Unilever Faces Tough Competition in India’s Beauty Market

Amid growing competitive dynamics of Indian Beauty & Personal Care Market, Unilever a once mighty giant, is facing rivalry in all fronts. With the change in the consumer demand toward small, organic, and specially adapted products, start-up, agile brands are taking the reward for efficiency and urgency. These new challengers are exploring social media and direct-to-consumer sales to engage a tech-savvy, leaving Unilever lagging behind to modernize their business model. In addition, the competition for market share is getting harder and Unilever is considering its strategies well as the product offers to get back to the beginning and appeal the Indian consumers who are undergoing continuous change.

Small Brands Are Winning

Fresh retailers start out with a bang, making some groundbreaking products. They do social media marketing pretty well and also generate more sales through the same. Unilever is lagging behind in it too. Local start-ups build their reputation in a short period of time and form a loyal fan-base. However, till now, the traditional majors such as Unilever had been the ones taking first steps.

Unilever Tries New Ideas

Unilever now directs more resources into the production of health products. They come out with fabulous new products. However, these products are not having an immediate success. They’re changing their mode of advertising. They want to reposition their brands in the market. They wish to expand their personal care division, where they will be able to market to different segments of their consumers. However, these kinds of launches have not taken off as anticipated so far.

Money Problems as Growth Slows

Unilever doesn’t grow much—just a 3% increase in revenues. They were little better off than in the past. They’re running more ad campaigns to counter the competition. The analysts believe that Unilever will be less profitable. Their share price has plummeted by 15%. More competition results in more promotion costs. Financial stress seems to be the cause of rural expenses decrease.

Shoppers Want Different Things

Organic and special products monopolize the market share of rich customers. Shops carry out less Unilever items on the racks. Brands which are good at online marketing and branding are liked by people. In Mumbai, consumers prefer to brands like Bombay Shaving Co. through Unilever, which continues to improve its products to keep its brand special and important. Consumers are gradually switching towards specialized products that are tailored to individual desires. Unilever experience changing market dynamics and new consumers’ preferences towards sustainable, local and healthy products.