This Jalandhar-based entrepreneur is helping customers ‘subscribe’ to the idea of monthly cosmetic purchases

For Sahee, pursuing a job was not on the cards after she returned to Jalandhar — a small town in the northern state of India — on completing her post-graduation in business and marketing from Singapore. So, the next step was to join her father’s family business involved in manufacturing and export of sports equipment. 

While she didn’t miss most aspects of the stay in Singapore, her monthly subscription of beauty and grooming products from Birchbox was an exception. 

“Birchbox products were remarkable, and I loved the way they made their subscription offers. When I was there, I always used to wonder why such a thing is not present in India,” she told SMBStory.

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And this prompted her to start her own beauty and skincare company Mooibox in October 2018 that offered subscription services to customers with quality products. The company’s name stems from the Dutch word ‘Mooi’ which stands for beautiful. 

The start 

Sahee started the company with a bootstrapped capital of Rs 5 lakh, along with her mother Ekta Wasan. Wasan is currently a silent partner in the venture. It is a wholly direct-to-customer brand through ecommerce. 

“When I started the business, I thought my customers would be from around regions. However, to my surprise, major orders came from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat,” Sahee said. 

Sahee observed that people in the northern part of India were more brand-savvy, compared with the Southern region, where they prefer organic skincare products. 

The subscription service

MooiBox sells subscription boxes and individual products that include face wash, body wash, face gel, lipsticks, lip balms, etc. The company claims to have more than 100 offers every month and places the starting range of its products at Rs 995. 

A customer can make a one-time payment or opt for easy monthly installments to avail the subscription and the product(s) will be delivered every month. 

The customisation experience

Before availing the services, MooiBox seeks a few questions from the users that helps it understand their skin or hair type, the region they belong to etc. Based on this, the company customises a range of products. 

The startup sources products directly from brands for reselling, including a few names like Raw Nature, SeaSoul Australia, Balmain Hair, Wet n Wild makeup, Revolution London Makeup, Pee Safe, and Just Herbs, among others. 

Challenges and the way ahead

One of the biggest challenges, Sahee said, was convincing potential customers to opt for subscription. 

“It is tough to get people to commit to a subscription just yet. There is a difference between single box orders versus subscriptions and that is something we are working towards improving.”

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At the moment, the brand’s aim is to get more women customers on board. It recently increased its focus on communications and marketing and is in the midst of creating a scalable marketing strategy. MooiBox is also aiming to increase its product SKUs in the organic range.

(Edited by Apoorva Puranik)