Marriages & Break-Ups 💔
All things noteworthy in the D2C space
👋 Hey!
Welcome to this week’s edition of GlobalBees D2C Pulse where we curate content around the direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecosystem in India. If you missed our previous editions, check them out here!
Last week we saw some break-ups 💔 : 135-year old Johnson & Johnson is breaking up its consumer products division (Neutrogena, Listerine, etc.) from its medical drugs & division to keep the former more agile towards changing trends. Toshiba and General Motors are ‘de-conglomerating’ as well! While we are unsure of how these break-ups will work out, the one that will surely act in consumers’ interest is Instagram wanting its users to ‘take a break’. Read more here!
Let’s start with the D2C updates now…
What’s in the news?
👴 Old school <> D2C marriages
Mukesh Bhai has been strengthening his Reliance universe with acquisitions across consumer product categories. Reliance Retail recently acquired lingerie brand 'Amante' from Sri Lanka-based MAS Brands. Amante is a prominent lingerie brand across fashion marketplaces. This acquisition comes after Reliance picked up stake in Zivame (online lingerie store) and designers Ritu Kumar's and Manish Malhotra's couture companies.
PS: here’s a list of all of the brands sitting under Mota Bhai’s kitty till now (It’s alooOng)! With its scaling and retail expertise, Reliance has championed online and offline distribution and is leaving no stones unturned to add more portfolio companies under its umbrella.
In a bid to take on Reliance Industries and Tata Sons in the e-commerce segment, Adani Group has joined the race to build a super app (one-stop for all consumer needs). Adani Group recently announced their investment in online travel aggregator, Cleartrip Pvt Ltd. to bring end-to-end travel services online.
🤳Myntra joins the live commerce rage
Did you know two streamers in China sold USD 3 bn worth of products over 24 hours on a live stream! (yeah… 3bn….USD!). Taobao, an e-comm player in China saw USD 65 bn of products being sold using video e-comm!!
Now that we have set the context, it is only obvious why Myntra is testing an influencer-led live online shopping on its platform where customers can directly purchase products while live video sessions are underway. Such sessions could vary from being a make-up tutorial to answering customer queries. Myntra’s parent company Flipkart had also recently announced that it has partnered with short-video platform Moj to introduce video commerce to its platform.
India's live commerce is going to reach USD 4-5 bn by 2025. (again, jus two folks did 3bn in China!! The scope is mind-boggling.) At present, there are 2 key models for operation - a) the pure-play short-form video apps like Chingari, Instagram, Roposo and b) social commerce players like BulBul that are starting live commerce at a low scale.
While on Myntra, we can’t resist mentioning Nandita Sinha who will be joining Myntra as CEO - one of the very few times that a woman executive has been given such a position in the e-commerce space.
🔥BPC is hot and like how
The beauty and personal care product (BPC) market in India is currently valued at USD 26.8 bn and is poised to reach USD 37.2 bn by 2025. Also, D2C brands in the BPC segment seem to be achieving profitability quicker than any other e-commerce company:
Nykaa: After a stellar listing, Nykaa’s worth is more than INR 1 lakh cr. and Nykaa’s founder Falguni Nayar’s personal fortune has ballooned to around INR 56,000 cr.
The Good Glamm Group: Yes G3 (we came up with this name!) is in news again! This time for raising USD 150 mn from South Africa's Prosus Ventures and private equity major Warburg Pincus. G3 is now the second company in the D2C space to reach the USD 1 bn valuation mark a.k.a Unicorn 🦄 status after Licious.
🍪Other D2C bites:
There have been fundings in other D2C categories too recently:
Health & Sports: Troo (millet based snacks maker), Cora Health (nutritious snacks), Xtrim (sports accessories)
Baby care: Cradlewise (Baby-tech startup), Super Bottoms (baby products)
Brands that caught our eye!
👃 We smell trouble
This has to be the most bizarre reporting in this segment to date! Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has come up with a rather interesting idea to attract voters for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections - a perfume branded as ‘Samajwadi Attar’ (scent of socialism). The perfume is a mix of 22 natural ‘attars’ (fragrances picked from Kashmir to Kanyakumari) and has been prepared in Kannauj.
So, would you consider removing your ‘stink of sins’ with Samajwadi Attar?
💧Whattey solution
Health experts recommend drinking 2 liters of water a day. We can’t be the only ones who fail to drink even 50% of that. Why’s that? water can be quite boring!
This D2C start-up called Beyond Water has curated flavors like mango peach, zesty orange, etc. to make your water tolerable to drink. These flavors are sugar-free but have essential vitamins and elctrolytes in them, to help your body remain hydrated and healthy on the go. They claim that one glass of Beyond Water glass is equal to 24 servings!
Trend of the week: At-Home Fitness 💪
Indian home fitness equipment category registered a significant growth in the past year - it grew to INR 570 cr. in FY21 from INR 329 cr. in FY19, as gyms shut down and awareness about fitness and health peaked during the pandemic. This segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.7% till FY25. PS: there are tremors going on in the stock prices of US exercise equipment company, Paleton, here why!
D2C brands are launching a broad range of in-home fitness products to tap the potential of this market. Chilling winter morning, long drive to the gym, Covid can no longer be the reason for omitting your daily workout now! Here’s our list of D2C brands offering home work-out equipment in India:
Reads & Recommendations
Understanding growth marketing by Julian Shapiro
Business opportunities around video and live streaming e-commerce in India.
After Facebook, Disney wants to focus on Metaverse too. What truly is Metaverse?
That’s all for this week!
We are sorry we are a little late in sharing this week’s D2C Pulse, the GlobalBees team was on an offsite this weekend. Here’s a snap of people to be blamed:
If this newsletter made your Monday morning any more tolerable, please like this issue by clicking the ❤️ below and spread the positive vibes! We’ll see you next week with more juicy content and even more kick-ass gifs.
Stay tuned for more insights about the D2C start-ups in India.