D2C company IGRiD plans manufacturing unit near Hyderabad

Hyderabad: City-based iGRiD, a direct-to-consumer brand with products in health, electronics and beauty segments, has plans to add more products. It now has 75 stock keeping units and it wants to increase it to 450 this year. Also, it has drawn up plans to set its own manufacturing unit in Hyderabad as the demand increases, according to IGRiD Founder Madhav Kota.

Direct-to-consumer or business-to-consumer is a model of companies selling products directly to customers bypassing third-party retailers, wholesalers, or any other middlemen. IGRiD products are available on e-commerce platforms like shoppingmode Amazon, Nykaa and also on its own platform.

“We plan to expand the band across India. We will first focus on Hyderabad and Telangana. We grew by 100 per cent over the previous year and have doubled our business. This year, we hope for higher growth. We are interested in starting our own manufacturing facility in Hyderabad when volumes support. The Government here is supportive and we want to be part of that. It is a matter of time,” he said.

The company now is working with third party manufacturers in China, Vietnam and other countries where electronic manufacturing is established. It has products in beauty, home essentials, lifestyle and health. The products include thermometers, weighing scales, glucometers, hair and skin related products, car accessories like tyre inflators and others.

“Consumers do research online and offline before buying. Big companies have the same products in all markets but we get customised products that suit our local conditions. The prices of our products compared with similar ones from reputed brands, will be about 30 to 40 per cent lower with matching quality,” he said.

“The customer profile in India is different from other countries. We identify the needs and get customised products. Most haircare products in the market cater to the needs of those with straight hair. But Indians mostly have curly hair. Our products cater to this requirement. In the beauty products segment, we have products that cater to our in-between complexion. The health products are designed as per Indian standards,” said Madhav.

It now has about one lakh customers and repeat customers account for 25 per cent of sales. “Customers necessarily do not buy the products with the highest discount. They look at value for money. They see it as affordable as they compare the products’ features and performance against established brands,” he said. It is now providing direct and indirect employment to more than 150 people.