Akanksha Nagar, Christina Moniz; Financial Express

April 7, 2023

Reliance Retail’s (RR) launch of an omnichannel beauty and personal care (BPC) retail platform Tira this week brought the fight in the $27-billion market right to the doorstep of entrenched brands such as Nykaa, Sephora, Shoppers Stop, Tata Cliq, Myntra et al. Along with the app and website, the Isha Ambani-led company unveiled a 4,300 sq ft flagship store at Jio World Drive at BKC, Mumbai, and is working to set up stores in at least 100 locations across the country over the next few months.

RR already sells BPC products via its large network of department store chains and on its JioMart platform and last year, acquired a controlling stake in makeup and personal care brand Insight Cosmetics. RR was also in talks with Arvind Fashions to acquire Sephora, but media reports suggest the deal was called off earlier this year.

Clearly, RR has been working hard to capture the lion’s share of the fast-growing market.

According to Statista, revenue in the market will amount to $27.23 bn in 2023 and is expected to grow annually by 3.38% (CAGR 2023-27). Calling it a bottomless market, Samit Sinha, managing partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting, says, “There is definitely a huge untapped opportunity for beauty. Though we have seen a fair bit of growth in India over the past few years, we have barely scratched the surface. Its consumers are no longer just women, but also men. Additionally, differences between young female consumers in small cities and those in metro markets are reducing.”

Taking on competition

No doubt Tira has a lot going for it.

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, operates an omnichannel network of 17,225 stores and digital commerce platforms across categories including grocery, consumer electronics, fashion and lifestyle, etc.

Sinha points out that RR has a huge advantage in terms of its distribution reach and suggests it look at tapping the huge, pent-up demand in the smaller markets more than the metros, as consumers in these markets today have similar aspirations as metro consumers.

When it comes to categories like colour cosmetics or fragrances, consumers still will opt for offline retail than online, especially in smaller cities since they have limited retail outlets for product trials. That is what Reliance should be focussing on – creating a large offline footprint for its brand and if there is any company that can meet that need, it is the large corporates like Reliance, he adds.

Distribution apart, RR also needs to have a very clear positioning for the brand, notes Devangshu Dutta, chief executive, Third Eyesight. “Differentiation is the key and for that, it has to be clear about what segment of the market it is targeting and its offering. RR formats and the online presence provides a certain possible viable size of distribution, but beyond that, it has to create its own distinctive position in the market.”

Of course, competition hasn’t been sitting tight. Online market leader Nykaa, for instance, has 141 stores and plans to add another 50 in 2023; Tata Group too has announced the launch of over 20 beauty tech stores in the country.

While it has opened multiple outlets, experts say, Nykaa is still primarily an online brand. And this marketing is getting increasingly cluttered.

The online BPC market is roughly around Rs 10,000 crore in India (which is $1.2 billion) and could double in the next 3-4 years, points out Karan Taurani, senior VP, Elara Capital. That means the category could grow to reach $2.5 billion in 3 to 4 years with a CAGR of 25%.

Also, the BPC market requires a differentiated approach compared to other categories, with a lot of influencer-led campaigns and other marketing efforts to build consumer recall. “Other companies have struggled to acquire the kind of success and growth that Nykaa has seen,” he says.

That said, we have all seen how Reliance’s Ajio has given Myntra a run for its money in the fashion category with heavy discounting; so it is quite possible RR will play spoilsport in the online BPC marketplace and give Nykaa tough competition in the medium to long-term.

Tira is leaving no stone unturned. Its online platform has shoppable videos, blogs, tutorials, trend-setting tips, personal recommendations, and a virtual try-on feature, while its brick-and-mortar store offers beauty tech tools such as virtual try-on, skin analyser, fragrance finder and gifting stations to personalise purchases, along with trained beauty advisors.

Even as Tira is looking to differentiate itself via technology or by offering personalised services, Nisha Sampath, managing partner, Bright Angles Consulting, believes the only way Tira can truly stand out will be through the experience it offers. The proof will lie in how seamlessly it guides the customer through the purchase experience, she sums up.

(Published in Financial Express)

Christina Moniz, Financial Express / BrandWagon

November 4, 2022

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) lingerie brands, often credited with transforming the category and the way women shop for innerwear, are expanding their offline footprint in response to growing demand from tier-II markets and beyond. Zivame, whose journey began online just over a decade ago in 2011, has grown its offline presence to over 120 stores and also sells through over 4,000 partner outlets. In its recently concluded Grand Lingerie Festival, Zivame saw its sales grow three times,with a 120% increase in new customer acquisition. “Tier-II markets are showing massive potential and though tier-1 remains our highest revenue contributor, we are seeing significant revenue baseline shifts in tier-II locations,” says Khatija Lokhandwala, head of marketing at Zivame. The company has announced that its focus will be retail expansion in the second half of this fiscal, going beyond metros and tier-I markets.

Another decade-old D2C player in the innerwear segment, Cloviais eyeing the immense opportunity presented by smaller markets with aggressive expansion plans in place. “Clovia currently has 45 exclusive brand outlets in the country and has been diversifying its product range, with plans to open 130 outlets by the end of this fiscal. Ours has always been a mass- market brand, and most of the repeat customers come from tier-II and tier-III markets,” explains Pankaj Vermani, founder and CEO, Clovia. He notes that over 65% of its customer base is from the non- metro markets, and average order values are 20% higher in these cities compared to the metros. Earlier this year, Reliance Retail Ventures acquired an 89% stake in Clovia’s parent company (Purple Panda Fashions) for Rs. 950 crore. Vermani adds that Clovia will ben- efit from the conglomerate’s scale and retail expertise, driving up growth and love for the brand. Reliance Retail had picked up 15% stake in Zivame back in 2020.

Shaping the market

The women’s innerwear market in India is set to double to reach $11-12 billion by 2025, according to a report by RedSeer. Aside from the key segments of bras and panties, ancillary products like athleisure, sleepwear, swimwear and lounge wear are also boosting the lingerie category’s growth in the country, as is evident from the widening portfolios of leading brands. The online segment for women’s innerwear is expected to become a $1 billion market by 2025.

Experts believe there is a large opportunity for companies to grow since 60% of the $6-billion women’s intimate wear market in India is unorganised, and the category is still largely underserved.

“The lingerie market is an example of improving supply feeding into a growing demand, and the increasing demand expanding the opportunity for more brands to step in. Larger cities, with their higher income profiles and demand concentration, are the logical first-choice market for companies such as Zivame,” points out Devangshu Dutta, CEO, Third Eyesight.

The competition in the large cities is greater, with a plethora of Indian and global brands, which is why Dutta recommends that e-commerce led companies should push aggressively in smaller markets to drive sustained growth.

The fact that D2C brands have better data sets at their disposal to glean insights about Indian women and their concerns when buying innerwear has also worked in their favour.

“Intimate wear shopping can be overwhelming for a lot of women. Finding the right size and choosing styles for their specific needs requires an environment free of embarrassment and judgement. At Zivame, we help women choose the right size and perfect fit, ensuring a private, comfortable and discreet shopping experience,” says Lokhandwala.

While lingerie can sometimes be prohibitively expensive, Vermani points out that Clovia’s feedback-led design approach helps it keep pricing competitive.

The brand creates each product in small quantities, and uses technology to predict future sales based on customer feedback, thereby determining the right quantities for production. He states, “With this approach, we have created a fashion brand that is low on cost, high on consumer appeal and efficient in inventory, leading to better margins and cash flows.”

(Published in Brandwagon, Financial Express)

New Delhi: The launch of online shopping experience by WhatsApp, along with Jio platforms, the holding company for the digital services businesses of Reliance Industries (RIL), will help these companies to take on e-commerce behemoths such as Jeff Bezos-controlled Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart.

Experts are of the view that the partnership will give JioMart, the e-commerce platform of RIL, around 48.7 crore WhatsApp users in India. At present, the total annualised active e-commerce users in the country are only 20 crore.

Rohan Agarwal, partner at research firm Redseer, told Business Standard: “WhatsApp is the primary messaging app for most Indians and the partnership shows the level of access JioMart would have to reach out to them.”

He went on add that it would help in expanding the reach of the e-commerce to users who might not be accessing online retail platforms.

To recap, speaking at the 45th AGM of RIL on Monday (August 29), Isha Ambani, director, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), gave a presentation on placing online grocery orders using Meta-owned WhatsApp and making payments.

In a global first, JioMart on WhatsApp will aid users in India, including first-time online shoppers, to have a new shopping experience in ordering a wide range of groceries on WhatsApp. They will be able to shop via JioMart’s entire grocery catalogue by easily selecting their favourite items. Also, they will be able to add these products to the cart and pay without leaving the WhatsApp chat.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Meta, said the association with JioMart would enable people to buy groceries from JioMart in a single chat.

Agarwal highlighted that most of the online grocery businesses generate from big cities and this alliance will be an opportunity for small cities and towns.

The financial daily quoted Devangshu Dutta, CEO, Third Eyesight, as saying that the partnership will have a big impact on the entire e-commerce industry.

Dutta added that the crucial thing for both companies to be successful is to create a delivery process that is quick and cost-effective.

Source: timesnownews

Over the past five years, legacy players have made a slew of investments in D2C startups. 

Marico has acquired men’s grooming brand Beardo, beauty brand Just Herbs and breakfast brand True Elements. Similarly, Emami acquired vegan cosmetics brand Brillare Science and grooming brand The Man Company. It recently picked up a minority stake in nutrition company TruNativ. Colgate-Palmolive and Reckitt both hold minority stakes in Bombay Shaving Company, whereas Wipro Consumer Care has invested in The Ayurveda Company. ITC has invested in baby and mother care brands Mother Sparsh and Mylo.

Devangshu Dutta explained the reasons behind the trend of larger FMCG companies acquiring D2C brands.

By Sharleen D’Souza & Sourabh Lele

‘First-ever end-to-end shopping experience’ on messaging platform, says Mark Zuckerberg

Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of WhatsApp, will partner with Reliance JioMart for a service where WhatsApp users can buy groceries on the messaging platform from the Indian retail firm.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer (CEO) of Meta Platforms, said in a Facebook post, “[I am] Excited to launch our partnership with JioMart in India. This is our first-ever end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp–people can now buy groceries from JioMart right in a chat.”

“Business messaging is an area with real momentum and chat-based experiences like this will be the go-to way people and businesses communicate in the years to come,” he said in an announcement coinciding with the annual general Meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries the parent company of JioMart.

A Reliance press statement said the service “will enable users in India, including those who have never shopped online before, to seamlessly browse through JioMart’s entire grocery catalog, add items to cart, and make the payment to complete the purchase–all without leaving the WhatsApp chat.”

WhatsApp users can shop on JioMart via by messaging “Hi” to +917977079770.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, said, “The JioMart on WhatsApp experience furthers our commitment to enabling a simple and convenient way of online shopping.”

“Reliance Retail is looking at touching as many consumers across the country and WhatsApp is a logical platform as India is the largest market for the messaging app in the world,” said Devangshu Dutta, CEO of Third Eyesight, a retail consultancy firm. While WhatsApp is important for growth, Reliance Retail will also need to work on product availability and the cost of delivering to the customer, he said.

Ambani said Reliance’s retail business model has “five imperatives”, or ‘Panch Pran’. These include: enriching customer experience using technology; operationalising and growing multiple channels; integrating with small merchants and providing them a platform to prosper. The fourth imperative is to expand the product portfolio and the fifth one is to strengthen logistics and supply chain.

Isha Ambani, director at Reliance Retail Ventures, said at the AGM that the digital commerce platforms–reliancedigital.in and JioMart–enabled the retail major to deliver 93 per cent of online orders from stores within six hours. “We rolled out our JioMart Digital (JMD) initiative during the year. The platform enables small electronics merchants to sell the entire product portfolio of Reliance Retail on an assisted selling model, helping them deliver superior customer experience and growing their income,” she said.

The company’s new commerce initiative is on course to partner with one crore merchants as it expands to cover the entire country in the next five years, Isha Ambani said.

Last year, Reliance Retail entered pharmacy retail with the acquisition of Netmeds. That year, it launched new operations through Netmeds Wholesale and onboarded merchants in 1,900 towns and cities.

Source: business-standard