The market is tricky and business sure is not going to be a breeze but The Body Shop believes that its proposition of what it calls ‘accessible luxury’ makes for a differentiating factor. The firm targets the ‘masstige’ (mass plus prestige) cohort. “Our proposition is very high quality at a more accessible price. It’s not mass and it's not for everybody of course but we are well placed. If you look at very premium brands, our quality matches and our prices are at half or a third,” says Boynton.

In an era where consumption is being redefined by informed consumers who look at much more than the brand name, The Body Shop has also crafted some deft brand messaging. Keeping in line with its philosophy of ‘changemaking beauty’, the company changed the name of its best selling skin care product drops of youth to Edelweiss.

“Why are we celebrating youth? Youth is great but all ages are great. At whatever age you are, is the best age for you. So, we changed the name of the product and the formula,” says Boynton. Besides, the brand has been able to get itself certified by the vegan society which was unbelievably difficult. “But that’s the bar we have set for ourselves. We are now able to put vegan in our packaging,” says Boynton.

Boynton is bullish about India and the company’s ability to grow in the market which it counts as its fourth largest market globally . “The middle class in India is growing very fast,” says Boynton who has set a stiff target of doubling the business in the market in the next three years.

“That’s going to come from expansion, so we are going to have more stores. We have 200 stores here already. We will upgrade stores in key locations across the country, add more of our global products to the shelf, continue investments in omni-channel and D2C to make sure we have the tools and technologies and platforms we need to build deeper relationships with. India is our fourth biggest market but we expect it to be much closer to the U.K. in the coming years,” says Boynton.

David Boynton

'General concern across industry is consumers being squeezed': The Body Shop CEO