‘Bigger and more impactful’: Brick-and-mortar presence vital as more brands seek India entry - Nykka

In March, the company unveiled a new luxury flagship store in Mumbai.

“This is the first new flagship model which we have launched, and you’ll see more of this type of stores launching in the coming months and years,” ​said Anchit Nayar, executive director and CEO of Nykaa’s beauty business.

The launch of the new flagship comes at a crucial time in India’s beauty market as global beauty players look to India as a growth opportunity​.

However, there has been a lack of retail options in the country, especially for luxury brands. This has prompted Nykaa to enhance its brick-and-mortar offerings.

“There is an influx of many more global brands coming into India and choosing Nykaa as the partner of choice. We do need to have a slightly larger stores and much more impactful stores,” ​said Nayar.

A 2023 white paper by LUXASIA and Kearny identified India alongside South East Asia as “beauty’s next gold rush”.​

“India today is truly becoming a priority market for global beauty companies. They're realising the potential that India has to deliver to them, not just growth, but also scale. And I think given everything that happened in China over the past few years, there is a desire to, to de-risk and to find new avenues of growth. And India, of course, is first and foremost on that list,” ​said Nayar.

He highlighted the March launch of Fenty Beauty in India through an exclusive partnership with Nykaa, which has been one of the firm’s biggest launches to date.

“The brand became the number one brand on the platform on that day. And the number one in certain key subcategories like liquid lipstick, blush and highlighter. A big win and reiterates Nykaa’s dominance and importance to global brands as they look to enter the Indian market.”​

Additionally, Nayar noted that Nykaa has played host to numerous global beauty companies in the past few months, including leaders from Amorepacific, Beiersdorf, the Estee Lauder Companies, e.l.f, L’Oréal Group, Procter & Gamble, PUIG and Unilever.

More than a store

The flagship store is home to a laundry list of brands, including heavyweights such as Benefit Cosmetics, Lancôme and MAC Cosmetics.

Shoppers can also find exclusive brands such as Charlotte Tilbury, Dr. Barbara Sturm, The Ordinary, Urban Decay, and YSL Beauté.

The over 2,500 square feet two-storey brick-and-mortar was billed as a “destination store for immersive beauty experiences”.​

“Our physical stores are not just a platform on which to sell products to consumers. It goes back to our mission of truly educating Indians and driving much more awareness about the category. We believe that awareness is finally the only piece that's missing. That once bridge will help to drive meaningful consumption of the category.”​

The flagship store contains experiential zones for shoppers with in-store services such as skin analysis as well as branded experiences such as the Aveda Dry Bar and Dyson Hair Styling.

The store will also host events to keep its customers engaged and drive conversion.

Today, Nykaa has 187 stores across 68 cities – 81 stores in metro cities and 106 in non-metro cities.

“Our physical retail business is not only growing rapidly and expanding the footprint but it's also growing profitably as you can see this business the GMV growth has been over 50% over the past three years and at the same time, managing to deliver 105% plus growth on EBITA,” ​said Nayar.