New Horizons of Ajmal & Sons (NHA Division) India was established, focusing on new age formats, including MBO, Modern trade and E-commerce.
Q. Please tell us about Ajmal and its legacy.
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Ajmal Perfumes is a brand with a rich heritage acquired through almost seven decades of experience and know-how in the intricate art of perfumery. Ajmal stands strong as a corporate entity with a vast portfolio of over 300 of the finest and most captivating fragrances. Ajmal Perfumes a name that tells a story of heritage, enterprise and passion. The story of a man, Haji Ajmal Ali, who founded a perfume empire that’s one of the most respected names today.
Q. What was your eureka moment? What is the ethos behind the Ajmal Brand?
Establishing NHA division of Ajmal & Sons India under the guidance of Abdulla Ajmal – CEO of Ajmal Group, by itself is a Eureka moment. We at NHA envision enriching people’s lifestyles through crafted fragrances; we understand the alchemy of essence and craft an exquisite range of fragrances to evoke the most intimate memories and open the senses of distant worlds. The ethos of the NHA division is that we always put people ahead of products. We believe that the product can be presented by any company, but if we have the right people to present the product, then it takes a very different avatar.
Q. Please, give us a brief history of AJMAL & SONS, especially its origins in Assam?
Our origins can be traced back to a little village Hojai in Assam, India when he ventured into the jungles with nothing more than a dream. A rice farmer by trade, Haji Ajmal Ali was searching for precious Oudh from the Agarwood tree to change his family’s fortunes and the face of perfumery. With Oudh procured by his effort his meagre savings, he made the momentous move to Mumbai, the city of dreams, in the 50s. The journey of Ajmal Perfumes is that of the story of 'A Farmer to A Perfumer'. Ajmal Perfumes has grown from a modest trading house into a multi-million-dollar corporate entity thanks to the Late Haji Ajmal Ali's vision and unstinting dedication to the craft of perfumery.
Q. How was NHA Division started in India?
New Horizons of Ajmal & Sons (NHA Division) India was established, focusing on new age formats, including MBO, Modern trade and E-commerce. With India being diverse and evolution being dynamic across layers, NHA is propelling a better understanding of grooming which consists of looking, feeling and smelling good. The focus has been on changing habits and the usage of fine fragrances as part of the daily regime.
When we started the operation at NHA through external channels, the common way was to get into mass media and splurge money. But perfumery being a different kind of business, especially post-pandemic, it was essential to alter strategy to be able to reach a more targeted community; that is where digital and social media strategy became a stand-out point for us. To be able to swift through more specifically in the context of fragrances from a perspective of olfactive, price points, need gaps and the 360 perspectives from moving from lifestyle to pantry brand, we have been able to focus this through our social & digital channels which include Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Four years ago, when the NHA division started its journey, nobody in the industry made any serious effort to enter the online space. We at the NHA were able to set a new paradigm in the online space by leveraging consumer sampling and education to build consumer connections with the brand. We have aimed at growing the brand in two aspects - width and depth, i.e. to lower the entry barrier and develop wider consumer reach. By width, we mean we want to expand our physical presence by increasing the number of outlets across geographies/locations.
Q. In terms of stores - where does the group stand now compared to where it started, and where does it look in the next 5 years?
Today in India, Ajmal Perfumes is available at over 4000 points of sale across various channels: Modern Trade, General Trade, Multi-Brand outlet and Owned retail. In E-commerce, Ajmal Perfumes is present across 40 plus sites, one of the biggest single-brand perfumery houses.
In the years to come Ajmal Perfumes will expand its coverage not only in India but also in the international markets. Fundamentally by the end of 2023, we plan to expand our coverage from 5000 outlets to 25000 outlets. This will not only happen through perfumery, but we are also launching something very big in the adjacent category, which will drive the coverage up. In the coming years, we will drive e-commerce in a big way. Apart from B2B2C, we are in the process of strengthening our custom B2C module, and hopefully, it will be a huge success for not only India but other three major markets of GCC, UK and the US. The NHA division of Ajmal & Sons India is moving forward with a vision to make Ajmal Perfumes the most distributed brand of perfumery in India, both at an acceptable level and availability level. We wish to expand our footprint by at least 10 times where we are in the next 5 years.
Q. Brick or mortar versus e-commerce - what works better for the group and where do you see the group being more dominant?
We believe in a multi-pronged approach to sustainable growth and success in the complex market segment of perfumes, including a unique value delivery model with end-to-end solutions for consumers at an exclusive price available at physical stores and all leading e-commerce sites.
Online stores have a huge advantage over physical stores because they are able to sell to customers over a wider geographic area; still, many consumers prefer to shop in physical stores to see, experience, and test products in person before buying.
Even though physical store creates a convenient environment for consumers to compare and choose but e-commerce has the benefit of offering a wide array of products not only from India but from global markets too.
So much as AI will drive our future, there will be a need for physical stores, at least for trial purposes, if not transactional. We at the NHA division of Ajmal & Sons India are committed in the interest of changing the paradigms to bridge the gap between olfactive and AI whilst creating the best experiences for our customers in the future. Our Go-to-market strategy is designed to reach out and engage with a maximum number of consumers to deliver our unique value proposition.
Q. How is the perfume market in India different from other parts of the world?
In India, the fragrance category is still evolving and will grow further by brands segmenting and positioning themselves. The category has mainly been driven by basic benefits like freshness and male appeal to the opposite gender. With the evolution of fragrance as a category in India, our focus has been to make customers move from “need-based to want-base” consumption archetypes.
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