Frido, a consumer healthcare brand that focusses on mobility and comfort solutions, earlier this year unveiled its first-ever experiential store at Phoenix Marketcity Mall, Viman Nagar, Pune. This marks a milestone in the brand’s growth story – transitioning from a digital-first disruptor to a hybrid player redefining retail in the health-tech space.
With a presence across the UK, UAE, and USA, Frido aims to transform how people experience mobility, comfort, and wellness. While its digital-first model has enabled global reach, this foray into offline retail reflects a strategic move to blend the convenience of e-commerce with the power of personalised care, offering immersive, need-based solutions that go beyond what online platforms can provide.
More than just a retail outlet, the Frido Experiential Store is an interactive destination where technology, expert consultation, and real-time insights come together. A highlight of the space is the advanced foot scanner, which analyses pressure distribution, arch support, and posture alignment to offer a precise, personalised product fit. Licensed podiatrists are available for free consultations, guiding customers on common issues such as flat feet, heel pain, and posture-related discomfort ensuring that every purchase is tailored to an individual’s specific needs.
Medianews4u.com caught up with Ganesh Sonawane, Co-Founder, CEO Frido
Q. How is India’s retail landscape undergoing a transformation due to the fact that consumers are increasingly prioritising wellness, comfort, and ergonomic solutions in their daily lives?
India’s retail landscape is evolving as consumers increasingly prioritise wellness, comfort, and ergonomic solutions in their daily lives. The Indian wellness industry is projected to grow to $20 billion by 2025, driven by a shift in consumer behaviour toward preventive healthcare and lifestyle-driven purchases.
Consumers today are spending more time working from home, commuting long hours, and leading sedentary lifestyles. This has led to a 40% increase in reported back pain and posture-related issues in the last five years. As a result, ergonomic products are no longer seen as luxury items but as essential investments for better health and mobility.
Retailers are adapting to this shift by expanding their wellness and ergonomic product offerings. Pharmacies, lifestyle stores, and large-format retail chains are dedicating more shelf space to products that enhance daily comfort and prevent long-term health issues.
The growth of omnichannel retail, where consumers research online but purchase offline, is also influencing how brands position themselves.
Q. Could you shed light on Frido’s strategy of using a D2C approach, experiential retail expansion, and digital-first marketing to shape the future of the ergonomic wellness market in India?
Frido’s strategy is built on three key pillars.
- D2C as the foundation
Direct-to-consumer has allowed us to scale quickly, control the customer experience, and gather real-time data on consumer preferences. This has helped us reduce dependency on third-party retailers and optimize our offerings based on customer feedback. With D2C sales in India growing at nearly 40% year-on-year, this remains a crucial growth driver for us. - Experiential retail for trust-building
While digital-first is key, A huge chunk of Indian consumers still prefer trying a product before making a purchase, especially for categories like ergonomic wellness. This is why we are aggressively expanding into offline retail, pharmacy chains, and ergonomic experience centers where customers can interact with our products. - Digital-first marketing to drive awareness
We invest heavily in AI-driven performance marketing, influencer collaborations, and data-backed content strategies to ensure we reach the right audience. Studies show that maximum percentage of purchase decisions in this category are influenced by online research, making digital engagement critical to brand success.
By integrating these three approaches, we are shaping the future of the ergonomic wellness industry in India and ensuring our products reach the right consumers at the right time.
Q. There are three stages in a consumer’s journey. Discovery, engagement and then the third stage of investing in purchasing wellness-driven lifestyle products. At each stage which marketing vehicles work the best? Kindly elaborate and also the key learnings from marketing at each stage.
Consumer decision-making is evolving, and brands need to meet them at every stage of their journey.
- Discovery Stage (Awareness & Education)
1. Best Marketing Vehicles: Digital ads, influencer advocacy, PR, educational content
2. Key Learning: Many consumers do not realize they need ergonomic products. Education-first marketing, backed by strong storytelling and problem-solving content, is the most effective approach.
Our research shows that campaigns highlighting posture correction and back pain relief have 30% higher engagement rates than generic wellness messaging.
- Engagement Stage (Consideration & Validation)
1. Best Marketing Vehicles: Retargeting ads, email marketing, interactive experiences, customer testimonials
2. Key Learning: Consumers look for credibility before making a purchase. User-generated content, expert recommendations, and social proof significantly reduce hesitation. Featuring real people with real life problems and podiatrist – backed endorsements on our website increased conversion rates by 22% in the last quarter.
- Investment Stage (Purchase & Retention)
1. Best Marketing Vehicles: Performance marketing, in-store experience, loyalty programmes, referral incentives
2. Key Learning: At this stage, convenience and trust drive conversions. Consumers are 60% more likely to purchase if they see personalized offers or easy checkout experiences. Our loyalty programmes and exclusive discount strategies have increased repeat purchases by 35% in the last six months.
Q. Brands are increasingly demanding actual ROI from marketing activities like influencer marketing. Consumer engagement today is not enough. Does Frido have the same approach that marketing must drive actual ROI?
Absolutely. Marketing must deliver measurable business outcomes, not just visibility. While engagement is important, the focus is on conversion-driven strategies that translate into actual sales.
- Influencer marketing is performance-driven. We work with experts and niche influencers who align with our brand’s value rather than just focussing on reach. Nano and micro-influencers drive 20% higher conversions than celebrity endorsements in this category.
- Every campaign is backed by data. We track metrics beyond likes and shares, focusing on click-through rates, conversion rates, and lifetime customer value.
- We prioritise high-intent audiences. Our ad spend is optimized toward consumers who are most likely to convert rather than mass targetting.
By taking an ROI-first approach, we ensure that every marketing effort contributes directly to the brand’s growth.
Q. Having said that wastage of ad monies is a challenge especially in digital. That negatively impacts ROI. What is the best way forward?
Digital marketing is a high-stakes game where inefficiencies can be costly. The best way forward is to minimise waste and maximise precision.
- AI-driven ad optimisation. AI helps us analyse consumer behaviour, predict trends, and allocate budgets to the highest-performing channels.
- First-party data for better targetting. With rising privacy regulations, we rely heavily on first-party customer insights to optimize ad spend and reduce wastage.
- Iterative A/B testing. Instead of large-scale, one-size-fits-all campaigns, we test smaller variations to see what works best before scaling up.
By continuously refining our targetting, messaging, and budget allocation, we ensure that our digital investments deliver maximum ROI.
Q. How did the idea for the campaign, ‘Her Terms and Comfort’ come about?
The idea stemmed from a simple yet powerful insight. Women often compromise on comfort in their daily lives, from footwear to seating posture.
We wanted to challenge that and empower women to prioritize their own comfort. Our brand tagline is freedom to do more.
So, we went out there and asked women what unconditional freedom means to them, and their answers had one powerful theme: it’s all about her terms and comfort.
Q. The Comfort Edition packaging for Women’s Day aimed to be more than just a product. The aim was to be a canvas for self-expression. How much research and data analytics goes into marketing that forges a deep emotional connect and goes beyond being just a transaction?
Every campaign at Frido is rooted in data-driven consumer insights. Before launching the Comfort Edition, we conducted surveys and focus groups to understand how women perceive comfort and what barriers prevent them from prioritising it.
We found that 82% of women associated comfort with confidence and self-expression. This insight led us to create packaging that allowed women to share their personal stories on what freedom means to them, making the product experience more personal and meaningful.
Q. What role is AI playing for Frido in terms of building demand and driving behavioural change?
AI is transforming how we build demand and shape consumer behaviour by making content creation faster and more efficient. Earlier, designing static ads took hours of manual effort, but with tools like ChatGPT-4o, the same work happens in seconds. This speed allows us to scale content production without compromising quality.
AI’s image generation capabilities have also been a game-changer. We can quickly create high-quality visuals, test multiple creative variations, and keep our ads fresh – helping us tackle ad fatigue while maintaining engagement.
By leveraging AI, we’re able to produce highly relevant content at scale, refine targeting strategies, and enhance engagement – ultimately influencing how consumers perceive and interact with Frido.
Q. Frido tied up with IPL franchise RCB last year. What role will cricket and sports play in the strategy in 2025? Is it about reach?
Cricket is more than just a sport in India. It is a cultural phenomenon. Our partnership with RCB was about leveraging the massive reach of IPL to drive awareness around mobility and comfort solutions.
Sports collaborations give us high visibility among an engaged audience and help us position Frido as a brand that supports active, pain-free living. In 2025, we plan to deepen our association with sports by aligning with more athletes, fitness experts, and active lifestyle communities to expand our reach.
Q. How has Frido’s focus on mobility evolved to address the diverse needs of Indian consumers across different lifestyles and age groups?
Mobility, for us, has always gone beyond just movement – it’s about restoring comfort, dignity, and independence at every stage of life. Our journey began with designing a custom wheelchair for a Paralympian, which opened our eyes to the larger gaps in India’s healthcare ecosystem.
We discovered the lack of accessible, well-designed products tailored to Indian needs – like Indian-to-Western toilet converters, electric wheelchairs, recliner beds, walking sticks, and wheelchair-safe pressure relief cushions.
These were not just mobility aids – they were everyday essentials that were missing from the market. By speaking with users and ergonomic experts, we expanded our range to serve people with disabilities, elderly individuals, recovering patients, and even lifestyle users through products like mobility scooters.
As India’s lifestyle continues to evolve – with remote work, active aging, and urban living – we ensured that Frido’s design philosophy keeps pace, blending cultural relevance with functional innovation to meet the diverse needs of today’s consumers.
Q. How is Frido bridging the gap in accessible and innovative mobility solutions for Indian consumers?
At Frido, bridging the accessibility gap has always meant more than just innovation but also about creating solutions that truly fit the Indian context. We started our journey with a foldable, rust-free shower and commode wheelchair that addressed a basic but unmet need in personal care.
But as we engaged more deeply with the consumers, we realised that the real challenge wasn’t just about building better products, but making them affordable, ensuring strong after-sales service, and solving for spare part availability.
Many Indian consumers were either dependent on costly imports or left with very limited options. That’s where we focussed our efforts – delivering high-quality, intuitive mobility solutions backed by reliable service and support.
Today, Frido products are available not only online but also across offline retail stores, making access seamless across cities and smaller towns alike. We actively participate in expos, run awareness campaigns, and work to eliminate the stigma around mobility aids, ensuring that support and dignity reach people right at their doorsteps.
Q. What led to the introduction of barefoot as a category at Frido, and how is it transforming the comfort and wellness space?
The idea behind Barefoot was sparked by a simple but powerful insight: although our feet are the foundation of daily mobility, they’re often overlooked in the wellness conversation. Most footwear restricts natural movement, leading to long-term posture and joint issues – something we’ve observed across age groups in India.
Barefoot is our way of going back to basics: promoting natural foot movement to improve alignment, balance, and comfort. It’s not just a product category – it’s a mindset shift that makes wellness more accessible through everyday choices. We actively participate in global platforms to take this message forward – most recently at the world’s largest and only barefoot shoe expo in Denver.
The response has been encouraging, proving that people are ready to embrace comfort as a form of preventive care, not just a remedy for pain.
