Web exclusive: “SUGAR Cosmetics never shied away from dreaming big”

Vineeta may wince if her brand is compared to Nykaa, considering the travails of that unicorn recently, but it is a good template. Like Nykaa, SUGAR is also female-led startup success story having a massive physical presence (more than 100 own stores besides being available at 35,000 touch points across 500 cities), and nearing unicorn status after having being valued at more than half a billion.  

But its future trajectory may just include a public listing rather than more funding series. THE WEEK asked Singh to share her thoughts on how she came up with the business idea and what being a startup in today’s India involves. Excerpts:

Q/ How did the idea for SUGAR come about and how did you do it differently?

A/ I have always been passionate about building a company with women at its core. While trying to build my previous startup, which was a monthly subscription-based company for grooming products, we gained a lot of insight into an average modern-day consumer’s wants and also the problems they were facing. We realised that even though the cosmetics market had a lot of multinational brands to choose from, there weren’t many that were catering specifically to Indian skin types and tones. Indian women would either have to import their base products from overseas or wear shades that didn’t match them due to the lack of availability. This is what paved the way for us to start SUGAR Cosmetics to fill this white space.  

Q/ How is setting up a business been different as compared to conventionally? How has technology helped?

A/ From the process of gathering data to connecting with our consumers, since its inception, technology has been a major factor in the growth of SUGAR Cosmetics. The Indian beauty industry is an extremely competitive market with an ever-evolving technology landscape that has helped it grow remarkably over the past decade. Interacting with and focusing on consumer needs has taken the front seat, and with the help of the latest technology, beauty brands are now exploring new markets such as virtual platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and more, to engage them. Social commerce platforms have been popular where consumers can purchase products directly from within the social media app.  

Technology has played a major role in accelerating personalisation offering, which is crucial for the Gen Z and millennial consumers, who want products that not only make them look beautiful but also reflect their personality. With the advancement of technology, brands are now also using artificial intelligence (AI) to spearhead product innovation and drive higher customer engagement.  

Q/ The journey to become a unicorn.

A/ Our focus has always been to build our brand and make our products available for all of our consumers. Being my third startup, SUGAR Cosmetics has taught me the power of determination and resilience, the path has been challenging - I recall times when we were out of stock and yet couldn't order a new batch of products because we didn't have the money. However, even during these times, I’m glad to have had the privilege to work with a remarkable and supportive team.  

Customer satisfaction is extremely important to us which is why we are constantly innovating, staying true to our uniqueness, and continually improving our chart-topping products as a routine practice. Taking into account what our customers think of us and their feedback whether positive or negative makes scope for us to be better.

Q/ Future potential and challenges?

A/ As our next steps, we plan on building and expanding our core pillars - our retail footprint by enhancing the retail marketing and visual merchandising experience, our product line and our product distribution. We intend to go stronger on our omni-channel approach to expand our product ranges and to be able to grow the brand on an even larger scale. Increasing our distribution channels in India and beyond, along with creating an even stronger base on our D2C platforms will be focused on.  

We also will be looking at creating solid content to keep educating and engaging our SUGAR community across all platforms – digital and otherwise. Employing more than 10,000 women and an IPO, we want to make SUGAR one of India's Top 3 brands in the total colour cosmetics market. Getting to that point will be a challenge but we never shied away from aiming higher and dreaming big.