FICCI’s (Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and
Industry) Annual Wellness
Conference saw the release
of a white paper on the industry on the
24th of August at the Leela Kempinski
Hotel in Mumbai. FICCI, in association
with PWC, released the white paper
called ‘Winds of change: The Wellness
Consumer’ in the presence of industry
stalwarts like Sandeep Ahuja Managing
director (MD) VLCC Healthcare Ltd,
Ajay Pahwa, Chief Executive Officer
(CEO), Kaya, and Rakshit Hargave,
Managing director (MD), Nivea among
others.
Speaking on the occasion Sandeep
Ahuja, Chairman FICCI National
Wellness Committee said, “While
this industry continues to grow, it still
remains a fraction (less than 4%) of the
overall consumer expenditure in India”.
“The scope in the wellness market in
India is immense–even a 1% increase
in consumer expenditure can potentially
create an additional opportunity of six
billion INR for wellness players. At the
same time with the growing demands,
the industry needs to be equipped
with trained manpower and standard
certification.”
The white paper on the wellness
industry covered a number of subjects
such as revisiting wellness market
opportunities, defining consumer
wellness in India and consumer trends
in the wellness space. (The paper said
that Indian consumers display a wide
spectrum of behaviour characteristics,
right from ‘passives’ for whom demand
for wellness products is still latent to
‘believers’ for whom wellness is an
integral part of their regular schedule).
In this diverse and complex market, it
is critical for wellness players to identify
their core target customer, align their
value proposition with specific needs of
this target segment and keep abreast
with changing consumer needs,
according to the paper.
The Indian wellness industry, which
is in its nascent stage, has a huge
growth potential (30-35% per annum)
and provides enormous growth and
employment potential for stakeholders.
Industry players discussed some of the
prominent issues in wellness industry
such as making India a destination for
wellness tourism, retailing of wellness
products and services, trends in IT for
wellness industry and skill gap and
quality concern.
Ajay Pahwa, Co-Chairman, FICCI
National Wellness Committee said,
“(The) Wellness industry has the
potential to create more than a million
jobs in the next 7-8 years. Wellness
players need to collaborate with
government to invest in education
infrastructure to produce a skilled
workforce. This is crucial to meet rising
consumer expectations for quality and
providing a consistent experience”.
THE CONFERENCE
The day-long conference was divided
into five sessions, commencing
with an Inaugural Session, which
had opening remarks by Rashesh
Shah, Chairman, FICCI Maharashtra
State Council; Chairman & CEO,
Edelweiss Group, a welcome address
by R V Kanoria, President, FICCI,
an introductory address by Sandeep
Ahuja, a presentation of the FICCI
knowledge paper by Rachna Nath,
Executive Director and Leader, Retail
& Consumer, PwC and an Inaugural
address by chief guest Satej D Patil,
Minister of State, Home (Urban &
Rural), Rural Development, Food and
Drug Administration, Government of
Maharashtra.
Session I dealt with Consumer
Centricity and Wellness: Foods-
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Beverages. Speakers for the
session included Mahesh Zagade,
Commissioner, Food & Drug
Administration, P Rashmi Upadhya,
Associate Director, Strategy, PwC,
Krishna Guptaa, MD, Organic India
Pvt. Ltd., Anshu Gupta, Manager,
Corporate Affairs, Nestle India
Ltd., and Rupali Jadhav, Marketing
Development Manager, South Asia,
DSM Nutritional Products. They spoke
on how companies align their products
and services according to consumer
demand, whether regulatory guidelines
on food products are monitored and
can the information marketed by most
food companies be taken at face value
by the consumer.
Session II centered around Making
India a Destination for Wellness
Tourism. The speakers for this session
were Mala Barua, Founder, Mystic
Asia, Dr. Mehta, Executive Director,
Corewellness Ltd., Gita Ramesh, Jt.
MD, Kairali Ayurvedic Group Ltd.,
and Dr. Ramesh R. Varier, Managing
Director, AVN Arogya Healthcare Ltd.
The speakers spoke at length about
how India can be made into a wellness
destination, what the initiatives by the
government and private players are to
promote wellness in India and globally
and the impact of wellness tourism on
the Indian economy.
Session III was about Retailing of
Wellness Products and Services,
where speakers like Aseem Kaushik,
Director, L’Oréal Professionnel,
Rakshit Hargave, Natasha Shah,
Founder, The Nature’s Co, Rahul
Chadha, MD, Religare Wellness and
Zuhair Nabee, MD, Beaute Boutique
shared insights on the beauty retail
industry. They discussed how the retail
surge in India has given an impetus
to beauty and wellness retail too with
products/services such as medical and
nutritional products, fitness equipment,
consultation, beauty, slimming, skin
and hair care coming under one roof.
Also discussed was how retailers are
customizing consumer experiences,
whether price optimization and
franchising was being used by retailers
to expand the wellness market and how
private players are entering the market
to retail their products.
Session IV had speakers elucidating
Wellness Industry Trends –
Education, Skill Gap and Quality
Concern. Speakers included Shikhar
Agrawal, Private Secretary to Adviser
to the PM, National Council on Skill
Development, Dr. Harish Nadkarni,
CEO & MD, Quality Care, Ajay Pahwa,
Jawed Habib, Founder, Jawed Habib
Hair & Beauty Ltd., G. Ramachandran,
Promoter & Director, Gold’s Gym
and Sachidanand Kamat, Director –
Employee & Customer Engagement,
Enrich Hair & Skin Solutions Pvt.
Ltd. These industry leaders spoke
about the skill gap, the talent crunch,
quality concern and accreditation
and guidelines for new entrants. A
presentation on Trends in IT for the
Wellness Industry and How to Create
a Competitive Advantage was made
by Sudheer Koneru, Managing Director
of ManageMySpa.
KEY FINDINGS
Some of the key consumer trends in
the industry include the following:
• While health and wellness has
transitioned from being a platform
targeting a select few to a mainstream
concept today, price considerations
still continue to determine the choice
of products and services for most
consumers.
• While Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities offer
headroom for growth, these markets
require significant investment and a
long-term focus.
• Many wellness segments are
extending beyond traditional gender
boundaries. Society’s fascination with
celebrities is increasing the involvement
of celebrities in the wellness industry.
• Traditional products and services
continue to appeal to the Indian
consumer, but these now need to meet
modern sensibilities.
• Brands are becoming increasingly
relevant for Indian consumers. Players
will have to invest in communicating
their proposition to stay active in the
minds of users.
• Consumers are increasingly placing
a high premium on their time. Hence,
wellness players have started bundling
convenience along with health and
beauty benefits.
What lies ahead?
• While wellness concepts in India
are dominated by mainstream and
generic benefits today emerging niche
categories are likely to result in new
opportunities for players.
• Online channels will become
increasingly relevant as a channel of
interaction with consumers.
• As the mature adults (40+ years)
age demographic grows in size and
affluence, it is likely to start demanding
solutions tailored to meet its specific
requirements.
• Over the next three years, we expect
the wellness industry to continue on
its growth trajectory at a CAGR of
18 to 20% and reach 950 billion INR
by 2014. As the Indian consumer
continues to evolve, players will need
to innovate in order to keep pace with
changing consumer needs and develop
sustainable models for growth.
The full report is available for download
on http://pwc.to/NS7dQ9
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