The Business of Beauty: Falguni Nayar on why Nykaa is a leader in Omnichannel retailing

April 2012 marked the beginning of a journey that can well be documented as a case study for budding e-commerce entrepreneurs. This was the year that entrepreneur Falguni Nayar created a niche in the online beauty space with her venture www.nykaa.com. In an elaborate interaction with Indiaretailing.com, Falguni Nayar – who is the CEO of Nykaa – talks about the journey of the brand, which has over the years, turned into a leader in Omnichannel retailing in the business of beauty.
Nykaa has achieved a gross merchandise value (GMV) of Rs 275 crore for the financial year 2016-17, with a net revenue of Rs 214 crores. This was an increase of 3.6X in GMV as compared to the previous financial year. It is on the path to being EBITDA profitable by the end of 2017.
Talking about why she chose to go with Nykaa, Falguni, says, “I started Nykaa.com with the vision of making the best of beauty products from around the world available to the Indian consumer. Today, we are the leading beauty destination in India with 700 brands and 80,000 products. A natural extension in offering customers a holistic shopping experience is to allow a touch-and-feel of products in a physical store.  In this way, we are available at every touch point for a customer, whether they would like to buy online or offline.”
She further elaborated on the USP of her brand, saying, “At first, we differentiated ourselves with the strong content that we deliver, both on the site and through our marketing channels. The thousands of ratings and reviews, along with expert opinions on our blog – Beauty Book – allow customers to make an informed choice for their beauty needs. Then, we have a very engaged community of beauty enthusiasts across our social media platforms on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc. which allows us to keep up a robust conversation on the latest launches and best offers.”
Giving due credit to Nykaa’s Omnichannel strategies, she says, “We have made our offering available through omni-channel with our five physical stores across the country. We have Nykaa Luxe stores are Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (T2), Mumbai, Indira Gandhi International Airport (T3), New Delhi, VR Mall, Bangalore, Infiniti, Mumbai and Khan Market, New Delhi. This will grow to 30 stores by 2020.
“We will shortly be launching a new format of offline stores called ‘Nykaa On Trend’ that will have a curation of the top-selling products from our site. In this way customers will have the pick of the best products across categories, along with detailed product information and expert assistance from our sales staff,” she adds.
​Another attribute to their successful stint is the launch of their private labels. She says, “Since 2015, Nykaa has launched a range of private label products including a colour cosmetics range of nail enamels, lip products, face products and a bath and body range. A range of natural skincare and fragrances will also be launched shortly. Nykaa Private Label is one of the top selling brands on our platform today.”