Deep Ganatra, chief product & technology officer (CPTO), The Good Glamm Group, sheds light on the role of technology in the beauty and wellness industry and its impact on personalisation
New Delhi: With almost two decades of experience in the tech vertical, Deep Ganatra is a seasoned technology leader with expertise in delivering web and mobile applications for B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer) organizations. Currently serving as the Group Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO) at the Good Glamm Group, he oversees the development and architecture across various business units such as MyGlamm, POPxo, and Plixxo.
Ganatra is passionate about building scalable and user-friendly solutions that enhance customer experiences. Before joining the Good Glamm Group, he served as chief technology officer (CTO) for a startup providing software as a service (SaaS) products in the healthcare sector and led a web development company with global clients.
The Good Glamm Group is a leading personal care company with a portfolio of innovative beauty brands, including Wyn Beauty by Serena Williams, MyGlamm, The Moms Co., Sirona Hygiene, Organic Harvest, and St Botanica. The Group leverages a proprietary digital ecosystem that integrates content, influencer communities, and technology to drive growth.
In addition to its brands, Good Glamm owns The Good Media Co., one of South Asia’s largest digital media companies, and The Good Creator Co., a tech-enabled influencer platform with 1.5 million creators. In 2021, it became South Asia’s first DTC beauty unicorn, attracting investors like Warburg Pincus, Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel, Amazon, Prosus, and Groupe L’Occitane. Focused on global expansion, Good Glamm operates in Asia, North America, and the Middle East.
According to media reports, the company is preparing for an IPO by 2025 and pursuing strategic acquisitions to strengthen its market position. Recent moves include acquiring a 100% stake in The Moms Co., purchasing Sirona Hygiene for Rs 450 crore, and increasing stakes in Organic Harvest and Winkl. Despite a Rs 917 crore net loss in FY23, Good Glamm is in talks to raise Rs 1,000 crore from strategic investors to fuel further growth.
In an interaction with IndiaRetailing, Ganatra sheds light on the role of technology in the beauty and wellness industry and its impact on personalisation. Edited Excerpts…
Tell us about some things you do on the experience front.
At The Good Glamm Group, we reimagined the offline experience to match the online one. Now, when customers buy from our offline stores, they receive instant communication—thank-you messages, loyalty points, and tutorials on using the product. This ensures the relationship continues beyond the sale, creating a seamless and connected experience.
Five or six years ago, the retail experience was quite disconnected. You’d visit a branded store, buy something, and that was the end of the interaction. There was no follow-up communication or engagement about the product post-purchase.
How do you enhance customer engagement?
Personalization is a game-changer. Since we track customer data across all touchpoints, we can offer tailored experiences. For example, our beauty associates use this data to recommend products specific to a customer’s needs. This level of engagement not only builds trust but also ensures customers feel valued, whether they’re shopping online or offline.
How do you train associates?
We follow a ‘train the trainer’ model and focus on simplicity. I believe technology should be intuitive—if a user needs extensive training, the technology has failed. Think about how you don’t need instructions to use a smartphone; it should just work. Similarly, our software is designed to be user-friendly so beauty associates can quickly learn and adapt. Basic training is provided, but the system is built to be so simple that most users can figure it out on their own.
How does the company differentiate itself in terms of technology?
Our biggest advantage is that we’ve built our technology platform from scratch. This gives us complete control over everything, including customer data and the shopper journey. Unlike others who rely on third-party platforms, we can fully customize our processes to suit our needs. This control has helped us stay ahead of the competition, and while others are now catching up, our in-house tech architecture remains a significant differentiator.
How do you leverage Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)?
We’ve been leveraging AR & VR technologies for years, like virtual try-ons, which help customers visualize products. Additionally, we use skin analysers where users can upload their photos, and the system assesses parameters like skin age, type, and concerns. This eliminates the need for customers to input details manually, allowing us to recommend products tailored specifically to their needs.Â
Our personalization also extends to tracking purchase behaviour—if someone bought a lipstick three months ago, we know when they might need a replacement or which complementary products to suggest, creating a seamless and individualized customer experience.
How do Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI help?
LLMs are integral but serve specific purposes. They aren’t used for product recommendations directly—that is better handled by machine learning algorithms. Instead, LLMs help us understand customer behaviour and enable personalized interactions through our AI-driven chatbot. The bot handles over 90% of customer queries, often making customers feel as though they are speaking with a human. Additionally, LLMs analyse previous interactions to provide contextual and customized responses.
Generative AI is also a key player in content creation. Many of our product images and videos, especially those for social media and catalogues, are AI-generated. This significantly reduces manual effort and boosts efficiency. While current generative AI tools are in their early stages, we believe their potential will be transformative.
How has AI-driven automation helped ROI?Â
The implementation of AI-powered chatbots has drastically reduced agent workload by 70%-80%, allowing them to focus on more value-adding tasks. Similarly, our creative teams now spend less time on repetitive work and more on high-value creative tasks, thanks to AI tools that streamline content generation. Even our technology teams benefit—AI has improved code quality and efficiency. Across departments, AI has delivered significant improvements in productivity and outcomes, and this is just the beginning.
Are these AI implementations in-house?
It’s a mix. We carefully evaluate what to build in-house and what to source externally. While we’ve customized and integrated third-party solutions for areas where existing tools meet our needs, we also develop proprietary systems in areas that require a unique approach or deeper customization. This balance ensures we maximize efficiency while staying innovative.Â
We are working closely with Microsoft to implement OpenAI and also use Meta’s Llama model for AI.Â
How do you prioritize between your D2C platforms, marketplaces, and quick commerce?
We view all channels as equally important. While I lean towards D2C as we have complete control over it we do not deprioritize quick commerce or marketplaces. Whichever channel helps drive more business gets our focus. Quick commerce, in particular, is exciting as it aligns with consumer demand for faster delivery. The channel is a game-changer. Consumer impatience and demand for instant delivery have grown significantly, and we see immense potential in this area for further innovation and business growth.
Are you bullish on the cloud?Â
For us, the cloud is working well now, but that might change in a couple of years. We might move back to dedicated servers or explore serverless solutions if they become viable. The point is to adapt your technology stack to the business’s evolving requirements rather than rigidly sticking to a trend.
Do you consolidate data from multiple channels?
Yes, we use a centralized data warehouse that aggregates data from all sales channels—D2C, marketplaces, offline, etc.—and maps it to a single customer profile. This allows us to analyse transactional and behavioural data comprehensively.
How do you ensure customer data is secure?
We strictly control access to Personally Identifiable Information (PII). No PII is shared internally or externally without written approval. Data shared with third parties, like logistics providers, undergoes audits to ensure compliance with ISO standards or equivalent certifications.
Do you feel there’s enough innovation happening in payments?
Absolutely. The purchase journey, particularly the payment stage, has immense room for improvement. In countries like the U.S. and Europe, users don’t need to manually enter credit card details or addresses—they simply use Apple Pay or Google Pay, and the system handles the rest seamlessly.
India has made great strides with UPI, but there’s potential to further enhance this frictionless experience. I’m optimistic about innovations where users won’t need to store or share sensitive information like credit card details or manually input addresses. This user purchase journey will evolve significantly within the next year, transforming how people shop and pay.
Where do you see yourself and Good Glamm in the future, particularly in terms of tech investments?
We are bullish on AI. It’s not just a buzzword for us; we’re serious about it. Gen AI is a part of it, but it’s about creating solutions that help the end user, whether that’s the customer, a beauty associate, or someone in the creative or business teams. We are also working on improving our architecture to ensure compliance with privacy laws as we expand globally. We need to ensure we’re always compliant with the privacy regulations of each country we operate in.
In which areas do you foresee using AI in the future?
We’re focusing a lot on AI in the areas of video and image generation. You’ll see us leveraging AI more in these areas. We’ve already done work with virtual influencers but currently, our primary focus is on using AI to enhance the customer shopping experience.
What’s your stance on metaverse to enhance customer experience?
If you had asked me a couple of years ago, I’d have said that in two to three years, we’d have a solid space in the metaverse. But with the rise of AI, people are now focusing more on generative AI because of its vast potential, I see adaptation of metaverse may take much longer than expected. However, I do see mixed reality as something that will be important in the next few years. It’s not just about AR or VR, but a combination of both, where AI enhances the real-world experience. I’m bullish on this and expect more affordable solutions to emerge, similar to what Meta has with Meta Quest.
Do you think mixed reality will find more adoption, in three years?
Yes. If you look at Meta Quest headsets, it is much cheaper than Apple’s Vision Pro. As more affordable solutions come out, we’ll see adoption grow. The key is creating practical, affordable tech that people can use without the need for large headsets. I think we’ll see this happen sooner than we expect.
