The “WOW” story of Amazon’s top-selling shampoo

WOW Skin Science’s Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo has been the number one best-selling shampoo both on amazon.in (Indian marketplace) and amazon.com (United States marketplace) for the past few years. They roughly sell 4,500 units per day in India and 1,500 units per day in America. It is interesting to see how this homegrown brand became a national and an American hit.

WOW Skin Science

The founders, Arvind Sokke, Ashwin Sokke, Karan Chowdhary, and Manish Chowdhary started separate ventures right out of college between 2002 and 2010. But their businesses suffered because of the e-commerce boom in India. Around the same time, Ashwin moved to the US and started an affiliate marketing company in 2009. Over the years, Ashwin and Karan stayed in-touch and in 2012 they decided to launch a new venture by creating a niche in a new segment. Therefore, in 2013, they launched Fit & Glow by bootstrapping (own investment) after recognising the potential in the natural and organic products segment in the Indian market. Their dream to make big in the skincare and lifestyle industry came true in 2019 when they became a Rs 350 crore ($50 million) business within five years of initiation.

Fit & Glow was launched as a dietary supplement brand in India. However, they re-branded themselves as WOW Life Science in 2014, after their initial victory on Amazon. They later went ahead and created WOW Skin Science, a beauty and personal care brand which focuses on providing premium quality naturally sourced products.

This Bengaluru based start-up manufacturers its products in Himachal Pradesh’s Parwanoo town while sourcing majority of the ingredients and workforce from the hill state itself. The best part is that about 70 per cent of the workforce engaged in the production process comprises of women. The company is surely scripting a true women-empowerment story.

What led to their success?

WOW’s Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo which is the most sold product of the company was actually developed after taking note of its consumers reviews. The company started by selling Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) beverage on Amazon and they noticed the customers’ suggestion to formulate it into a shampoo since many people use ACV for hair wash. From the feedback of the customers, WOW’s ACV Shampoo and subsequently other products in hair- & skin-care line were created.

The company started its business by selling its products on e-commerce platforms with a negligible offline presence. Since then there has been a steady growth in the company’s product range as well as revenue. Many factors have contributed to the brand’s success among them the top three are:

• Investment in R&D

The personal care industry is huge with tremendous potential. It is also ultra-competitive with rapidly changing customer needs. WOW knew that to stay relevant they need to stay on their toes. This is why the company has an extensive in-house product research and certification process. They keep a check on the newest skincare, haircare and wellness trends across the world. They are also on a lookout for new natural ingredients and age-old Ayurvedic recipes. This strategy has helped them to develop a mammoth product portfolio which includes products ranging from supplements, herbal blends, creams, serums, lotions, shampoos, bath & body products, men’s grooming products, massagers and more. Activated charcoal face wash, pure aloe vera gel, coconut & avocado hair conditioner are some of the recent best-selling product from the brand.

• Optimization of Internet Marketing

The company positioned WOW as a brand that focuses on research and bio-actives to develop hair- and skin-care products which are free from any harmful chemicals. They started by establishing an online presence through their website (Owned media) and Amazon listing since their target segment was the internet and social media-savvy youth. The brand reasoned that now family’s young members were making decisions regarding beauty and wellness products rather than the family elders.

WOW then promoted itself by sharing real customers’ experiences online (Earned media). The word-of-mouth led to WOW becoming the number-one-selling shampoo on Amazon India within 30 days of its launch. Later they opted for micro-influencers for online promotions and Facebook/Google Ads (Paid media) for spreading brand awareness in new markets and/or about new products. They leveraged all the three media — Owned, Paid and Earned to build a comprehensive marketing strategy. This has helped them gain new customers and build trust in the brand.

• Customer First Strategy

WOW made sure to listen to its customers, deliver them value and give an exemplary experience. Customer insight had led to the formulation of its best-selling Apple Cider Vinegar shampoo and becoming a success in the US market. WOW’s ACV Shampoo & Conditioner was launched in the US with the same formula and bottle size as in India. The lapse was that the size of the product was not large enough as per the US market. They received feedback regarding the bottle size and so they came up with bigger packaging (500ml). Being heard made many customers feel valued and this contributed to their becoming repeat purchasers.

Moral of the story

WOW’s success teaches great lessons. First, listening to the customers and focusing on providing them with a memorable experience is essential to succeed in a competitive environment. Second, paying attention to what different regions expect when developing a global brand is pivotal because having a good product is not enough, a brand also needs to be culturally aware. Third, having a comprehensive marketing strategy is imperative and word-of-mouth is still the most effective form advertisement especially in this age of social media. Fourth, internet marketing provides a lot of data, this data can help generate valuable insights about future market trends therefore it is critical to employ the data intelligently.