Amid the growing popularity of Ayurveda and ayurvedic products, Kama Ayurveda, an Ayurvedic beauty and personal care brand headquartered in Delhi, is employing innovative tactics to flourish in the Ayurveda space.
Founded in 2002, Kama Ayurveda is trying to amplify the message of Ayurveda at a global scale.
Vivek Sahni, CEO and Co-Founder, Kama Ayurveda, says the past year has been a very interesting journey for Kama Ayurveda, which was a primarily brick-and-mortar company with 58 stores and only 25-30 percent of online business. The lockdown led to a sudden slump for their business but there was a jump in demand when online started opening up.
Immunity became the buzzword, and people started looking for clean or natural products. Social media also contributed in popularising natural products, helping companies like Kama Ayurveda.
“Because you can’t go out, you’re pretty much hooked online in some form or the other; that has increased the interest in natural products,” Vivek says.
Vivek says Kama Ayurveda uses multiple ways of reaching the consumer such as an IVR line to call and place orders. It also offers online beauty consultation services with consultants and trainers. “The average basket value of a person doing online beauty consultations is much higher,” Vivek says.
The company conducted a large number of talks with Ayurvedic doctors on social media covering a lot of topics such as health benefits, general immunity, Ayurveda, and beauty. Soon, it progressed to talks on meditation, yoga, clean living, nutrition. “We basically use Ayurveda as a holistic vessel,” he says.
Vivek says Kama Ayurveda’s bestsellers are the skin and hair categories, and include products such as hair oil, face cream, rose water, etc. The brand recently launched a natural shampoo that is doing really well. “Skincare and haircare have really boomed for us,” he says.
Going forward, the company plans to release three to four more new products.
Kama Ayurveda has started doing clinical trials on all their key products over the last couple of years to prove the efficacy of Ayurveda. These clinical trials merge science and Ayurveda, and provide proof of its usefulness.
“A lot of people now want clean products that work and that is what we are focusing on,” Vivek says.
Vivek says the company is in good shape and currently not looking to raise funds. Kama Ayurveda had a partnership with Spanish company, Puig, which invested in Kama Ayurveda two years ago and they are “good as far as that goes”.
Kama Ayurveda had a 50 percent growth rate one to two years ago and aims to bring current numbers back up to that over the next five years.
