Would you quit your fancy corporate job at 38 years young to start up?
Well, Shankar Prasad did that to launch Plum Goodness!
Here’s A Sneak Peak!
Elevator Pitch? Bring goodness to the world through vegan and toxin-free BPC products!
Seed Capital? Shankar’s own Provident Fund!
Founder’s Mindset? Frugal – ran operations from a 2-room apartment for 4 years!
SKUs At Launch? 15
Capital Raised? Bootstrapped till late 2018. Then raised ~$50 Mn in 3 rounds!
Revenue? ARR of ~INR 400 Cr in FY24
Yes, you read that right!
The Differentiator Of Plum Goodness – Product Efficacy!
Shankar was strategic in carving a niche for Plum. The brand’s USP is its commitment to vegan products that offer premium skincare without the guilt.
Now that’s something millennials and Gen Z simply can’t resist, right?
Leveraging his experience at HUL, where he worked at various capacities in operations and R&D, Shankar became adept at understanding consumer mindset—what they want in a product and, more importantly, what influences buying decisions.
This skill proved to be a blessing in disguise!
At the pre-revenue stage, it was just Shankar and one other person. But juggling product development, consumer research, and operational strategy, they perfected product formulation and achieved an efficacy rate of 95%+
We call this sheer grit!
The Secret Behind Plum’s Hit Formula
It isn’t just about product composition. Shankar put a lot of thought into every other factor that influences the consumer experience—design, efficacy, texture, and sensory delight.
As he once mentioned in a podcast, “It’s not always about the ingredients alone. A lot of factors including how a product feels on the skin, how it’s packaged, and how it smells are crucial in delivering a wholesome experience.”
Finally, Shankar built a Shopify website to kickstart sales.
Every step in this journey was a deliberate move to build a sustainable brand.
And guess what? Shankar has tasted success!
Today, Plum is reporting an ARR of almost INR 400 Cr. The highlights are interesting!
The Growth Flagbearers Behind Plum’s Goodness!
The revenue split certainly paints an intriguing picture of Plum’s growth strategy.
Nearly 70% of sales come from online channels and the remaining 30%? Well, that comes from offline retail stores, where they have strategically placed 1,000+ assisted outlets. These outlets play a vital role in building physical touchpoints for the brand.
Let’s dive deeper!
Content & Social Media Marketing
For starters, Plum produces informative blog posts, articles, and videos that dive deep into the benefits of vegan and toxin-free beauty. Whether it’s the importance of using clean beauty products or tips on maintaining a skincare routine, their content is solution-driven.
They also bring in dermatologists and skin care professionals to provide expertise and educate their audience through live streams on platforms like Instagram. Also, collaborations with influencers such as Mithila Palker and Rashmika Mandhanna have been fruitful.
The result? A whopping 830K Instagram followers.
SEO Strategies
We looked at SEMRush data on Plum Goodness. Sharing the same!
The average visit duration of 8 mins 50 secs clearly states that Plum is able to keep visitors hooked on its website. Also, their organic search traffic is bumping by almost 17% MoM with 866.89K in September ‘24 – incredible!
Keeping Customers Engaged
Clean. Real. Good.
That’s the tagline of Plum, and all its marketing campaigns revolve around this philosophy.
A Mother’s Day campaign by Plum garnered 3 Mn+ impressions across platforms. Every customer who participated in the campaign got a little gift hamper!
Another such marketing masterpiece by Plum was building a community using a marketing campaign.
Joining the Plum squad, customers could easily get their hands on free goodies, and even get a chance to become a part of the marketing team at Plum – brilliance in driving engagement, we must say!
How Plum Goodness Cracked The Offline Play 👇
Plum has 35+ exclusive brand outlets across India, but most of its offline sales come from assisted outlets in retail stores!
But the thought that goes before opening any offline outlet is really interesting. First, they find the answers to the following questions:
🔹 Whether or not Plum has organic traction in the geography
🔹 The volume of ICP who reside in the geography
🔹 Has supply chain historically been a constraint in that geography?
Once the outlet is launched, Plum leverages predictive analysis on purchase patterns to gauge the amount of stock that’s required over a defined time period.
A dedicated field officer ensures the sales executive is trained, stock turnover is adequate, retailer and distributors are both happy!
A Brand’s Purpose & Success Go Hand-In-Hand!
The definition of success, as per Shankar, circles back to why he launched the brand.
While there are many D2C brands that have grown faster than Plum, Shankar thinks Plum is a success.
“At the end of the day, I have managed to stay true to why he built the brand – bring goodness to the world.”
Make no mistake – Plum is growing fast! And, industry experts have reported Plum will turn profitable by FY25.
For Shankar, however, the purpose of building Plum will come true when they bring goodness to the lives of a billion customers!
We’ll keep a watch on when they get there – will you too?