Shark Tank India's Vineeta Singh Credits Mumbai Fruit Vendors For Business’ Success

Although it caused Vineeta Singh, an entrepreneur, some anxiety, it ultimately proved to be a valuable lesson and a crucial factor in the success of her store on the Colaba Causeway. When Ms. Singh, the CEO and co-founder of SUGAR cosmetics, signed the store's lease, she was worried that street vendors might obscure her view. And a year later, the Shark Tank India panelist's perspective has entirely altered after she observed a spike in sales.

But not before discovering the true cause of the skyrocketing sales.

Vineeta Singh disclosed in a thorough Instagram post that the Colaba store's client base consisted mostly of Arab ladies travelling to Mumbai for medical treatments.

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Indian makeup complemented their warm hues and hot climate, these women adored it.

Vineeta posted a picture with staff and the fruit vendors outside the store on Instagram and wrote, “Before we signed the lease of our Colaba Causeway store, we had apprehensions about street stalls blocking our visibility from the main road. But Colaba is Colaba - every store has a stall in front and it is the stalls that have more legacy than the stores, so we decided to give it a try. Last 12 months we started seeing this store's sales explode and were also tracking lots of 1 lakh+ bills, so I went to find out what's going on!”

Vineeta Singh learned that Suraj and his father recommended the Arab ladies to buy cosmetics and beauty products from the Colaba store. Suraj knew basic Arabic, and he asked women if they wanted “Kahaal Al Hindi” meaning Indian Kajals. This led to many Arabic women checking out the collection at the Colaba store.

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She further wrote, “Well, Suraj and his father have been running the fruit stall in front of us for years and lots of Arab women stop by to buy local fruits (they don't prefer anything imported). He asks them in Arabic, which he has picked up well, if they want "Kahaal Al Hindi" which means Indian kajals. They come in to try Indian makeup and eventually shop 15-20 pieces each of all the colours they like as they don't expect to return.”

Vineeta’s staff members of the Colaba store became friends with the fruit vendor and learned basic Arabic from them so that they can communicate with their customers easily. They also recommended they buy fruits from Suraj and his dad’s stall.

The comment section of this post was flooded with several comments praising the story, and many believed that this was a good business case study.

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