Yes Madam bets on affordability, transparency to disrupt the beauty services market

Noida-based online beauty services aggregator provides affordable and transparent beauty services at home, starting at Rs 6 per minute. 

At a Glance

Startup: Yes Madam

Founders: Aditya Arya and Mayank Arya

Year it was founded: 2016

Where it is based: Noida

The problem it solves: Organise the beauty industry through affordable and transparent services

Sector: Beauty

Funding raised: Bootstrapped

A trip to the beauty salon can easily set you back by a few thousand rupees. While looking and feeling good come at a price, there is no transparency when it comes to this particular price.

With this in mind, online beauty services aggregator Yes Madam set up services in 2016, and the founders are looking at the platform’s unique pricing strategy to help them create their own niche. While new-age service platforms such as Urban Clap, Housejoy, and beauty services startups including Bengaluru-based B’Glam, Mumbai-based BigStylist, and others have worked to disrupt the Indian beauty services market, pricing often remains a pain point.

According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the beauty services market will be a $20 billion industry by 2025.

What is the unique strategy that Yes Madam is banking on?

Yes Madam claims to offer complete transparency in terms of pricing by using mono doses of products, and charging for per-minute service.

Mayank Arya, Co-founder of Yes Madam says, “The beauty service prices charged by salons and other platforms are often deceiving and expensive as customers are not aware of the material cost. They use products from big boxes or bottles, and it is close to impossible to calculate the cost of material used for a particular service.”

Yes Madam wants to change this scenario by offering pocket-friendly and fair prices for its services.

Around a year-and-a-half ago, brothers Mayank and Aditya Arya started Yes Madam in Noida, and today the platform is operational in New Delhi-NCR region, working with 120+ beauticians.

Yes Madam reportedly has around 40,000 registered users, which shows the platform gets 4,500+ orders per month with a 70 percent repeat rate, and an average ticket size of Rs 1,050. Currently, Yes Madam’s app on Google Playstore has a 4.6 rating.

"I just love their mono dose concept and per minute pricing model. The beauticians are pretty professional and the platform is a boon for working professionals like us, who do not want to spend too time and money on beauty services," reveals Megha Maheshwari, a fashion designer and Yes Madam customer.

Decoding unique strategy

Yes Madam has reportedly tied up with several beauty brands, and uses sealed mono doses (for one-time use) of beauty products to avoid refilling or tampering. The platform claims that the required dose of products are unsealed by beauticians in front of the customer, and in case the product is left over, it is handed over to them. Mayank says if a customer wants to reduce the cost further, they can opt to bring their own products.

To understand Yes Madam’s pricing strategy, here is an example.

A facial, done using O3+ products through Yes Madam can have two prices, depending on the service charge and material cost. If a customer uses their own products, the platform will only charge for the service at Rs 6 per minute, and if the customer uses Yes Madam’s products, the material cost is added. An O3+ facial takes about sixty minutes. So, sixty minutes for Rs 6, makes it Rs 360, and adding up Rs 500 as material cost, the total cost comes to Rs 860.

“The cost of Yes Madam’s per minute service mainly depends on the rating of the beautician on the app, and other factors. For instance, a 7-star rated Yes Madam beautician is available for Rs 8 per minute, and a 5-star rating person is available for Rs 6 per minute. At peak hours (7 to 9 in the morning and evening), customers may have to pay Rs 10 extra per minute to avail Yes Madam beauty services and so on,” says Aditya.

The initial days

When they launched Yes Madam, the founders recall they initially faced with some difficulties.

“As the idea of home services is relatively new, convincing beauticians to get on board was quite a task. Another hurdle we faced was tying up with big brands for mono doses to ensure complete transparency in the system,” adds Aditya.

Also, several beauticians working at salons lacked the specific skills and knowledge of the beauty treatments offered by Yes Madam. To overcome this problem, the platform provides a one-month training programme to beauticians. Mayank says that during the training programme, beauticians are taught about hygiene, communication skills, and are also groomed to interact with clients.

The idea behind starting the platform came about when co-founder Aditya went to a salon for a facial and the inexperienced beautician burnt his skin. Despite the damage, Aditya recalls he was slapped with a bill of Rs 2,000.

He felt there was a dire need for transparency in the salon industry where customers were aware of the price they pay. Aditya convinced his brother Mayank about the idea and after five months of research and market study, the duo launched Yes Madam in December 2016.

Aditya (31) was a sailor and quit his high-paying job after 10 years to be an entrepreneur, while Mayank (36) has over seven years of entrepreneurial experience, and has run a few ventures abroad.

The core team also comprises of Dan Singh (28), who looks after operations. Dan was earlier part of the Housejoy founding team, and has experience of handling over 100 beauticians at Houseioy.

Vishal Saini (28) is the platform’s Technology Head, who has over five years of experience as a Java Developer.

Plans for the future

Yes Madam is currently operational in Delhi-NCR and plans to expand its services to other regions soon. Mayank says, going ahead, the brand will also explore launching its own range of beauty products. Currently bootstrapped, the company is not looking to raise funding from VCs and has raised Rs 50 lakh from friends and family so far. Mayank highlights that the platform has witnessed a 20 percent month-on-month growth rate and clocked revenues of Rs 1.2 crore last year.

In terms of revenue, Yes Madam is monetising by charging 20 percent commission from beauticians on the service charge, and 20-25 percent from the sale of products.

“On the demand side, we are targeting the middle class by making the pricing affordable and transparent. On the supply side, every beautician is earning Rs 35,000-Rs 70,000 monthly, attracting a large number of beauticians,” claims Aditya.

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