NYKAA

● INTRODUCTION
Derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Nayaka’ meaning actress or one in the spotlight, Nykaa is all
about celebrating the star in each woman, and being her confidante and companion as she
embarks on her own journey to discover her unique identity and personal style.
Nykaa is an India based brand that specialises in multi-beauty and personal care products. The
brand had been originally established as a sole e-commerce medium until it later began setting
up various retail outlets in many metropolitan cities across the nation. The company's tagline is
'Your Beauty, Our Passion'. There was a partnership occurrence between Nykaa and Peanut
Butter where there was another slogan by their side, which is 'Beauty Anytime, Anywhere'.
The brand specialises in facilitating an extensive collection of cosmetics, skincare, haircare,
fragrances, bath and body, luxury as well as wellness products for both women and men. The
platform facilitates suitably prepared and priced branded products, claiming to receive more
than 1.5 million per month across India.
● The woman behind Business Model of Nykaa- Falguni Nayar
Falguni Nayar is known as a beauty entrepreneur.She led a revolution in the market of beauty
and wellness products.
Falguni Nayar is a graduate in MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, Falguni Nayar started to work at
Kotak Mahindra in investment banking, shortly following her graduation. In 2005, she became
the Managing Director at the same division of the bank. She worked for Kotak Mahindra for
about 18 years, amidst which she took the decision to venture beyond the banking sector and
experiment in other areas. She perceived the unexplored promise held by the online beauty
sector. Since back in those times, there was a dearth of accessible online brands and items
which could be trusted and purchased confidently by the consumers, this is where she saw the
scope for Nykaa. Being passionate about makeup and beauty items she wished to alter the
opinion of Indian women on personal grooming. With the desire of developing something
exclusive to her, she established Nykaa in 2012.
● STORY IN BRIEF:
Although beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, the global beauty industry has never happened
to lose its charm. Alongside its steady growth the industry has also garnered a stream of loyal
customers over generations. Which girl doesn’t love using cosmetics? From practicing makeup
tutorials, experimenting with different shades on idle days, beautifying ourselves prior to a
wedding or a function or just putting on a quick light layer before work, cosmetics play an
integral role in all our lives.
But we’re long past the days when people were required to physically visit cosmetic stores. Why
should brick and mortar stores be the only option when we now have online stores for cosmetics
which allow customers to order items at any time and anyplace.
Despite the Indian economy having plunged to list new lows in the recent months owing to the
lockdown induced by the COVID19 pandemic, there are still a number of platforms which have
continued to stay steady amidst this lockdown.
One of these e-commerce platforms for beauty and wellness items is Nykaa, a platform which
has become the foremost option for all cosmetic lovers in the Indian nation. Anyone out there
who has the slightest interest in making use of beauty and wellness items would have heard of
Nykaa at some point in their lives. This is an e-commerce company which specialises in beauty
and cosmetic items. Established in 2012, this platform has played an intrinsic role in overcoming
the myth that e-commerce and beauty retail fails to perform in India.
Think big, but start small’- Falguni Nayar, CEO, Nykaa

Where a common man sees a problem, an entrepreneur sees an opportunity to find a solution.
This single line caters very well to how Nykaa came to be. The success story of Falguni Nayar,
founder of the multi-brand beauty retailer Nykaa, is a testament to the fact that with the right
training, education and support women can conquer any height. She has built an empire that
started off with a humble beginning, but now stands tall at 200 crores!
Falguni Nayar, who is an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, was the former Managing Director at Kotak
Mahindra Capital Company, which she gave up to pursue the dream of becoming an
entrepreneur. This choice of leaving a fruitful career behind and entering the world of
entrepreneurship was driven by two factors: 1) Her love for makeup, and 2) Her curiosity to
explore the online marketing platform which she recognized to have a lot of potential
She hails from a Gujarati family, but was born and brought up in Mumbai. Her father was a
businessman and she says that the seed of business was planted into her mind at a very young
age. She also has said that the stock market and trade were common topics of discussion in her
house. After graduating from IIM, Ahmedabad, Falguni Nayar spent 19 years working as an
investment banker with the Kotak Mahindra group. In 2005, she took over as the Managing
Director of the investment banking business post which she spearheaded the firm. It was in the
year 2012 that she decided to take the huge leap of faith, by quitting her job at the age of 50
and embarking on an entrepreneurial journey. She was quick to discern that beauty was an
untapped market in India and was on the way to experiencing an explosion. As for her interest
in business, she drew strength from entrepreneurial giants like Ronnie Screwvala of UTV and
Ajay Bijli of PVR Cinemas. Their confidence and readiness to take risks in life inspired her a lot.
Nykaa was founded in 2012 and the idea came to her when she started feeling confident and
empowered at being guided through the right way of using beauty products and being told which
are the right products to be used. Falguni Nayar got the idea of starting Nykaa when she once
walked into a Sephora store.She was amazed by the variety of brands available at the
store.She bought products worth hundreds of dollars. The sales associates showed her the best
way to use them.They recommended her best beauty products without any bias.She felt that
there is a dearth of multi-brand chains in India in beauty and wellness.
She got this experience at multi-brand beauty stores like Sephora, and Falguni, in spite of not
being a regular consumer of beauty products, felt attracted to buy those worth hundreds of
dollars owing to the right guidance. She felt the need to replicate this India. She also wanted the
women of India to feel empowered.
“I wanted to replicate that in India — a multi-brand retailer selling the best beauty, plus a
lot of education to help customers...I wanted to stand for those women who want to be
beautiful for themselves, not for men or other women. Indian women were ready for that
and that's why they related to Nykaa. It was a type of empowerment.”- Falguni Nayar
Falguni stresses on the need for women to come out of their shells and be confident about
handling both professional and personal lives with equal panache. She says that if a woman
with strong determination and will power aims to do something, she will definitely achieve it.
Nykaa has quickly become the first and foremost choice when people tend to buy something
cosmetic online.This is because it is a one-stop solution to everything basic e-required by a
woman. From feminine hygiene to luxury makeup it has everything.
This trust by Nykaa has been developed by delivering 100 per cent authentic products delivered
to the customer on time. In order to achieve this kind of speed and authenticity, Nykaa has
adopted inventory model where they collect all the items at one place in an inventory and
process the order according to the products available in the stock. This ensures that all the bulk
orders are received at once instead of one item at a time, which is the case with Flipkart or
Amazon. This is a fresh approach which served many benefits with it came to earning the trust
of its reiterating customers.
Nykaa has proven to be one of the best startups. With its poised and slow and steady approach,
it is about to become one of the best beauty and wellness giants in the market, in the coming
years. It is the epitome of trust, wellness and care for all its customers
● Expansion Of Nykaa’s Business
In 2015, the company expanded from online-only to an omnichannel model and began selling
fashion products.
In 2018, the company launched Nykaa man, India's first multi-brand ecommerce store for men’s
grooming.The company expanded into fashion by launching Nykaa Design Studio, which was
renamed to Nykaa Fashion.
In 2020, Nykaa launched Nykaa PRO. It is a premium membership program that provides users
a special access to professional beauty products and offers via the Nykaa App. In Dec 2020,
Nykaa Fashion launched its first store in Delhi, making the fashion business omni-channel.
Nykaa aims to increase their offline footprint to 180-200 Nykaa stores in the next 4-5 years.

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How did Falguni Nayar come up with the idea of starting Nykaa?

What business model does Nykaa follow and why is it effective?

● INTRODUCTION

● The woman behind Business Model of Nykaa- Falguni Nayar

Think big, but start small’- Falguni Nayar, CEO, Nykaa

● Expansion Of Nykaa’s Business

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