MedPlus enters beautycare product retailing segment

Launches MedplusBeauty.com, an online store with virtual studio.

MedPlus Healthcare Services, a Hyderabad-based pharma retail chain, on Thursday marked its entry into the beauty and personal care segment with the launch of its online beauty store – MedplusBeauty.com.

The store, which the company claims to be the country’s largest with a catalog of over 1,2000 brands across Indian and international brands on offer, boasts a virtual studio (or a virtual makeover) feature wherein a customer can upload her image and try out various looks, besides doing a before-and-after comparison, before actually buying the cosmetic and personal care products.

“The virtual studio concept was developed on a Java-based application. We are set to add 3-dimensional features to the store once we launch products like haircare, earrings and other accessories,” Surendra Mantena, chief operating officer of MedplusBeauty.com, told mediapersons here on Thursday.

According to Madhukar Gangadi, founder and chief executive of MedPlus, the domestic cosmetic and personal care market is pegged at Rs 5,000 crore, of which skincare alone accounts for Rs 2,800 crore, which is largely traditional and fragmented.

“The e-commerce potential in India is around $10 billion now and is estimated to reach $100 billion in the next six years at a CAGR of 47 per cent. The growth will be driven by Tier-II cities and the increasing affluence in urban population,” he said.

Stating that an online beauty store like theirs required an initial investment of Rs 4.5 crore, Gangadi said the company was looking at doubling its product basket, both stock-keeping units and brands, besides launching its own private labels. Towards this, it is in negotiations with various original equipment manufacturers, he added.

... to open 200 pharma stores a year
MedPlus, which currently has in excess of 1,000 pharma retail stores mostly across five states – Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal – is embarking on an expansion plan, which would see the rolling out of 200-300 stores a year.

“We have already opened 200 stores so far this year, including 34 in New Delhi, each entailing an investment of Rs 10-15 lakh. We will end up entering Mumbai next year,” he said, adding each of the stores generated revenues of around Rs 70 lakh a year.

MedPlus, which competes with players like Apollo Pharmacy, Guardian Lifecare and Hetero, claims that it commands a 30 per cent market share of the over Rs 2,000-crore organised pharma retail market.