The leading homegrown digital beauty and wellness retailer is looking at widening its brick-and-mortar retail presence in India. A report
Research firm e-Marketeer predicts that e-commerce in India will become a $71.94 billion industry by 2022. For an inventory-driven business in a geographically diverse market such as India, Mumbai-headquartered multi-brand e-commerce retailer Nykaa is a significant player in the beauty and personal care products space. With over one lakh products, 850+ brands, and an ever-increasing retail presence, Nykaa is now looking at expanding its private label range and launching Nykaa product exclusive physical stores.
The company informs that while its objective is to be a very strong e-commerce player, it also intends to introduce and grow its own label. In terms of retail expansion, Nykaa is already present at more than 1,000 customer touch points, which includes its own 23 stores, according to a company source. The company’s brand would continue to expand via its own channel, with plans in place to open Nykaa product exclusive physical store. Moreover, simultaneously, Nykaa will continue to grow via the multi-brand outlets (MBO) channel, the company informs. Recently, the company has entered the premium MBO segment, another value-add to its retail ecosystem. Nykaa claims that the brand is expanding very fast via this format.
Nykaa has been consistently growing at a whopping 200 per cent to 300 per cent every year and with each quarter on quarter growth being more than 100 per cent informs a Nykaa official. In addition to selling on e-commerce, Nykaa is also selling in their luxe stores along with general trade outlets. Nykaa’s offline stores feature leading beauty brands along with Nykaa Beauty, the in-house collection of beauty products first introduced in 2015. The share of Nykaa products as far as brick and mortar stores go is nearly 30 to 40 per cent of the product range.
Curating the best of Indian and international beauty and wellness products to customers, basis their popularity, Nykaa.com doesn’t subscribe to the push model but instead brings brands that consumers want, informs a senior company official. Nykaa claims to have a rich database of discerning customers. In fact, the increasing feedback from consumers about the many products and beauty trends available internationally but not yet accessible in India is what inspired it to launch its own beauty brand, informs Nykaa official reiterating the huge demand for those products. As of now, the company has five to six categories for the Nykaa brand, which it is expanding constantly. The company informs that it aims to be among the top three cosmetics brands of India very soon.
Nykaa has a huge inventory in terms of store keeping units (SKUs), with warehouses in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bengaluru. With regard to the possibility of a franchise model for Nykaa exclusive stores, the company says that initially, its focus will continue to be on exclusive stores only. Recently Nykaa brought the Dubai-based HudaBeauty line to the Indian market. More new collaborations with MNC cosmetics brands are in the offing.
The company is also closely watching the increasing market demand in the colour cosmetics category — an under-penetrated but fast-growing segment. This demand, it mentions, is mainly coming from the younger generation with its more evolved taste and preferences. Millennials are keen on following international trends and look up to global icons. In line with these trends, the company is also focusing on firming up its digitalisation strategy. Customer-centric digital marketing, it says, has helped its brand to build, strengthen and expand its presence rapidly, with many consumers coming via direct, organic, and paid marketing, and the Nykaa app, the company informs.
Sources and references: