Aankith Aroraa: 10 Years Strong & Streamlined
Over the last decade, Streamline Services India has built an impressive reputation for itself as a leading distributor of premium, innovative and unique brands in the professional salon space. With its reach expanding beyond India into Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius, Bangladesh, and the Middle East, the company is well on the way to higher achievements under the able leadership of its Founder & CEO, Aankith Aroraa. Globally-renowned brands such as Balmain Paris, Bomb Cosmetics, Malibu C, Olaplex, Wet Brushes, Framar, and more feature in their portfolio of products and services being offered across hair, skin, body, and nail categories.
Speaking to Beauty Launchpad’s Isha Gakhar, Aankith Aroraa – CEO/Founder, Streamline Services India, recounts the journey so far and updates us on the company’s current and future plans to expand further into the salon industry.
Streamline has completed a decade in the salon sector. Tell us about the journey so far?
We started off the business with Procter and Gamble’s FMCG division. Our entry into the professional salon space happened only when P&G acquired Wella, which was actually our accidental first step into the industry. From there, we launched Bomb Cosmetics, Balmain Paris and so on…We applied the same structure we learnt from P&G to our salon brands as the space was quite unorganised. This helped us scale up faster and become a much stronger and stable company.
What’s your motto as a distributor?
To bring the best salon services and solutions to India. Now, it may sound cliche and global, but we are always trying to build something that actually makes money for the salons and benefit the consumers from a functional perspective.
What’s your current footprint?
We work with prestige brands across 6000 salons in India. We are adding more cities and increasing coverage, month on month. We have grown from a 12 people organisation to almost 120 in terms of sales strength.
What is your USP — what makes streamline popular?
I think Streamline is popular because we are a ‘people’s company’ with a lot of focus on the growth and development of our people and grooming them for the future.
Bomb Cosmetics was a huge hit when launched but is it now being replaced by other products from your own stable? How is the market warming up in the mani-pedi segment?
Bomb is quite unique; no other brand can replace it. The target consumers for Bomb and other mani-pedi brands we launch are completely different. Bomb is a fun and fabulous brand that appeals to young men and women; while other brands we offer are treatment-based products.
We are creating a new league of manicure/pedicure services such as algae feet and hand mask. And, I see a lot of people following us now. There will be more innovations through our breakthrough series of services under our new home brand – AVL Pedi Cruise.
Has the euphoria about Olaplex worn off?
The euphoria of Olaplex has definitely not worn off. Firstly, we are increasing the coverage and penetration of our brand; Olaplex is here to stay as chemical services at salons need Olaplex. Also, we have new launches every year — last year we launched No. 4 and 5 and this year, No. 6 – a leave-in Reparative Styling Cream and No. 7 – the Bonding Oil will also be launched.
You have both Malibu C and Olaplex in the portfolio — do they compete in any way?
Malibu C, in fact, compliments Olaplex. Mineral build-up from hard water, metal residue, and other environmental factors that affect hair interfere in the performance of salon services like Olaplex and Balmain. Malibu C’s demineralisation/detox treatment removes these pollutants and thus, actually complements hair colour and Olaplex services.
How has the market responded to the Cryo treatment?
With any new brand, we have the challenge to make people understand the concept. We had the same struggles during the launch of Olaplex, as well. I am sure we will get the same successful results with Cryo. It will take some time to educate the stylists and consumers and we will keep working on it. But broadly, the ice machine or frozen iron is gaining more and more acceptance from consumers, as it doesn’t damage the hair.
What are Streamline’s plans ahead? What innovations and brand introductions can we expect?
Overall, we are looking to bring new revolutions with interesting and unique brands for the future.
We are stepping up the game in pedicures with a private brand called AVL Pedi Cruise, where we have a series of services. The marine-based AVL Pedicure is organic and pure. Then, we have the exotic AVL Atlantis, which is based on the lost city of Atlantis. So, there are a lot of concepts in the work within AVL itself right now. We further intend to focus on men’s grooming by bringing in a brand called REUZEL, which is going to be revolutionary in the category. We are also looking at a new hair colour brand and of course, we aim to strengthen Olaplex and multiply the business by almost double this year.