Sephora partners with Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Limited in order to enhance its prestige and increase its retail presence in India. With this agreement, Sephora grants Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Limited exclusive rights to promote and enable its expansion in the country.
This move will allow Reliance Retail Ventures Limited's subsidiary to take control of Sephora's 26 outlets in the country, spread across a total of 13 cities. This move is part of a strategic plan to increase and consolidate Sephora's presence in the country and to enable Reliance to enhance its brand portfolio in the personal care and beauty area.
Both parties have found the right moment. The beauty, cosmetics and personal care market is booming in the country. "Rising affluence, increasing urbanisation and the proliferation of social media have driven greater awareness of self-care and beauty, opening up great opportunities for prestige beauty. It is an opportune time for us to invest in expanding our presence and bring new, exciting and exclusive brands to delight our growing community of beauty enthusiasts," explained Alia Gogi, President of Sephora's Asia division.
According to Euromonitor, the make-up market alone is worth $17 billion in 2023, and is expected to almost double by 2027.
L'Oréal currently accounts for the majority of colour cosmetics purchases in India, thanks to its unique brand in the country, formerly owned by Unilever. Less than 2 points behind is Mac, which is owned by Unilever, followed by Maybelline NewYork.
By 2022, as Euromonitor's latest report indicates, 89% of retail is offline, and only 11% is e-commerce, so physical retail outlets have a very significant presence in the Indian market.
At the end of last year and the beginning of 2023, we saw large conglomerates and companies in the beauty and luxury sector paying special attention. One example is Estée Lauder, L'Oréal itself and Puig acquiring new brands and licenses, turning India into a new focus of beauty led by the presence of Ayurveda in many of the products and which fits perfectly with the holistic concept of beauty that is booming today. And which, as Mintel has already anticipated, will also be with us in 2024.