Shiseido-owned Nars was in talks with Shoppers Stop and Tata Cliq for a potential partnership with one of them to enter India
New Delhi: Shoppers Stop has signed up a franchisee agreement with Japan’s premium cosmetics brand Nars Cosmetics, piping Tata Cliq which was also in talks with the Tokyo-based cosmetics giant.
“Big Welcome to Nars in SS (Shoppers Stop) family!!,” said Deepak Yadav, chief business development officer- International Beauty, Large Format Fashion, Estée Lauder Brands, Home & Travel Retail at Shoppers Stop Ltd. in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.
Shoppers Stop will also open Nars-branded boutiques in the country and the BSE-listed department store chain has been scouting for mall spaces for standalone Nars stores, according to two top mall executives.
IndiaRetailing had reported in September that Nars was planning to enter India and the Tokyo-based giant was in talks with Shoppers Stop and Tata Cliq for a potential partnership with one of them.
A delegation from Nars Cosmetics visited India in September to access the country’s market and held talks with Shoppers, Tata Cliq and a few other Indian companies.
One top executive of a company that was in talks with Nars had said that Nars is the most online-searched cosmetics brand in India.
Currently, Nars products are available on the online marketplaces of Amazon and Flipkart. Nars products are priced on Amazon’s India site at Rs 2,400 for a lip pencil and a limited-edition box containing a blush, contour and a lip palette for Rs 10,750.
Nars was founded in 1994 by French make-up artist and photographer Francois Nars. Subsequently, the brand gained popularity for its blushes and concealers. In 2000, it was acquired by Japan’s beauty and cosmetics conglomerate Shiseido.
Both Tata and Shoppers Stop are expanding aggressively in India’s rapidly growing beauty and cosmetics market.
IndiaRetailing reported last month that Tata Group is foraying into the beauty and cosmetics business with a standalone venture to tap into India’s growing market for such products. Tata will make its beauty and cosmetics standalone entry through Tata Cliq and the e-commerce platform is currently testing an app called Tata Cliq Palette dedicated to beauty and cosmetics, which is scheduled to launch in the coming months.
On the other hand, Shoppers Stop is also expanding its beauty and Cosmetics portfolio. Shoppers Stop plans to open 15-20 beauty and cosmetics stores of Estee Lauder and its SS Beauty format every year.
