Latest news with #Nayar
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
'Quick commerce ops not hurting beauty biz, its aiding personal care'
As vertical ecommerce players gear up to fight the quick commerce battle, Nykaa is taking a cautious approach toward the segment. After piloting quick-commerce platform Nykaa Now in select pin codes across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru last year, the beauty and fashion etailer says its core beauty category isn't designed for 10-minute deliveries and much of the traction is coming from personal care products . "Nearly 80% of what we sell is beauty and 20% is personal care. Personal care is what's really picking up on quick commerce," said Adwaita Nayar, cofounder of Nykaa and executive director and CEO of Nykaa Fashion. "Our beauty business' gross merchandise value (GMV) has grown at 30% year-on-year for the last four quarters. So I don't think we're seeing an impact of quick commerce. It's hard to know what growth would have looked like without it, but we're where we expected to be." Beauty is a discovery and inspiration-led category, where there is a lot of width and depth that needs to be serviced. The nature of quick commerce doesn't typically support that kind of assortment, Nayar told ET in an interview. She clarified that the Nykaa Now list is curated separately with a focus on personal care and gifting rather than mirroring its primary ecommerce catalogue. The cautious tone contrasts with how horizontal quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy 's Instamart, and Zepto have aggressively expanded into newer categories such as electronics and fashion and beauty products. These companies have said beauty and personal care is fastest growing on their platforms. Along with the bigger players like Myntra, several vertical quick commerce startups have emerged, backed by venture capital including the likes of Slikk and Blip in the fashion and apparel space. She did acknowledge a broader shift in delivery expectations. "It's not about 10 minutes, but people's expectations for delivery speed globally is just going up," she said. Even as discretionary spending slows in parts of India's consumer internet market, Nykaa's beauty business continues to grow at a healthy pace, Nayar said. For the quarter ended March, FSN E-Commerce , Nykaa's parent company, posted a net profit of Rs 19 crore, almost double that reported in the year earlier. Operating revenue rose 23.6% year-on-year to Rs 2,016.7 crore, led by gains in beauty and personal care. "We are aware of the broader slowdown. We benchmark ourselves against a lot of these companies and understand what their growth rates look like. But so far, Nykaa hasn't seen a similar impact," Nayar said. "Based on our estimates, the online beauty and personal care market grew in the low 20s, while we grew in the high 20s." In contrast, the fashion vertical, which Nayar has led over the last few years, is growing at a slower pace, though it has outpaced overall industry growth at 12% year-on-year GMV growth in FY25. "Actually, if you compare the net sales value (of beauty and fashion) it is a more apples-to-apples metric. The split is 75:25 in GMV terms and 80:20 in NSV." Her goal is not to make fashion bigger than beauty, but to build a strong and profitable business with a clearly defined niche. Nayar said Nykaa Fashion's positioning remains distinct from fast-fashion players like Shein, which has re-entered India through Reliance Industries .
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
ID startups face data heat; Nykaa eases into qcomm
ID startups face data heat; Nykaa eases into qcomm Also in the letter: ID please? MeitY verifies the verifiers What's happened: Under the lens: Banks access the Aadhaar database under strict licence agreements to authenticate customers. The government is now probing how these services are offering verification services, and whether the routes they use are compliant. These platforms typically partner with financial institutions, consumer-facing startups and other entities to help them verify customers or businesses. Their services are used to detect fraud and assess clients for underwriting. Expert take: Yes, but: Also Read: 'Quick commerce ops not hurting beauty biz, its aiding personal care' Driving the news: Why it matters: Beauty is among the most competitive ecommerce categories, and quick commerce platforms are seeing strong growth from impulse-driven beauty buys. Nykaa, however, is staying the course, pointing to its core category's reliance on depth, shade options, and browsing behaviour. 'People browse a lot of shades and products before they buy. The nature of quick commerce doesn't typically support that kind of assortment,' Nayar added. By the numbers: 30% year-on-year growth in Nykaa's beauty GMV over the past four quarters. Delivery time cut from four days to two. Same-day or next-day delivery is active in 100 cities. Nykaa Now orders are currently fulfilled via dark stores, with other models under trial. Also Read: Go deeper: Also Read: Why vibe coding needs more than vibes for enterprise-scale solutions What happened: Also Read: Golden use case: Also Read: Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Lenskart becomes public limited company in preparation for IPO: NCLAT rejects Byju's resolution professional's petition in Aakash shareholding row: Sundar Pichai answers who would be next Google CEO: Computational thinking is key as AI reshapes software: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella | Global Picks We Are Reading Happy Monday! Startups offering identity verification services are under the government's scanner. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ Vibe coding needs more than vibes■ Lenskart's IPO route■ Byju's in NCLATThe government is investigating startups offering identity verification services for potential unauthorised access to the Aadhaar, permanent account number (PAN) and goods and services tax (GST) ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) is investigating firms, including Surepass, Digitap, Zoop, and Signzy, over concerns they may have bypassed authorised protocols to access confidential databases. In response, MeitY has blocked access to some of these companies' websites via telecom verification startups collect customer application forms from clients and then scrape databases to confirm identity. According to an industry insider, this data is often available through open websites, unsecured APIs or even the dark flagged a growing number of startups relying on such scraping techniques, potentially without proper such as Idfy, DigiO, Signzy and Datasutram are among the widely used in this space. However, only a few platforms have faced regulatory action so far, ET has Nayar, CEO, NykaaAs Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart expand aggressively into beauty and personal care, Nykaa is taking a more slower, curated approach . Its pilot, Nykaa Now, is live in select areas of Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bengaluru, with a deliberate focus on personal care rather than its core beauty range.'Nearly 80% of what we sell is beauty and 20% is personal care. Personal care is what's really picking up on quick commerce,' Adwaita Nayar, cofounder and CEO of Nykaa Fashion, told us in an Now is designed as a separate merchandising layer, curated using demand signals and quick commerce-specific use cases. 'It's not about what Nykaa already sells, but what the customer really wants quickly. That's more likely to be personal care or gifting,' Nayar Nykaa is actively improving fulfilment speeds platform-wide, Nayar remains sceptical of the 10-minute delivery rush. 'It's not about 10 minutes. But people's expectations for delivery speed globally are going up.'In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), vibe coding is all the rage, with companies and tech celebrities touting it as a simple way to build websites and apps using just a prompt. But the founders ET spoke to are highlighting the flip said the growing trend of vibe coding, where developers rely on AI prompts to generate code, is triggering increased scrutiny, more rigorous code reviews, and a heavier burden on senior engineers to guide younger AI takes over the mechanics of coding, the new wave of engineers entering the workforce often lacks core programming knowledge. This has led to subpar code that requires additional checks and rarely reaches production without significant remains one of the most visible and impactful applications of AI. Around 30% of new code at Google and Microsoft is now AI-generated, and executives expect that share to grow over time..'There is an overdependence on LLMs, and this is leading to critical thinking issues,' said Nida Sahar, founder of bootstrapped cloud infrastructure platform Piyush Bansal, CEO, LenskartOmnichannel eyewear brand Lenskart has converted itself into a public company as it prepares for a public listing, changing its registered name from Lenskart Solutions Private Limited to Lenskart Solutions Limited through a special resolution passed by its Chennai bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday dismissed an appeal lodged by the resolution professional of Byju's parent, Think & Learn, against an interim order that mandated the maintenance of the status quo on the shareholding of Aakash chief executive Sundar Pichai, expects AI to play a critical role in the tech giant's future leadership at the Bloomberg Tech Conference. When asked whether a human or AI will run Google in the future, Pichai stated, 'I do think whoever is running it will have an extraordinary AI companion.' In a recent conversation with tech YouTuber Sajjaad Khade, Nadella encouraged aspiring developers to concentrate on the fundamentals of software engineering, despite the increasing role of AI in coding. 'Just getting real fundamentals of software, if you're a software engineer, I think matters a lot,' Nadella said. 'To me, having the ability to think computationally is important.'■ Apple's struggles to update Siri lead to investor concerns over AI strategy ( FT ■ How Trump and Musk are still linked - despite falling out ( BBC ■ New apps help immigrants navigate Trump's deportation crackdown ( Rest of World
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
'Quick commerce ops not hurting beauty biz, its aiding personal care'
As Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart expand aggressively into beauty and personal care, Nykaa is taking a slower, more curated approach. Its pilot, Nykaa Now, is live in select areas of Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bengaluru, with a deliberate focus on personal care rather than its core beauty range. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads As vertical ecommerce players gear up to fight the quick commerce battle, Nykaa is taking a cautious approach toward the segment. After piloting quick-commerce platform Nykaa Now in select pin codes across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru last year, the beauty and fashion etailer says its core beauty category isn't designed for 10-minute deliveries and much of the traction is coming from personal care products "Nearly 80% of what we sell is beauty and 20% is personal care. Personal care is what's really picking up on quick commerce," said Adwaita Nayar, cofounder of Nykaa and executive director and CEO of Nykaa Fashion. "Our beauty business' gross merchandise value (GMV) has grown at 30% year-on-year for the last four quarters. So I don't think we're seeing an impact of quick commerce. It's hard to know what growth would have looked like without it, but we're where we expected to be."Beauty is a discovery and inspiration-led category, where there is a lot of width and depth that needs to be serviced. The nature of quick commerce doesn't typically support that kind of assortment, Nayar told ET in an clarified that the Nykaa Now list is curated separately with a focus on personal care and gifting rather than mirroring its primary ecommerce catalogue. The cautious tone contrasts with how horizontal quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy 's Instamart, and Zepto have aggressively expanded into newer categories such as electronics and fashion and beauty products. These companies have said beauty and personal care is fastest growing on their with the bigger players like Myntra, several vertical quick commerce startups have emerged, backed by venture capital including the likes of Slikk and Blip in the fashion and apparel did acknowledge a broader shift in delivery expectations. "It's not about 10 minutes, but people's expectations for delivery speed globally is just going up," she as discretionary spending slows in parts of India's consumer internet market, Nykaa's beauty business continues to grow at a healthy pace, Nayar said. FSN E-Commerce , Nykaa's parent company, posted a net profit of Rs 19 crore, almost double that reported in the year earlier. Operating revenue rose 23.6% year-on-year to Rs 2,016.7 crore, led by gains in beauty and personal care."We are aware of the broader slowdown. We benchmark ourselves against a lot of these companies and understand what their growth rates look like. But so far, Nykaa hasn't seen a similar impact," Nayar said."Based on our estimates, the online beauty and personal care market grew in the low 20s, while we grew in the high 20s."In contrast, the fashion vertical, which Nayar has led over the last few years, is growing at a slower pace, though it has outpaced overall industry growth at 12% year-on-year GMV growth in FY25."Actually, if you compare the net sales value (of beauty and fashion) it is a more apples-to-apples metric. The split is 75:25 in GMV terms and 80:20 in NSV."Her goal is not to make fashion bigger than beauty, but to build a strong and profitable business with a clearly defined said Nykaa Fashion's positioning remains distinct from fast-fashion players like Shein, which has re-entered India through Reliance Industries
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
'Quick commerce ops not hurting beauty biz, its aiding personal care'
As vertical ecommerce players gear up to fight the quick commerce battle, Nykaa is taking a cautious approach toward the segment. After piloting quick-commerce platform Nykaa Now in select pin codes across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru last year, the beauty and fashion etailer says its core beauty category isn't designed for 10-minute deliveries and much of the traction is coming from personal care products."Nearly 80% of what we sell is beauty and 20% is personal care. Personal care is what's really picking up on quick commerce," said Adwaita Nayar, cofounder of Nykaa and executive director and CEO of Nykaa Fashion. "Our beauty business' gross merchandise value (GMV) has grown at 30% year-on-year for the last four quarters. So I don't think we're seeing an impact of quick commerce. It's hard to know what growth would have looked like without it, but we're where we expected to be."Beauty is a discovery and inspiration-led category, where there is a lot of width and depth that needs to be serviced. The nature of quick commerce doesn't typically support that kind of assortment, Nayar told ET in an interview. She clarified that the Nykaa Now list is curated separately with a focus on personal care and gifting rather than mirroring its primary ecommerce catalogue. The cautious tone contrasts with how horizontal quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy's Instamart, and Zepto have aggressively expanded into newer categories such as electronics and fashion and beauty products. These companies have said beauty and personal care is fastest growing on their platforms. Along with the bigger players like Myntra, several vertical quick commerce startups have emerged, backed by venture capital including the likes of Slikk and Blip in the fashion and apparel space. She did acknowledge a broader shift in delivery expectations. "It's not about 10 minutes, but people's expectations for delivery speed globally is just going up," she said. Even as discretionary spending slows in parts of India's consumer internet market, Nykaa's beauty business continues to grow at a healthy pace, Nayar said. For the quarter ended March, FSN E-Commerce, Nykaa's parent company, posted a net profit of Rs 19 crore, almost double that reported in the year earlier. Operating revenue rose 23.6% year-on-year to Rs 2,016.7 crore, led by gains in beauty and personal care."We are aware of the broader slowdown. We benchmark ourselves against a lot of these companies and understand what their growth rates look like. But so far, Nykaa hasn't seen a similar impact," Nayar said. "Based on our estimates, the online beauty and personal care market grew in the low 20s, while we grew in the high 20s."In contrast, the fashion vertical, which Nayar has led over the last few years, is growing at a slower pace, though it has outpaced overall industry growth at 12% year-on-year GMV growth in FY25. "Actually, if you compare the net sales value (of beauty and fashion) it is a more apples-to-apples metric. The split is 75:25 in GMV terms and 80:20 in NSV." Her goal is not to make fashion bigger than beauty, but to build a strong and profitable business with a clearly defined niche. Nayar said Nykaa Fashion's positioning remains distinct from fast-fashion players like Shein, which has re-entered India through Reliance Industries.
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Nykaa has big plans for house of brands business
Beauty and personal care retailer Nykaa expects its house of brands business to grow significantly and drive profitability over the next three years, co-founder Adwaita Nayar said. The company is betting on its bouquet of home brands in the cosmetics, personal care and apparel segments to lead the charge. Together, Nykaa's house of brands business across fashion and cosmetics has hit a gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate of ₹2,100 crore, Nayar said in an interview. 'It has more than doubled in size in two years," said Nayar, an executive director on the listed company's board and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nykaa Fashion. Also read | Nykaa to expand rapid delivery service to more metros as quick commerce takes off FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd, which operates as Nykaa, has acquired three brands—Dot & Key, Earth Rhythm and GICA brands—and built nine others in-house. 'We've been slowly trying to fill the white spaces. We got brands in make-up—like Nykaa Cosmetics and Kay Beauty. We got brands in skincare like Earth Rhythm. We've slowly started building Wanderlust, which is our bath and body brand. We've just started building our perfume business. We have Indian wear, western wear, lingerie and sportswear," Nayar said. Nykaa has been building its brand capabilities over the last few years by hiring key talent, setting up processes and capabilities, working on the product research and development and distribution, Nayar said. Founded by her mother Falguni Nayar in 2012, Nykaa began as an e-commerce platform to curate beauty and wellness products, eventually expanding into fashion and offline retail to become a prominent omnichannel beauty and lifestyle destination. Also read | Nykaa to continue investing in beauty business to drive customer acquisition Dot & Key, which Nykaa acquired when it had annual sales of ₹40 crore, has grown 14-fold over the last four years. It expects some of its own brands like Nykaa Cosmetics, Kay Beauty, Nykd and Twenty Dresses to lead the charge. Nykaa Cosmetics is a ₹350 crore gross margin merchandise business. 'Slowly, steadily, we want to build great customer brands in each of these," she said. Apart from selling online through its website and app, Nykaa has a network of around 237 stories across 70 cities. For fashion, the company currently relies solely on its online channels and does not have an offline presence, Nayar said. Nykaa's offline business continues to be profitable, driving its overall growth. Long-term bet Another new line of business that the group is expecting to boom over the long term is its Superstore business, where Nykaa acts as a distributor for its own as well as other brands. Currently, the firm has a network of around 270,000 retailers across 1,000 cities. Also read | Can Nykaa's house-of-brands strategy be its next growth driver? 'If the overall beauty business is around $21 billion in India, around $17 billion is offline, of which around $12 billion is unorganized. There is huge potential to grow this B2B (business-to-business) part," Nayar added. On 30 May, FSN E-Commerce Ventures reported a 193% jump in its consolidated net profit to ₹20 crore in the March quarter. The company earned a consolidated net profit of ₹7 crore in the same period a year earlier. Consolidated revenue grew 24% to ₹2,062 crore in Q4, against ₹1,668 crore a year before. The firm reported consolidated beauty operations sales of ₹1,895 crore in Q4, up from ₹1,520 crore a year earlier. Consolidated revenue from the fashion vertical grew to ₹161 crore in the March quarter from ₹145 crore a year ago. On Friday, the company's share price closed ₹196.63 a share on the National Stock Exchange, while the benchmark Nifty closed 1.02% up at 25003.05. Nykaa's market capitalization stood at ₹56,214.45 crore.
