For direct-to-consumer brands and small businesses, it can be challenging to stand out online as large, established brands tend to enjoy strong customer recall. How then does a fledgling organic food brand reach the sustainability-conscious consumer? What tweaks should a young fashion label make to reach out to size-conscious Indian shoppers more accurately? Amazon Launchpad has earned a reputation for helping brands and startups prosper in a crowded and competitive market.
What is Amazon Launchpad
A program designed to offer startups a unique opportunity to reach new customers and scale, it helps solve the marketing, sales and distribution problems that emerging brands often face. Launchpad supports these young companies with Amazon's global expertise so they can stay focused on product innovation and sell unique products to customers across the world.
Currently, the program showcases over 200,000 unique products offered by 650+ emerging brands across 30 different categories. Some popular brands that have emerged from Launchpad include Mamaearth, The Man Company, Yoga Bar, and Kapiva Ayurveda. During the Great Indian Festival, the Launchpad program created about 100 millionaire sellers.
Here’s how Launchpad has helped these 11 brands clock remarkable increase in sales.
Hair Originals
India’s first D2C brand for natural hair extensions
After working with energy giant Total in locations as diverse as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and South Korea, Hair Originals founder Jitendra Sharma returned to India to found the country’s first D2C brand for natural hair extensions. He signed up to Launchpad after learning about the program through industry forums and online resources. “We saw that it had helped startups gain visibility and access a vast customer base,” explains Sharma.
As a result, Hair Originals was able to showcase its products to a wider audience, boost sales and gain brand recognition. The company also streamlined its operations after integrating with Amazon’s fulfilment services—all of which added up to a significant increase in growth. Says Sharma: “After participating in Launchpad, our brand experienced a remarkable 1.5x month-on-month increase in sales. The guidance provided by the Launchpad team proved invaluable, particularly when it came to strategic product planning and selecting the most effective keywords.”
Indigenous Honey
100% natural unprocessed honey
Indigenous Honey now reaches nearly half a million customers across India. Founder and passionate beekeeper Vimal Vadher learned to love and care for bees in Gujarat, where he grew up, and started the business in 2015 as a means to source raw honey for a friend recovering from a debilitating illness. “We don’t just sell honey; we offer something healthy and pure,” says Vadher. Today, with the help of Launchpad, Indigenous Honey has become the top honey seller on Amazon.in.
Vadher credits much of this success to how Launchpad works. “After we started using Launchpad, we began receiving daily updates about our operations and sales metrics,” he recalls. “With guidance from our account manager and by following these updates, our performance improved. This led to an increase in our orders.”
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Dream of Glory
Reshaping India’s fashion landscape
A surprise visit by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to Dream of Glory’s showcase at Smbhav 2020, Amazon’s flagship annual summit, underscored Amazon’s commitment to empowering smaller brands, and motivated founder Arjun Sood to double down on his vision to reshape India’s fashion landscape. Dream of Glory offers sizes and selections that mirror the country’s diversity, an aspect often ignored by larger labels.
At one Amazon global selling summit, Dream of Glory had the opportunity to represent India, showcasing its products alongside renowned US brands. That achievement led to the launch of a new collection that has produced 100% revenue growth for the label. Sood calls the four-year Launchpad partnership “an unforgettable experience”. “The program is the wind beneath our wings; our launchpad to new horizons.”
Phool
Upcycles temple flower waste into incense sticks, essential oils and natural Holi colours
A social impact enterprise, Kanpur-based Phool isn’t short of votaries for its business. The brand has been recognised by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was selected as an Earthshot finalist by the British monarchy in 2022.
Founder Ankit Agarwal says using Launchpad helped his team better understand Amazon’s ecosystem and undertake high-impact PR campaigns, resulting in a 150% increase in orders within the first six months of going live. The brand recorded 100% year-over-year growth since it joined Launchpad in 2019.
Modern Kitchens
4-decade old snack brand driving 5x revenue growth
Not all enterprises on Launchpad are nippy upstarts looking to unseat the old guard. Modern Kitchens, a four-decade old snack brand, is harnessing Launchpad to prominently position its products in its category, driving 5x revenue growth within seven months and boosting its reach to customers across the country.
Ajith and Varnana Pai, the second-generation proprietors of this business, leant on curated events from Launchpad such as Sample Mania, Blockbuster deals, and an Amazon Pay event to achieve those results. “The program has played a pivotal role in extending our reach to customers nationwide,” acknowledge the founders.
First Bud Organics
Organic grocery products that support micro entrepreneurship in rural areas
Mitresh Sharma, the founder of Jharkhand-based First Bud Organics, is building his D2C business on the back of supporting small-scale farmers and creating opportunities for micro-entrepreneurship in rural areas. The brand works closely with local farmers, providing fair trade and supporting traditionally sustainable farming practices that preserve the precious Himalayan ecosystem.
First Bud has been on Launchpad for six years and in that time has not only expanded its product reach but also established a robust brand identity. In the past 12 months alone, monthly sales have grown almost fourfold, with all products outperforming Sharma’s ambitious targets. “The program has not only amplified our visibility but empowered us to connect with a broader audience, resulting in a substantial boost in revenue,” says Sharma. “This growth has also laid a strong foundation for our continued success.”
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Eat Anytime
Promotes mindful snacking on tasty nibbles
After a career as a banker filled with long hours and mindless eating, Rishit Sanghvi decided to retake control of his life and diet. The result was Eat Anytime, a “mindful snacking” venture he co-founded with his wife Prachi, that seeks to provide people with tasty, nourishing nibbles. Launchpad allowed Sanghvi to boost his business’ prospects by giving it a platform to showcase the brand’s product range to an extended audience.
Since participating in the program, Eat Anytime has experienced greater brand recall and grown its orderbook by 8% to 10% month-on-month. “Joining Launchpad has been a transformative experience,” says Sanghvi. “The support and resources offered have allowed us to navigate the landscape with confidence, and we are growing continuously.”
Omay Foods
100% roasted, oil-free snacks
The nationwide lockdown imposed due to the pandemic in 2020 was a hammer blow for most businesses. Vijay Katta, the founder of roasted snacks business, Omay Foods, used the opportunity to sign up with Launchpad to reach home-bound consumers. Since then, Launchpad has helped Omay to extend its reach and dramatically grow sales. “We’ve seen an over-10x boost in our sales year-on-year, and have already shipped over 300,000 snack portions in 2024,” says Katta.
Customers are also enjoying the fruits of this success—since working with Launchpad, Omay’s delivery time has been slashed from four to five days previously to just a day or two. To top it all off, the brand has grown into a crorepati brand on the marketplace, a number that's twice its original target.
Funk for Hire
Recasting drab office bags to make a statement
The trio of Preeti Nair, Wenicia Remedios, and Vaishali Golatkar have sought to recast drab office bags into personal style statements with their business Funk For Hire. While Indian themes anchor their designs, their creations steer clear of traditional handicraft fabrics and motifs, instead focusing on whimsical scenes of Indian life across a range of wallets, slingbags, laptop bags and backpacks.
The team discovered Launchpad on Instagram and signed up to improve their business’ scale and visibility. Since joining the program, they’ve experienced greater brand visibility. Funk For Hire’s product ranking has also improved in the marketplace—and most significantly, sales have doubled.
Little Extra
All-vegan personal care products
Lucknow-based husband and wife duo Nikhil and Ekta Manglik built their personal care brand, Little Extra, to offer customers a range of all-natural products made from vegan ingredients, as well as complete transparency on what goes into every product. They joined Launchpad to optimise their product listings, refine marketing strategies, and navigate the intricacies of the Amazon marketplace.
With the help of the Launchpad team, Little Extra is scaling new heights. Within six months of placing the brand’s flagship Little Extra Coco Onion haircare product range on Amazon, sales soared 300%, thanks to better visibility and strong customer reviews. Say the Mangliks: “Launchpad’s reputation for assisting startups and providing access to a broader audience resonate with our aspirations.”
Asgard
Premium face masks for all-round hygiene and health
Chartered accountant Ankit Goyal has built up Asgard into a robust business for high-quality face masks. The Covid-19 pandemic sharply boosted the company’s fortunes, with daily orders peaking at more than 8,000 units in 2020-2021 as consumers sought protection from the virus. To keep pace with this surge in orders, Goyal signed up with Launchpad and worked with the program’s team to drive consistently higher visibility and orders.
Beyond the pandemic, Launchpad has helped Asgard achieve continued success. Through identifying specific opportunities and insights for the business, the program has ensured the brand remains atop its category. “We’ve remained a premium level seller and have not been dethroned from our No. 1 ranking as a bestseller for masks over the past few years,” notes Goyal. “Team Launchpad has effectively guided us in achieving higher sales volumes.”
