-level all over the country, even if you look at Delhi, every pocket in India has different segment of customers based. Our pricing strategy caters to the vast mass taking care of their sensitivities, we are not very niche, and we are broad. The response that we have received from these cities has exceeded our expected levels, and we have understood that these corners of the country are no more to be leftover.

AS: How vital do you feel has the green-way of brands been in order to attract customers?

SM: Customers these days are very aware of the happenings in and around them. India as a country, being a young nation, the young mass of the country, is well-educated and updated to the current trends in the world. India is very alert and aware when it comes to the environment; we provide 100% recycled packaging, in most of our products we do not have any packaging, it’s just the bottle that we sell.

AS: How much growth have you attained over the years?

SM: The growth has been significant for The Body Shop. We’re growing by 50% year-on-year, and we hope to grow the same for the coming years as well.

AS: What is your future strategy for The Body Shop in India?

SM: Our strategy is very clear; we always do things that resonate with us, specifically in India, where the customer is well-aware of the brands available to him. We make sure that we make sense to the consumer, and even if we talk about the celebrity ambassador, we felt the need for one, so as to get associated with lot more consumers. Our primary strategy over the next few years will be to open as many stores as possible, i.e. 100 stores in 2 years & 150 by 2014, which will act as our access points, we never pre-plan things for the long term, but always keep in mind to position it with relevance. We plan to have our Hair-oil products made available designed primarily for the Indian market, which has always been a hair-oil market.