From a salon to differentiated beauty products for consumers and beauty businesses

Founder Shubhi Johari leveraged her experience with running salons to launch a D2C brand that sells to consumers as well as other beauty parlours and salons.

After working for years in the salon space and running her own chain of salons called Monsoon, Shubhi Johari saw that the B2B supply chain for salon-standard products is badly broken. Realising that salons typically faced shortage of products, she turned it into an opportunity and launched a range of hair and skincare products for salons, and has now gone the D2C way too.

The salon-focussed brand specialising in clean skincare and hair care products currently offers 9 SKUs. Since its launch, it has sold more than 50K products and claims a user base of 30K and counting. Earlier, the B2B product range was mostly sold offline. But Argatin has recently started to sell online via its dedicated website and third-party marketplaces and is growing at 30% MoM. The company earned INR 3 Cr in revenue in FY21.

Developing a sustainable beauty range for the B2B space is always challenging as it requires striking a balance between cost and quality. More importantly, consumers need to be educated about the efficacy of B2B products, the importance of expert advice and how salon care can marry both for a desirable outcome instead of random use of wellness products at home. Johari has taken up customer education regarding the cost, quality and requirements to ensure optimum beauty care via her salon chain and others.

Unlike beauty products for personal use, salon products are more conventional and generic in nature due to their large-scale usage. Most brands used in salons contain harsh chemicals that can be harmful, Johari claims, and adds that she was keen to bring the goodness of natural ingredients to salon range. Argatin (the name comes from argan oil, a key component used in these products) has come up with a line of sulphate-free face masks, shampoos and conditioners besides an argan elixir oil designed for hair growth. Although the product range is primarily meant for salon care, retail packages are also sold for home use based on expert recommendations.

The company will expand its SKUs and diversify the product range. It will soon enter new categories such as men’s wellness, baby care and sexual health. Argatin will drive its sales further through live commerce and export to Southeast Asia by 2025.