South Asian-Inspired Skincare Brand Love, Indus Returns To QVC After A Sellout Debut Last Year

Love, Indus is appearing on QVC today, marking the third time in less than six months it’s been featured on the shopping network that beams into hundreds of millions of homes. 

The South Asian-inspired emerging skincare brand’s QVC relationship got off to a good start on Nov. 1, when it sold out of 1,250 Amrutini Luminosity Dewdrops units in about 11 minutes during the segment “Fri-YAY! with Alberti and Amy” and amassed a 400-order wait list. The serum usually retails for $135, but QVC shoppers can buy it for $99.

“That rarely happens for a new brand, celebrity-backed or otherwise,  especially during the busy and super competitive holiday season,” says Love, Indus founder Surbhee Grover. “In fact, we were told that QVC typically does not launch a new brand at this time of year for that reason, but they made an exception for us.”

On QVC, where powerful storytelling is vital, Grover credits host Alberti Popaj’s enthusiasm for Amrutini Luminosity Dewdrops as a major factor in it selling out. He had used the serum for over three weeks and saw a visible difference in his skin. “He was incredibly passionate about the brand as well as the product,” she says.

For a bootstrapped upstart brand, the process of QVC onboarding can be expensive and daunting. Love, Indus went all in, spending tens of thousands of dollars over several months on clinical trials, custom packaging and new creative that adheres to exacting guidelines. Grover believes the return on investment was worth it. The clinical trials, which QVC requires for all products it sells, alone were around $50,000, but the brand can use them for its own e-commerce website in addition to QVC. 

Other investments Love, Indus made to launch on QVC included before-and-after photography, videos and additional photography, set design for on-air segments, payment for on-air models, specific packaging like shrink-wrap and labels, and certifications to meet QVC Clean standards. For example, Love, Indus received Leaping Bunny certification because it’s a requirement to qualify as QVC Clean. The brand tapped consultant Maureen Malloy, a former QVC category, to help it with preparing for QVC, and QVC chipped in with on-air training, legal counsel, set design, on-air planning and more. 

Outside of QVC, Love, Indus is carried by Neiman Marcus and Macy’s, and the halo effect from appearing on QVC caused a sales lift at the latter as well as the brand’s site. “Of course, you have to sustain that,” says Grover. “You see a lift for a couple of weeks, a couple of months, but you’re not going to live off that halo forever.” 

After its Nov. 1 sell-out debut, Love, Indus didn’t expect to return to QVC until 2025, but the network surprisingly asked it to come back for a Dec. 20 appearance. For the second appearance, it offered 1250 units of the laugh line-focused product Freedom of Expression Line Limiter priced at $66 for QVC shoppers versus $88 normally. Love, Indus sold through about 65% of the inventory during the appearance.

Still, Grover was happy with the performance, but reasons that the time of the airing, just days before Christmas, and the shorter length of the segment—seven minutes as opposed to 11 minutes previously—were behind the product not selling out. She stresses, “Selling out doesn’t happen all the time, and it certainly doesn’t happen with a new brand, so don’t let that be the expectation that every time you’re on air you’ll sell out.” 

QVC, owned by the QVC Group that extends to HSN, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill and Grandin Road, is coming off a rocky 2024, during which it saw an operating loss of $809 million and 5% revenue drop. The company has been actively trying to spark a turnaround.

As part of that effort, it’s rebranded from Qurate Retail to QVC Group, consolidated its headquarters in QVC’s Chester, Penn., concentrated on social and streaming platforms to be relevant in the evolving retail landscape, and named Alex Wellen, formerly CEO and president of MotorTrend Group, as president and chief growth officer. With the news of Wellen’s appointment, QVC Group’s stock hit a 52-week low, dropping to $0.2 on Wednesday.