Interview: Samir Modi, Managing Director, Modi Enterprises

Modi Enterprises, the parent company that owns Modicare, 24Seven convenience stores and Colorbar, has ambitious expansion plans for the next few years. Samir Modi talks to Vaishnavi Gupta about diversifying the company’s wellness and consumer durables portfolios, taking Modicare and Colorbar overseas, and more.

Your cosmetics brand Colorbar took a big hit during the pandemic. Where do you see the brand in the next few years?

The initial post-Covid recovery was a bit slow. However, during the festive season, it has been far better. Last month, we reached our pre-Covid numbers, and are now ahead of the 2019 numbers. We have several new launches planned. The Vita Hemp, our hemp range, which is expected to be one of our high performing lines, will be launched next year. In the pre-Covid period, we used to launch 50 new products a year. That has slowed down, but we are gearing up to launch 150-200 products every year.

In India, Colorbar has 100 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs), and we plan to open 30 more in the next six months. In terms of global expansion, we are launching in the UK and EU markets in February-March 2022, in addition to a test launch in Canada, and possibly exploring the Middle East markets, too.

How significant is the contribution of online sales for Colorbar?

Currently, the contribution of digital sales is at 30%. We are looking at a fourfold growth in the next two to three years, and an overall five-fold growth in the topline. We are constantly strengthening our D2C vertical, which will remain the main focus for us. Apart from our own website, we are present on Nykaa, Myntra, Amazon, Flipkart and Purplle.

Do you plan to expand the 24Seven convenience store chain?

We are at about 96 stores in India currently, and are looking to add more stores in the next few years. We hope to add approximately 15 stores per month, and will begin the same by April 2022. The aim is to reach 150 stores in the coming year. At present, we have a presence in Delhi-NCR, Chandigarh and Mohali regions. We are looking to expand our footprint in Punjab, and the highways between NCR and Punjab.

What is the roadmap for your direct-selling company Modicare? How has the pandemic changed the business?

We have observed a 40% sales growth last year, and achieved a turnover of Rs 1,750 crore in FY21. We expect to maintain the same growth momentum this fiscal as well, and aim to garner a turnover of Rs 2,100 crore. Modicare currently has over 12,000 distribution points and plans to increase this number by 40% in FY22. In terms of the consultation base, we have around 53 lakh consultants and plan to take this up to 1.5 crore in the next four to five years. Additionally, our first foray into the international markets is starting with the UK and EU by early next year, in addition to the Middle East, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

We launched 150 new products during the pandemic under our wellness portfolio, including a new range of ‘Sci-Vedic’ products inspired by Ayurveda, and immunity-boosting products like chyawanprash, amla, tulsi and turmeric (in capsule form). We also introduced pandemic-centric products like masks, sanitisers and disinfectant sprays. Modicare’s wellness brand, Well, currently accounts for 30% of the total revenue; we expect to clock Rs 650 crore from this range in FY22. The wellness range will account for 40% of our total revenue in the next three years.

Currently, 90% of our business happens through digitally enabled channels like My Modicare Shop, Modicare App and WhatsApp shopping. My Modicare Shop enables consultants to create a customised microsite on the website, and directly engage with customers.

What prompted your recent foray into the consumer durables space with air purifiers? And what’s next?

With this launch, we seek to provide easy access to clean and fresh indoor air to consumers. We expect to sell 8,000-10,000 air purifier units per month. This segment will contribute 10% of our total sales in the next three years. By early next year, we plan to launch television sets, too. We would also be adding water filters, rice cookers and hair dryers to our portfolio by the next fiscal.

Read Also: Amazon, Asian Paints and Tata Tea emerge as India’s most purposeful brands across technology, non-FMCG and FMCG categories respectively: Kantar Report

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