Nail-biting future: Nail wrap market primed up for ‘exciting’ growth as awareness soars

Nodspark was founded in 2018 by Eugenia Ye-Yeo, an entrepreneur who saw a need in the market for a more convenient way for people to wear nail art when she stumbled upon nail wraps.

“Back then, there weren’t any existing brands. I believe the only brands that came before us folded. From my research, it definitely didn’t exist in Singapore – and the rest is history,” ​said Ye-Yeo.

Today, nail wraps are known to be an easy and affordable way to have manicured nails with fancy designs. However, when Nodspark first entered the scene, nail wraps had a less than stellar reputation, said Ye-Yeo.

“The trouble with nail wraps is that it was considered a cheap product – you could find them for a few dollars at [night markets] and usually people who tried those didn’t come away with good experiences.”​

Polishing a tarnished reputation

To overturn the poor image of nail wraps, the company focused on education – ​and re-education –​ for the better part of its first year, using social media as its tool.

“Thankfully, we were able to ride the wave of Instagram at the time. We ended up coming up very strong on Instagram,”​ said Ye-Yeo.

That year, social media platform Instagram had been adding a slew of new features on its platform, including shoppable posts and upgraded features on Instagram Stories.

In addition to a strong education strategy, the company was conscious to develop nail wraps that were aesthetically pleasing with trending design elements.

“We were definitely very purposeful with the design because we knew we had to elevate the product a lot – really a lot –​​ to change people’s view [on nail wraps],” ​said Ye-Yeo.

Furthermore, the overall aesthetic of the brand had to appeal to its target consumer base of professional working women and mothers just like Ye-Yeo.

“I have always loved painting my nails and nail art, but it takes too long and is really expensive to get them done at a salon... At first, I had planned to target the younger crowd, but the people I partnered with early on opened the doors towards the direction of the executive crowd, towards a direction I am most comfortable going towards.”​

Growth and new markets

According to Ye-Yeo, Nodspark began to take off in its second year and the business has since been growing steadily.

The brand experienced a huge spike in demand last year as the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a lockdown in Singapore and caused nail salons to shutter for almost two months.

“Usually, around April it's quiet but last year, we managed to sustain sales that were reflective of sales over December and January. It was very good for a while but of course, it tapered down. Overall, it’s been holding strong,” ​said Ye-Yeo.

Now in its fourth year, Nodspark is working on growing its business and is looking to new markets, such as the Middle East, where it has recently scored a distribution deal.

“There’s a lot of excitement around the product even though it's been around for a while. The technology has been improved since it appeared on the market so it's really exciting. It’s absolutely a big market and we definitely have a lot of room for growth, especially if you look at a borderless market.”​

Nodspark is not the only company to have recognised this opportunity. In the past years, it has seen more nail wrap cropping up on the market.

“There’s a lot of competition on the market, it's ridiculous, even companies that are doing stationery are selling nail wraps. They are a lot of people who will try to create a template of your brand and we can only work to get ahead by being ahead of it.”​

Aside from the quality of its products, Ye-Yeo believes Nodspark stands apart from the competition in terms of its designs.

“We work on a lot of collaborations with different companies and brands to stay dynamic in terms of what we can offer our customers.”​

Next month, the company will be announcing its collaboration with an international lifestyle brand, the biggest collaboration it has had to date.

Ye-Yeo said: “We’ve been working on this collaboration since pre-COVID, and it was derailed because of it. It’s a really big deal for us – this year is going to be very exciting.”​