Indian retailer – ‘Oriflame products sold on e-commerce platforms are fake’

Oriflame, a renowned Swedish beauty brand known for its direct and social selling strategy, has reiterated that its products available on e-commerce platforms are fakes. After over twenty years of presence in India, Oriflame is recalibrating its marketing and expansion strategies in the Indian market. The brand is also expanding the wellness category and focusing on the younger generation to accelerate the region’s development.

Oriflame offers a wide range of products in India, including skincare, makeup, perfume, hair and body products for both adults and children. The skin care category generates the highest revenue for Oriflame.

Brand journey

In an interview with IndianRetailer.com: Edyta Kurek, senior vice president and head of India and Indonesiadiscussed the brand’s commitment not to enter the retail and e-commerce spaces and shared the brand’s expansion strategies in India.

Recalling Oriflame’s trip to India, Kurek said: “We were one of the first direct selling companies in the Indian market and we were meeting the market needs at that time. We attracted many educated people from good families who wanted to be independent. The financial opportunities we offered were so attractive that they kept the spirit of direct selling alive.”

Kurek further said, “For years, we have not used external media to inform people in India and around the world about our brand. We believed that our brand partners would get the job done. But in this new era, this is not enough. We now need to start talking more loudly about the brand. We also let other brands in our category speak louder, and now we will do the same by promoting our products more aggressively.

Talking about his growth journey, Kurek said: “When we compare our journey to ten years ago, we see that the market dynamics have changed. We have expanded to multiple cities including Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and the Northeast, which is our fastest growing market. We have expanded our product portfolio and with two manufacturing facilities in India, we manufacture almost 100 percent of our products here.

Stay true to direct selling

When asked whether Oriflame would adopt an omnichannel strategy, Kurek replied: “I repeat the words of our CEO: we have no such plans. We have developed a direct sales business model and it will remain so. We have our brand partners and we will share the margin with them. It couldn’t be easier to enter retail stores or get our products on the shelves. We are loyal to our brand partners, and they believe they can build their future with us. They make money with us.”

Kurek reiterated, “The products sold on e-commerce platforms are counterfeit and I repeat, we do not have any retail sales in India. We encourage our consumers to purchase Oriflame products on our D2C website. We have also informed e-commerce platforms about this issue in the past.”

Premiumization is not an issue

India is experiencing a premiumization wave with many brands seeing growth in their premium segments. However, Oriflame continues to focus on providing affordable products to the middle-class income group and is gradually moving towards a premium product range.

Kurek explained: “Our product portfolio is very diverse. We offer simple and affordable products such as shampoos and basic skin care, as well as sophisticated products based on proprietary technologies that deliver results within two weeks. We believe that when people try our core products, they will build trust and then choose our most exclusive products. We are ready to move towards premium segments, but we do not want to focus on premium customers because the middle class will always be our largest customer base with significant purchasing potential.”

Expansion strategy

According to a report by Markets and Data, the Indian skin care market was estimated to be worth $2.56 billion in FY 2023. The largest category in the market, both in terms of value and volume, was facial care. The market is expected to reach USD 3.73 billion by FY 2031, growing at a CAGR of 4.82% over the forecast period of 2024-2031.

Talking about expansion plans in India, Kurek said: “We are expanding our network of brand partners and are growing strongly in North East India. The largest market for the brand is northern India. We have a strong presence in the south, but central India is still underpenetrated. We have 150,000 brand partners in the country and are growing strongly in India.”

She further said, “We are also creating a new strategy for India focusing on the younger generation as their mindset and behavior is different from their parents. We tell the younger generation that our business model does not require any financial investments, only some time for development and good income. They are very demanding of products, wanting them to be good, sustainable and effective. That is why we are planning a communication strategy with them that focuses primarily on digital technology.”

When asked about the lack of investment in advertising or marketing strategies, Kurek stated: “Until now, we have never planned our media strategies. However, in the coming days, the management will develop a strategy in these areas and plan activities in line with market needs. I believe India will get the necessary resources to grow.”