This Startup Plans To Capture The Elder Care Product Market In India The 60 plus age group is growing in number – from 8 per cent of the total population in 2001 to 10 per cent in 2011, and is further projected to reach 19 per cent by 2041, according to a CII report about the senior citizen category in India.
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Ayush Agrawal was working with the RPG group company when he realized how big is the senior care sector. "When we started Seniority back in 2016, I figured that a change in demography was emerging. The senior citizen is the fastest-growing demography in India," claims Agarwal, co-Founder, Seniority. He adds that though the market for senior care was increasing there was no proper one-stop store to buy products that seniors would require. "There was no variety for the basic assistive and elder care products in the retail space for elder care. You were forced to buy from the limited offerings."
Agrawal along with Tapan Mishra started up Seniority in 2016. The startup is incubated and funded by RPG Group. Seniority is the first and the largest e-retail destination dedicated for seniors in India. The company boasts of a 15 per cent month-on-month growth. "We receive 1500 plus orders on a daily basis and have a customer base of 4 lakhs," claims Agrawal.
R to L: Ayush Agrawal and Tapan Mishra, Founders, Seniority
Why should young have all the fun?
Seniority first focused on the assistive and elder care products for its product portfolio. "During the course of our journey, we realized that there is a huge demand for leisure and lifestyle products for elder care. Once we realised it, we added these categories on our website," says Mishra. The CII report states that the available potential of lifestyle products market is close to INR 40,000 crores, while only about 7,000 crore of the market has been harnessed.
Mishra also reveals that 50 per cent of the website customers come from tier II, tier III and rural background.
Seniority is partnering with design schools and coming up with original products under its brand name. "Apart from coming up with original, innovative products for seniors, we are also partnering with other brands and are coming up with co-branded products," says Mishra.
Mishra claims that Seniority is different from other marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart as everyone cannot sell their products on Seniority. There are quality, background and other checks that a vendor has to go through to sell their products on Seniority.
Designed for elders
Mishra says that Seniority has paid attention to small details like the font size and the text colour on its website is friendly to a senior citizen. "We have options where a senior can place their order via call and through WhatsApp. It is because we realize that though elders are becoming internet savvy many of them are still not e-commerce savvy. So we tried to make the experience as simple for them as possible," claims Mishra.
Seniority has four offline retail stores in Pune, Chennai, Coimbatore, Bhiwadi so far. The company plans to come up with more original products and expand its personal product brand portfolio.
