First-time brands have been launching with dizzying speed in India over the past yr.

Probably the most recent: Makeup powerhouse Nars, with more resulting from come, including color cosmetics from Gucci, Prada, Armani and Valentino. Meanwhile, beauty retail has been growing dramatically, too.

After months of anticipation, Nars debuted in Recent Delhi and Mumbai last week with department store chain Shoppers Stop and in 10 Sephora doors, in addition to online with each retailers. The brand’s first standalone boutique will open in December at the distinguished Select Citywalk mall, an enormous beauty destination.

Nicole Tan, president and chief executive officer, Asia-Pacific, Shiseido, in India for the launch, said the structure of retail in India was prompting a change in strategy. “It’s the primary time within the history of the brand that Nars is doing an omnichannel launch like this,” she said. “It’s also the primary time that any brand in India is launching with this multipronged approach to bring the brand to as many consumers, as many touch points, in such a qualitative way.”

Euromonitor estimates beauty and private care sales in India reached $17.16 billion for 2022. That figure is anticipated to the touch $18.65 billion in 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 8.8 percent.

Nars tapped Shoppers Stop subsidiary Global SS Beauty brands Ltd. to be its distributor. The move is indicative of fixing times, as retailers are also increasingly adding that capability to their portfolios.  

Last yr, Global Beauty SS Brands launched eight prestige brands from L’Oréal, including fragrances by Prada, Valentino, Mugler, Ralph Lauren, Azzaro, Maison Margiela, Atelier Cologne and Viktor & Rolf.

Clarins began working with the corporate in January, and is anticipated to extend from 45 to 55 doors in the subsequent few months, and By Kilian launched in 4 doors earlier this yr. Early next yr, SS beauty is slated to launch color cosmetics from Prada, Valentino and Armani.

“Beauty goes to be the subsequent big revolution,” said Biju Kassim, CEO of Beauty, Shoppers Stop, where the category represents 16.5 percent of the group’s turnover, which was 50.66 billion rupees/ $610 million in fiscal yr 2023, a growth of 63 percent year-over-year. “There’s a whole lot of confidence within the category which Shoppers Stop desires to leverage.”

The department store chain has 107 stores, plus an extra 15 freestanding SS beauty doors, and a partnership with the Estée Lauder Cos. that numbers greater than 80 stores.

While brands have been talking concerning the tipping point for beauty in India for years, there have been challenges. Shiseido launched Za Cosmetics nine years ago and pulled out after two years. “It was a really different time,” said Tan. “Za was competing within the mass segment, and never particularly relevant for the buyer in India. But 10 years on things are very different,” she added, noting that the digital revolution and the democratization of travel have brought international trends to India.

“We also see more women entering the workforce, which supplies them the income to afford to precise themselves in ways in which they’d like to,” she said. “All that has contributed to the notice around more international brands.”

Tan expects the range of Nars shade range to be resonant in India, noting that its key foundation franchise has greater than 40 shades, 95 percent of that are within the assortment here.

The Shiseido brand, which has been in India for greater than twenty years, also made a move last week, opening its first stand-alone store in Mumbai through its long-standing distributor, Baccarose. A second store will open in Bengaluru in the approaching weeks, and the brand appointed its first brand ambassador here, Bollywood actor Tamannaah Bhatia, in October.

While there’s an influx of brands available in the market, there’s also been various latest retail players. The country’s largest industrial groups each launched their long awaited beauty formats — Tira by Reliance Retail and Tata Cliq Palette by Tata Ltd., each of which also has a web based presence and massive growth plans for the approaching years.

Tira launched its first store in April and Tata Cliq Palette opened in August. They join a landscape that features Sephora, which has 26 doors in partnership with Arvind Fashions Ltd.; the Baccarose-owned perfumery chain Parcos, which has greater than 60 doors, and Nykaa’s 105.

For its part, Parcos is expanding its reach with Parcos Luxe, geared toward high-end area of interest fragrances, and Beauty by Parcos, focused on skincare and makeup. The distributor has also brought in Serge Lutens and Laura Mercier with stand-alone stores, and Gucci makeup and Dolce & Gabanna are expected to launch.

Beauty Concepts Private Ltd., one other long-standing beauty distributor, with brands like Bulgari, Guerlain and Hérmes, has been making similar shifts. Maison Des Parfums, which sells a set of area of interest scents, will open its fifth store next week, and a latest format, called Beaute Luxe, brings luxury brands within the categories of beauty, fragrance, fashion and accessories under one umbrella, with 12 doors. There’s also Beauty Scentiments, which has 10 kiosks in tier 2 and tier 3 cities to bring the retail experience to locales that lack access to beauty products.

E-commerce majors should not getting left behind. Amazon India has expanded its beauty category with the launch of a worldwide beauty store that houses greater than 60 international  brands including Paula’s Alternative, Farmacy, Caudalie, L’Occitane, CosRX, Laneige, Innisfree, Makeup Revolution, Chopard and JPMS.

Walmart-owned Myntra has been stepping up its beauty segment, too. The platform has greater than 90,000 stock keeping units and 1,500 domestic and global brands, including MAC, Clinique, Profit Cosmetics, NYX, Barry M, Sebastian Skilled, and Etude, based on a spokesperson.