Seniority, a Pune-based company is known for selling specially curated products only for senior citizens. It sells over 10,000 products ranging from medical and wellness to lifestyle and leisure categories.
The company has been getting 1,500 orders per day.
Looking at the growing population of senior citizens in India, Ayush Agrawal and Tapan Mishra in 2016 launched Seniority.
In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Mishra said, “The population of the 60 years plus age group is fast growing in India, from 8 percent of the total population in 2001, to 10 percent in 2011. In fact, reports suggest that by 2041, this number will rise to 20 percent of the total population.”
“We identified that the organized retail market for seniors is negligible and wanted to address this gap. That’s where the idea of Seniority was seeded,” he added.
Seniority is funded by RPG Ventures, the venture capital of RPG Group of Companies. So far, the company has invested about $10 million into the company.
According to Mishra, the company is open to further rounds of funding by external investors in near future.
Some of the products sold on the Seniority platform are walkers and rollators, wheelchair, fitness gears, bedroom accessories, among others.
The company has seen more senior citizens buying home essentials, gardening, kitchen & dining, music products, food & nutrition as well as gifting products.
Seniority follows an omnichannel strategy, having established its e-commerce platform as well as retail experience zones in four cities across the country – Pune, Chennai, Coimbatore and Bhiwadi.
In October 2020, the company launched its first franchise store in Pune. Mishra said the company is eyeing a stronger network of franchise-owned stores across the country over the next couple of years.
Additionally, the company is planning to collaborate with LinQ, an assisted e-commerce aggregator in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to reach out to more retailers and customers.
Lockdown Boost
The lockdown and restrictions imposed for the safety of citizens helped boost online sales for the company.
It witnessed a huge demand for masks, hand sanitisers, and personal care products during the lockdown.
Interestingly, home & kitchen essentials, daily living aids and gardening products also witnessed a greater uptake as most people are now self-dependent for household chores.
Presently, approximately 95 percent of the company’s sales are online, including the website and other social media channels.
“We complete around 1500 orders a day--roughly 1 order per minute, with an average order value of upward of Rs 1,000. Around 45 percent of the revenue per month comes from repeat orders,” Mishra said.
According to a recently released report by CII, the medical and lifestyle market for the economically independent senior urban population stands at about Rs 43,000 crore.
Mishra is betting big on senior citizens wanting to invest effort and money in maintaining a healthy lifestyle for themselves, pursuing their hobbies and even socializing with their peers.
"They have more disposable income now, and experience the ‘empty nest syndrome’, thereby adding to their independence and willingness to spend on themselves,” Mishra said.
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