The Indian conglomerate is gearing up to launch an omnichannel beauty platform jointly developed by the company’s recent acquisitions – retail tech start-up, Fynd, and e-pharmacy marketplace Netmeds – according to The Economic Times.
The new platform, said to be named Tira and integrated with Reliance’s fashion website Ajio, will be managed by Isha Ambani, the director of subsidiary Reliance Retail. While Netmeds is responsible for the backend, including warehousing and data management, Fynd will oversee the platform’s frontend and the customer interface.
Reliance Industries’ platform will directly compete with the Indian fashion and beauty retailer Nykaa and Walmart-owned Myntra, aiming to take a bigger bite of the country’s cosmetics and fashion market, which will be worth 14.1 trillion rupees ($190 billion) by 2025 according to GlobalData estimates.
Local press have reported that Tata Group is also planning to enter the beauty business and has already approached some personal care brands to get them on board.
Meanwhile, Nykaa has recently announced that it will triple its store network this year as it looks to attract consumers who prefer offline channels where they can trial and assess the quality and nature of the products.
The omnichannel expansion plan follows the company’s listing last October when it was valued at $14 billion. It also reflects Nykaa’s efforts to regain its trading position in India after experiencing a 96 percent dip in year-on-year income in the second quarter of the fiscal year due to heavy investment in marketing ahead of its IPO.
Ankita Roy, a retail analyst at GlobalData, said given the dynamic retail landscape, companies need to adopt an omnichannel approach to provide seamless shopping experiences to customers across all sales channels, including online, mobile, and physical stores.
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