We Aim To Reach INR 100 Cr Revenue In Next Two Years: CEO, UrbanGabru

The men's grooming industry is growing every year and considered to be a billion-dollar industry. The trends keep changing according to the demand of people and the influencers, To know more about it we talked to Hemant Raulo, Founder and CEO of Urban Gabru.

Men’s Grooming Industry has seen a sharp rise, mostly after Covid-19 when people were locked down in their homes and were exploring social media such as Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Snapchat and more. They got to know about men’s grooming due to the exposure and also more information related to it was out on the platform.

Another factor was to attain a particular type of appearance like their role model, any influencer or celebrity. This factor also led to the segment's rise as many celebrities also posted about the male grooming products for hygiene, styling, body care, face care etc. To know more about the Industry insight and business trends, we spoke to Hemant Raulo Founder and CEO of Urban Gabru.

As a part of a niche segment, how do you see the acceptance of the male grooming industry?

When we started there was not much acceptance. Now, people are accepting the fact that men can also be into cosmetics and beautiful things and they also take care of their hair, body and skin. Men are also attracted to the products in the male grooming industry. We can see it in the growth also on a month-to-month basis.

How is Urban Gabru contributing to the industry and how do you differentiate yourself?

The brand Urban Gabru always came up with unique and different products. For example, other players focus on soaps and perfumes which are my products. We always focus on the products which are new to the market or are unavailable. We focus on innovative products like the recently launched hair removal spray on the body. We are coming up with benchmark products which are completely new to the market.

How do you see the rising competition as many companies are offering lucrative things?

Every brand focuses on its category. Men’s grooming is a huge segment there is hair care, styling, and body care. Every brand is dominating a particular segment. When you talk about men’s grooming you can’t say a particular brand is dominating every category. The maximum chunk for Urban Gabru comes from the hair styling category and we have recently started the hair removal category as well. There is no direct competition as everybody has their niche.

How do you see the usage of chemicals in the Industry?

We as a brand Urban Gabru have always focused on less chemical or no chemical at all. One of our successful products is hair Volumising Powder and we are also getting orders from other platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart. It is a powder that after putting on hair one can do styling. It is 100 per cent natural because it is made up of natural starch and is certified also safe use for styling.

What are some of the future trends in the Industry?

A few years back people used to oil their hair but it is a trend right now people do use gel, waxes and also hair colour. The perfume category is also growing very big every month. Previously it was deodorant but now perfumes are showing extraordinary growth.

What is your strategy for this festive season?

We are making advertisements which are regional for example In Gujarat Navratri festival is celebrated so we made ads specifically for Gujarat targeting them from our Facebook, Instagram and social media platforms. For offline, we have made regional posters. We are creating a campaign around a regional festival be it Durga Puja or Navratri. 

What was the most challenging part of your journey?

When we started with a youtube channel there was not much acceptance. We started giving education on men’s grooming and people started liking our youtube channel. Initially, customers came from there. We started promoting our brand on the channel. So growing a youtube channel in the men’s grooming category at that time was a challenge.

What are your big future goals for the next few years?

We are trying to reach INR 100 crore revenue in the next two years, we are also thinking to expand our offline segment, our major revenue comes from online. However, in the next two years, we plan to get 50 to 60 per cent of revenue offline as well.

Do you have any plans to come back on Youtube?

In starting there was not much content but now I don’t think we can add more value to it, right now we are collaborating with another influencer. Initially, we did not have multiple options for marketing we did not have money so youtube was a source for organic marketing.

Do you have any plans to move into other verticals?

We will be tapping the electrical market in the men’s grooming industry, products like trimmer would be the main focus and we plan to launch that segment by December and January.