Online hair products shop growing in leaps and bounds

 

Beauty Click chief executive officer Jesper Drescher. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA  

Simon Gacheru of Thika Road Mall’s Kings and Queens Hair Salon is in the business of grooming people.

But unlike his contemporaries, Gacheru does not stock dry products like hair extensions and has been requiring his customers to source their own before appointments.

But things changed recently when a new hair product portal, Beauty Click, was launched in Nairobi making it easier for Gacheru and his ilk to select and buy hair products.

By logging onto the website, customers can book appointments with Gacheru as well as select hair weaves and extensions from a webshop created specifically for him by the retailer.

The customer can also choose to have the merchandise dropped at their homes or at Gacheru’s salon. The icing on the cake is that for every purchase made through his webshop, Gacheru gets a 15 per cent commission.

“They sell quality products and my customers who have used their extensions can attest to that. On top of that Beauty Click is convenient because it allows us to do things online,” he said, adding that the firm has attractive commission rates.

Beauty Click has recruited stylists as core sales agents, something that has helped them penetrate the local market at a much-faster rate.

The company is leveraging on the network of customers attached to stylists to further grow sales.

“This is a risk-free business for agents because no working capital, sourcing, quality control and marketing is required. They do not have to pay to be agents, all they have to do is put more effort in sales,” Beauty Click founder Jesper Drescher said.

The attractive commission offered is also an incentive for hairstylists to sign up to the website, meaning that the more agents Beauty Click has, the more their sales and ultimately growth in profits.

Stylists automatically get a commission every time a purchase is made through their webshops.

Items on display on the website include Indian and Peruvian hair. Whose prices start from Sh8,000 per bundle and target the high-end market.

Beauty Click plans to have products targeting the lower and middle-income earners, most of who operate on tight budgets.

Among the products the firm is looking to introduce include fibre-based hair extensions whose prices start at Sh2,500 per bundle.

“At the moment we target the high-end market, but we are getting increasing requests for mid-market products as well as wet hair products like shampoos, all of which we are in the process of introducing to the market,” he said.

As the firm expands it faces stiff competition from local brands like Angels and Darling, which have dominated the market by stocking their products with retailers scattered across the country.

But Beauty Click has an advantage over these brick-and-mortar outlets, its operation costs are much lower.

The firm has a network of 600 hairstylists signed up to the portal, with Mombasa and Naivasha registering most of the out-of-city orders. The firm plans to set base in Mombasa, Naivasha and Nakuru before the year ends.

Beauty Click entered the Kenyan market at the beginning of April and its business model was influenced by the growing mobile and Internet penetration in the country.

According to data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), the number of mobile Internet subscriptions from January to March 2016 rose from 23.7 million to 24.7 million compared to the previous quarter, representing a 3.8 per cent growth.

The continued growth of the Internet market, CA says, is largely driven by growth in mobile based Internet penetration as a result of increased expansion of 3G network coverage by the various mobile operators as well as increased popularity of social networking sites.

Beauty Click plans to launch shops in Tanzania and Uganda by year ends before venturing into South and West African markets.

“We are looking for a combination of attractive hair markets and countries that are ready for online business, as well as those that have reliable logistics solutions and convenient payment systems,” he said.

ANjanja@ke.nationmedia.com