Selina Ved has always loved purchasing and shopping for makeup. However, when researching products, she would have to go to 4-5 different websites for a comprehensive review. This led Selina Ved to start her own central platform for beauty enthusiasts, NESSA, where people can learn about their favorite products in a variety of different aspects. Read on more to find out about her and NESSA:
Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and why you started NESSA?
Every great business opportunity starts with solving your own problem. My problem was I love buying makeup, but I wanted to check every item review, and tutorial and had to go on 5 different sites before making the purchase. This journey led me to think that there is a gap in the market for a new online beauty player that would address all these issues. This is how NESSA was born, to be the first social eCommerce website that gives customers enough information, including product reviews of what other customers thought of the product.
You can now learn, understand, and buy at the same time. As a platform, we want to be the place where every woman comes to get educated, inspired, and empowered; that’s how we hope to benefit women all over the GCC. We are all about exploration- interacting with products, seeing looks, and applying advice. Nessa has a large variety of products in the clean, ayurvedic, and green products category and we can guide you on how to use them according to your skin type.
Can you tell us a bit more about Nessa and the business model?
Our strategy is to disrupt the current beauty industry. NESSA is going to provide a unique tech-infused experience by aggregating and accumulating all the relevant AI and AR experiences that would make customers excited to stay on the platform. Although social Ecommerce is a concept new to the market, keep an eye out for what’s coming. Apart from including the most popular beauty brands on NESSA that are already available in the region, we are also exploring and curating global brands that are known for their expertise in areas such as haircare, skincare, and all things beauty.
Nessa is a one-stop shop for the new-age tech-loving millennial and Gen Z customer. The diversity and exclusivity of our niche indie brands will separate us into a category of our own. In short, the business model is to be a platform for beauty brands from across the world for the Middle Eastern consumer. We work closely with large companies like Loreal, COTY as well as niche ayurvedic brands from India that our customers here love.
What has been the most challenging aspect of building Nessa?
Pre-COVID we were told that 50% of decisions are made online but executed offline. During COVID, however, most people could not visit stores due to social distancing and hygiene restrictions, let alone test products on their skin. Based on this, women had to resort to online shopping. However, people have different skin types, and buying beauty products online is typically a “hit or miss” for most customers as beauty products require to be swatched and directly tested on the skin. Some customers can’t afford to make buying mistakes, and Nessa provides them with guidance on which product is most suitable for their skin and goals on the same platform, which brings peace of mind during the shopping experience.
Going forward, it is possible that a percentage of people will eventually return to shopping in physical stores. However, after COVID, our community has experienced expedited digital trends where online shopping trends had to adjust to consumer behavior. Nessa aims to provide convenience for buyers in the beauty industry.
What does it mean to be a #beautyboss
To be a beauty boss you’ve got to be comfortable in your own skin, knowing that beauty is not just makeup, it’s also about hygiene and helps keep your skin feeling healthy. Being a beauty boss is also about embodying the narrative that beauty comes in all forms, and everyone is BEAUTIFUL! To dream big, empower those around you, and make a change in the beauty world!
