Co-founder Swagatika Das says the brand clocked Rs 130 crore revenue in FY25, with a 52 per cent repeat purchase rate
As Nat Habit, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) natural beauty and wellness brand, enters the omnichannel retail space with a dual expansion strategy, it is aiming to reach 6,000 general trade (GT) stores by the time the current fiscal year ends and wants to achieve Rs 300 in annualised revenue, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Swagatika Das told BW Retail World.
Emphasising that the brand is live across all three major quick commerce platforms, Das noted that in terms of contribution, they are looking at around 15 to 20 per cent contribution from both quick commerce and retail combined, going ahead.
With the omnichannel rollout supporting the company’s deeper push into high-potential non-metro markets, Das hinted that they are planning to raise funds, most likely by the next fiscal to fuel the expansion, invest in research and development (R&D).
Expansion And Investment
Since the brand is now available in over 1,000 general trade stores across the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), the future expansion plans will require investment. Das noted that the offline channel expansion, investment into R&D and manufacturing facilities are the key aspects.
“We do not have a very clear view right now on how many months, but there will be investment required to expand across the channels. It will be twofold. We are trying to invest more into R&D because there are certain categories that we still need to invest and build upon,” Das explained.
The Co-founder and CEO added that the second leg of investment is into the offline channel, which will require main as well as distinct force, and the third piece is capability or capex into the facilities.
“Because you will be scaling rapidly, you will need to invest in the manufacturing facility also. That is where we are planning to raise funds, but not in the near future. Most likely in the next fiscal year,” she said.
Financial Performance And New Offerings
Emphasising that the brand enjoys a 52 per cent repeat rate on a yearly basis, Das shared that the FY25 proved to be a good year in terms of financial performance as the brand closed FY25 at Rs 130 crore in revenue, up from Rs 80 crore in FY24.
As far as the new product offerings in the current fiscal year is concerned, Das shared that they are completing a baby care range, which is gradually becoming almost a 10 per cent contribution category for the brand. “The second piece is we are gunning for a sunscreen and a face serum this year,” she noted.
Tapping The Non-metros
Since the brand has not entered the tier-two and three markets in offline retail, Das shared that the focus currently is on scaling in the top 10 cities before they venture into the remote corners. However, the CEO noted that the demand has been encouraging on the online front.
“The next focus will be on the top 10 cities before we move into tier two and tier three and beyond. There is major demand coming in that we are seeing on our online brand. There is a lot of interest in new age personal care from these cities,” Das added.
Improving The Shelf Life
Noting that there is still room for improvement on the shelf life front, the Co-founder shared that they are working towards making the majority of their products with a shelf life of nine months.
Das stated, “You will see some products have a nine-month life while some have a three-month to six-month life. There are ongoing efforts to make most of our products to a nine-month life at least without compromising on the naturalness of the product.”
Noting that now consumers are knowledge-hungry and want to know everything that is going into their food and skin, Das added that it is important to give out as much information as you can for them to make a sound, logical decision for themselves.
She highlighted that because consumers are exposed to the global world so much through social media, their aspirations towards beauty have increased. Today’s consumers are using seven to eight products on average for their beauty and self-care.
“The third piece is premiumisation. People want to use better quality products, ready to spend more out of their wallets for beauty. Competition has also come up with trend-seeking ingredients,” Das asserted.
Manufacturing And Market Differentiation
Das explained that one part of manufacturing is that most formulations are built out of the simple mixing of ingredients, which are pretty much created internationally. “The difference between others and us is that we said we will work with indigenous herbs and ingredients of India. We make sure that the activity levels are similar to medicine,” she noted.
Adding that Ayurveda is all about taking nature and extracting medicine out of it, she emphasised the aspect of daily manufacturing.
“Because you are not using any kind of preservatives, stabilisers and chemical binders, you have a shorter shelf life. To maximise that short shelf life, you would want to have a daily manufacturing setup,” she shared.
Take On 100 Per Cent Claims
With brands now using the claims of being 100 per cent pure, natural, more frequently, the industry bodies have raised concerns over the use of these terms. Das emphasised that there is no issue in using these terms as long as one is claiming the truth. She stated that the authorities should standardise these terminologies.
“I still feel there should be authorities setting up these standards, so that people who are actually defaulting should not go ahead and default. Also, there is a like-for-like comparison across products. Nobody has an unfair claim,” the Co-founder said.
