India’s New Beauty Player: Tira
India’s beauty market has a new entrant.
Launching with three strides in a single step, Reliance Retail Ltd. has given the Indian beauty market a completely new twist with the launch of beauty brand Tira — debuting a physical store, an e-commerce site and an app in early April.
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India’s beauty and personal care market is estimated to generate approximately $16 billion in 2022 according to Euromonitor International. The entrance of Reliance into beauty with Tira has the potential to transform the sector, industry analysts said, as Reliance is India’s largest retailer, with 17,225 stores across India.
The company also comes with the deep pockets that are needed for sustainable growth. Reliance Retail Ltd. is a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd., which reported a consolidated turnover of 1,997 billion rupees, or U.S. $26.3 billion, and net profit of 70.55 billion rupees, or U.S. $931 million for the year ended March 31, 2022.
At Jio World Drive, the Tira store is spread across 4,300 square feet, and houses both global and homegrown beauty brands. It was designed by London-headquartered innovation studio Dalziel & Pow.
“Inspired by the goddess Rati, who symbolizes love, passion and beauty, Tira’s launch is in line with Reliance Retail’s overall vision of bringing high quality products to Indian consumers through multiple retail formats,” the company said in a statement, adding that Tira stores will be a “beauty destination” with a focus on curated services.
Beauty tech will play a part, with a station for virtual try-on to create customized looks, and a skin analyzer.
Personalization is a big focus — with gifting stations to help consumers make choices, as well as a section called Fragrance Finder, a signature experience that helps consumers match fragrances closest to their preferences.
“With Tira, we aim to break down barriers in the beauty space and democratize beauty for consumers across segments. Our vision for Tira is to be the leading beauty destination for accessible yet aspirational beauty, one that is inclusive and one that harbors the mission of becoming the most loved beauty retailer in India,” said Isha Ambani, executive director, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (holding company of Reliance Retail Ltd.)
Premium brands have their own space on the app called Tira Red — where shoppers can browse for prestige and luxury brands including Estée Lauder, L’Occitane, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, etc. Tira’s online platform also showcases shopable videos, blogs, tutorials, personal recommendations and virtual try-on features. The website showcases products across eight categories, including makeup, skin care, hair care, fragrance, men’s beauty products, bath and body, mom & baby care, as well as wellness.
The impact of this launch on the existing beauty players is expected to be massive, according to analysts. This includes the big players in the e-commerce space like Nykaa, Myntra, Purplle and Tata Cliq Palette, and physical stores like Sephora, Parcos, department store chain Shoppers Stop’s recently launched SS beauty concept, among others. LVMH-owned Sephora, which is in India with Bengaluru-based Arvind Fashions Ltd., has more than 25 stores.
Nykaa, which started as an e-commerce venture in the beauty space, has been growing fast over the past year, having gone public in October 2021, and growing its revenues from 22.05 billion rupees, U.S. $269 million, for fiscal 2021 to 31.94 billion rupees, U.S. $390 million, in the financial year ending March 31, 2022.
“If [Reliance is] able to crack the beauty model, they will go big — they have done it with jewelry, fashion and other verticals. If you look at the footprint of the Reliance stores, they go for largest coverage,” said Pankaj Renjhen, chief operating officer and joint managing director, real estate services company Anarock Retail, emphasizing the shift happening from unorganized retail to a more organized sector. “As customer maturity grows, looking for better products and more personalized content has become a habit. Grooming also has also taken center stage, and with all of this the beauty category offering has grown hugely, with a lot of segmentation.”
While the Tira app reaches 100 cities, it is largely expected that these cities will be the first targets for opening physical stores, along with metro cities. Typically, the offering of brands and store sizes varies with the catchment areas that vary according to the consumer profile.
Beauty is also expected to grow as a part of the overall retail growth in India in the coming years, keeping pace in double-digit increments.
According to a report by Anarock Retail and the Retailers Association of India, the retail market size is expected to reach $2 trillion by 2032, growing from $690 billion in 2021, facilitating 25 percent compound annual growth rate for the organized retail sector. E-commerce is also likely to gain further momentum, triggered by convenience and acceptance across the country. About 25 million square feet of new mall space are likely to be added across the top seven cities in the coming years, according to the report.
As Renjhen put it, beauty retail is one of the fast-growing segments, particularly after COVID-19, with consumers making a shift toward more self care, as well as a much higher propensity to spend.
“The beauty and grooming sector is continuing to grow as one of the fastest categories,” he affirmed.
However, as Tira makes its first foray into the market, industry analysts are clear that this would be just the beginning of the real change for beauty in India, with far more retail options than ever before, as well as price benefits to consumers.
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