IBA Cosmetics' E-commerce Success with Freshchat and Neo Platform

Iba Cosmetics is an India-based cosmetics company co-founded by sisters Mauli Teli and Grishma Teli. Launched in 2014, Iba is India’s first Halal-certified and vegan cosmetics brand. The company offers a wide range of products that are cruelty-free, do not contain harsh chemicals, and are free of pig fat, alcohol, and other ingredients that aren’t considered halal. Initially, Iba was a retail-first brand with a number of exclusive retail stores across India. However, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced the company to shift its strategy towards e-commerce.

Iba Cosmetics, an India-based cosmetics company, faced a significant challenge when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a nationwide lockdown in India. The company, which had initially focused on offline retail, had to quickly shift its strategy to e-commerce. This sudden shift brought about a huge increase in the volume of customer queries, which the company struggled to manage efficiently. The company also wanted to replicate the meaningful human interactions that were a hallmark of their offline retail stores. However, the simple chat tool they initially implemented on their website and their WhatsApp Business account were not sufficient to handle the increasing volume of online queries.

To address these challenges, Iba Cosmetics turned to Freshchat by Freshworks and the Freshworks Neo platform. Freshchat was able to integrate live chat and WhatsApp Business within a single interface, allowing the company to manage high volumes of customer queries more efficiently. The solution also enabled the support staff to respond to customers very quickly. Furthermore, Freshchat allowed Iba Cosmetics to simplify the customer purchase journey. The company could now support the entire customer journey through Freshchat, from answering customer questions to fulfilling orders. Key features of the solution included accurate tagging of incoming queries, after-hours support through a chatbot, order placement through WhatsApp, automated delivery updates, and performance insights.

• The implementation of Freshchat has brought about significant improvements in Iba Cosmetics' operations. The company has been able to manage high volumes of customer queries more efficiently, with support staff able to respond to customers very quickly. The solution has also simplified the customer purchase journey, with service agents now able to support the entire customer journey through Freshchat. The company has also been able to maintain the meaningful human interactions that were a hallmark of their offline retail stores, even as they shifted to an online model. The solution has also provided valuable performance insights, helping the company identify areas for improvement.

• 230% increase in online orders

• 25% increase in sales

• Conversion rate on chat increased from 18-20% to 35-36%