Dalip Sehgal, CEO, Nexus Select Trust, which operates a portfolio of over 18 premium malls in India, said consumers are increasingly diversifying their expenditure with more focus on experiences and grooming. “Beauty will become even bigger. So, let’s say fashion today is 45-50% of the business. My sense is that between 5-7% of that will migrate to beauty because that’s under-penetrated as a category,” Sehgal said in an interview with Mint.
Brands such as Nars (cosmetics), Gucci Beauty, Prada Beauty, and YSL Beauty opened stores in India via malls operated by the company in the current fiscal. Meanwhile, according to its December quarter investor update, French fashion company Maison Margiela and perfumer Diptyque Paris plan to expand their offline beauty portfolios via Nexus.
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Its malls also house beauty retailers such as Reliance Retail’s Tira and Sephora, as well as Jo Malone stores. Its portfolio targets an upmarket urban consumer base that has remained resilient through economic slowdowns.
Beauty sales grew 5% year-on-year in the first nine months of the current fiscal year for the developer, which operates the largest portfolio of malls in India.
Meanwhile, within its portfolio, Nexus Select Trust is seeing strong performance in family entertainment, beauty and personal care, and food courts, while apparel and supermarkets lag. The company is also revamping its food courts, which are outperforming dine-in restaurants.
This move indicates a split, with consumers allocating funds to newer categories like premium beauty and experiences such as dining out.
By the end of the decade, customers in rural and urban India are projected to shift spending from essential categories like food and food services to discretionary categories, according to a February report by Deloitte.
Biju Kassim, customer care associate and CEO, Beauty at department store chain Shoppers Stop, said malls provide a high-traffic environment, attract diverse consumer segments, and foster brand discovery.
Beauty space
Shoppers Stop sells beauty products in its own stores and manages specialty beauty stores for global brands such as M.A.C., Estée Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Nars, Jo Malone, and Too Faced in India. It also operates the multi-brand beauty retail store SSBeauty.
In the past fiscal year (FY24), the retailer expanded its retail footprint by opening four standalone SSBeauty stores at premium locations, including Elante Mall, Quest Mall, Ambience Mall Gurgaon, and Bangalore T2 Airport.
“This year (FY25), we have already opened two more stores at Monard and Koramangala. With a total of 15 stores to date, our focus remains on strategic expansion in high-footfall, high-relevance locations,” Kassim said. He added that premium malls, in particular, offer a curated mix of brands and experiences, enhancing impulse purchases.
While beauty as a category has always reported strong growth, mall developers say they have better-quality tenants now, said others.
This is due to more international brands eyeing entry into the market.
“For brands like Dior, Chanel, etc, beauty is among their key selling categories. Beauty has also become a little bit more mainstream from a customer point of view. So we are looking at more standalone beauty stores,” said Pushpa Bector, senior executive director and business head, DLF Retail. DLF Retail operates seven shopping centres, primarily in north India.
Bector stated this trend aligns with increased market premiumization, as affluent shoppers purchase more high-priced goods.
However, Bector stated the developer will balance the tenant profile by adding brands that meet current shopper needs.
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Meanwhile, online retailers like Nykaa and Tira compete with several brands, as online shopping is heavily discount-driven.
Anuj Kejriwal, CEO & MD at real-estate consulting firm Anarock Retail, said rising disposable incomes, changing customer tastes, and a growing desire for premium and luxury goods drive the trend. “Although first brand exposure has been driven by e-commerce, long-term success depends on an omnichannel strategy which combines online and offline shopping,” he said.
More global beauty companies will enter India via flagship stores or carefully chosen beauty counters as malls continue to transform into lifestyle venues. This will certainly change the scenario for Indian beauty retail in the next few years, he added.
