~ launches first brick and motor store in India~
Plum, a homegrown, 100 percent vegan, PETA-certified, clean beauty brand, has announced the opening of its first ever exclusive store at R-City Mall in Mumbai, with the goal of catering to a diverse customer base through online and offline retail touchpoints. The opening of exclusive stores reflects the company’s strategy to develop “phygital” channels to serve its customers and building a true omni-channel approach to deliver customer delight and propel growth.
Plum aims to open more than 50 offline stores across India by 2023 as part of its strategy. The company has a 3 million-strong customer base and serves 3 lac customers on a monthly basis.
Starting online-only in 2014, the brand has since built its distribution presence over the last 4 years, and now reaches over 225 towns and cities in India, through 750+ assisted retail outlets, and over 10,000 unassisted retail outlets, all growing month on month. The addition of exclusive stores to this portfolio is expected to significantly increase Plum’s reach to its target customer segments. On a path of rapid, sustainable, fundamentals-driven growth with a blend of the right product and strong brand identity, Plum finds itself in a leadership position with strong financials, experiencing a 2.5X growth Y-O-Y, with an annualized run rate of Rs. 200 crores offering over 150+ SKU’s.
Commenting on company’s footprints and milestones Mr. Shankar Prasad, CEO & Founder, Plum, said “In today’s world, an average consumer has to go through several touchpoints of inquisitiveness, awareness, consideration and trials while making a purchase. While online medium offers excellent options at many of these touchpoints, but is not always complete. Keeping these parameters in mind, we wanted to provide our customers an opportunity that serves as an all-in-one experience across all these touch points. With the opening of our first exclusive store in India, we are looking to bring back the richness of human face-to-face interactions, thereby, adding to the joy of consuming the product. As next steps in the same direction, we have charted out a roadmap for the next two years wherein we will be opening over 50 stores across the country.”
A pioneer in the clean beauty space, a thought leader and expert in products, Plum is a digital-first, now omni-channel, beauty brand with a strong portfolio in skincare, haircare, personal care and makeup. The brand is driven by a strong leadership and investor team focused on building value for People, the Planet and Profit-sharing participants.
With a path to profitability, Plum closed its last round of funding to raise 110 cr in November 2020. Plum is also among the fastest growing BPC brands on key marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa and Myntra. The brand’s retail presence covers both general trade as well as key accounts such as Health & Glow, Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and other department store chains.
In September 2021, the brand strengthened their leadership by adding a new CMO and CFO to the team.