A quick recap of Bombay Shaving Company’s journey in 2023

A new logo, the Razorpreneur Challenge, and the inauguration of its first hair removal laser clinic mark some of the key initiatives unveiled by Bombay Shaving Company (BSC) in 2023.For FY 2024, the company is expected to achieve a healthy growth of 35%, while simultaneously implementing measures to reduce losses by over 50%.

Deepak Gupta, co-founder and COO, of BSC and Gauri Malhotra, CMO, BSC, shared insights on the growth achieved this year and outlined their strategic plans for the upcoming year.

Trends in 2023

Here’s the list of trends that the brand witnessed in 2023:

Slow growth: As compared to the last three years, the growth is at a slow pace. COVID amplified the growth in the last three years. But now, the growth is driven by premiumization, not by penetration.

Innovation evolves into a use case: Trimmers as a category would earlier be used only for beards. Now, products like multi-groomers, and body groomers have become a significant part of the category. This range has started contributing more than 25% of the revenue for the whole category. 

Offline channel renaissance: Modern trade stores are performing well, while e-commerce has become slightly subdued. 

Surging role of men in grooming practices: The brand is witnessing higher involvement of men in the grooming category as they are spending more time experimenting with new products. 

According to Malhotra, in the future, products will have a combination of benefits. 

“As customers want to do more, they want products with multi-benefits like Internationally there’s hair removal shower gel. We will see value addition, convenience, and bundling benefits of products as the category grows.”

For 2023, the best-performing products from the brand were razors and charcoal shaving foam.

Urban market driving business growth 

The urban market drove the growth of the brand in 2023. In terms of new customers, 70% of new customers are from tier-2 and 3 cities, while 30% are from metros. The metro’s consumers are upgrading their offerings. 

Distribution 

In September, the company announced that it would amplify its physical distribution from 70,000 to 300,000 outlets within the next 24 months. Gupta states that the brand currently owns around 20 EBOs (exclusive brand outlets), with the most recent one inaugurated in Mumbai.

“Most stores are present in malls, and airports. As in malls, they come with a purchasing mindset. It gives faster ROI as well as compared to the high street markets.”

The company plans to expand to 100 EBOs within the next financial year with a focus on tier-1 and 2 cities. It also plans to expand its presence in modern trade and general trade channels. 

Quick commerce is playing a vital role for the brand to acquire new customers. “For us, it is one of the focussed areas, as on marketplaces the brands and SKUs are bombarded,” he adds.   

Quick commerce is roughly contributing 10% of the overall e-commerce revenue. The online and offline revenue split is 50-50 for the brand. In offline mode, modern trade is dominating the sales, followed by general trade. For online revenue streams, marketplaces take the lead, securing the top position for revenue generation.

New Logo 

This year, BSC underwent a logo refresh with the intention of capturing a larger share in the offline market. Geared towards building a brand for a younger demographic, the company asserts that the new logo is notably bolder and stronger, aiming to make a strong and distinctive statement.

Gupta highlights, “As we expand offline, shelf presence becomes important. The new logo solves that in scale.”  

Marketing 

Currently, the brand is not going down the celebrity endorsement route. 

“With shows like Razorprenuer, we’re leveraging our founder to be a celebrity”, Malhotra mentions. 

The brand is focussing on leveraging Shantanu Deshpande’s equity with creators. “We’re looking to get creators with Shantanu, so the audience knows where it is coming from”, she says. 

For the brand’s upcoming campaigns, Deshpande will take on a more prominent role. In the latest ad campaign, he was seen promoting head shaver.

According to Malhotra, shows like Razorprenuer bring an ROI as well. “As selling was the core of the challenge, in the final episode we sold around 25,000-30,000 razors.”

Gupta states that after the finale of the show, the brand experienced a significant surge in searches. “In just 2 months of launch, we got 4% market share in razors on Amazon.” 

For Bombae, the women's counterpart of BSC,  Alaya F became the face of their latest campaign. The brand is currently focussing on making shaving convenient, easy, and linking it with beauty. 

“The shaving for women is a boring task, but the outcome is linked to beauty. We’re trying to ally with certain categories like we launched Glamup, which is a face razor. It is not more a functional razor, but a glitter face razor, which can be used before doing makeup. We’re linking a new habit with a pre-existing habit as it easily helps to acquire customers,” she mentions.  

Malhotra also says that for Bombae, influencer marketing plays a vital role in reaching that target group. For men, the brand will focus on content marketing. 

“For men, educating them about the usage of razors and use cases of products is important as they don’t talk about it,” she says.

To connect with younger TG, the brand will launch a campaign with Deshpande where he will help individuals grappling with hair loss in gaining confidence to embrace a bald look. This campaign aims to address the societal norm where many men lack the courage to choose a bald appearance.

In the future, the brand is not looking to go with traditional marketing strategies. 

Road Ahead 

In the upcoming year, Bombay Shaving Company is set on attaining a double-digit market share in the razor category. The brand's strategic focus includes expanding distribution channels and enhancing consumer reach.

Looking forward, the brand aims to strengthen the connection between consumers and the concept of hair removal. With a particular emphasis on appealing to a younger male demographic, the brand seeks to resonate with and attract this target audience.