Reliance Retail Ventures breathes new life into Sephora

Sephora, the world’s leading omni-channel beauty retailer, announced a partnership with Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (RRVL), to develop and define the future of prestige beauty retail in India. The partnership gives RRVL exclusive rights to build and enhance Sephora’s presence in India across channels.

Since its first foray into India in 2012 with Arvind Fashion Ltd., Sephora has leveraged its brand and product curation capabilities, and strong point of view on beauty and experiential retail to cater to the beauty needs of India’s vast consumer base. “We are tremendously excited to partner with the largest retail group in India to step-change our business. Rising affluence, increasing urbanisation and the proliferation of social media have driven greater awareness of self-care and beauty, unlocking major opportunities for prestige beauty. It is an opportune time for us to invest in expanding our presence, and bring new, exciting, and exclusive brands to delight our growing community of beauty enthusiasts,” says Alia Gogi, Asia president, Sephora. “We are equally grateful to Arvind for their partnership over the past eight years to get us positioned for the next stage of growth.”

OF course RRVL is excited and proud to partner with Sephora. “The burgeoning Indian beauty market is being propelled by a new generation of customers with a strong desire to express their individuality, rising aesthetic refinement and a growing number of women in the young workforce of India. The Indian consumerism journey is at a tipping point, providing the perfect tail wind to this partnership. Importantly this partnership will help us straddle across the value chain in beauty and personal care segment,” says V. Subramaniam, director, RRVL.

As part of the partnership with Sephora, Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Ltd. will take over the current India operations of Sephora's 26 stores across 13 cities from Arvind Fashions Ltd., as it sets in motion a plan to expand Sephora's presence in the country. During this period of transition, the stores and website will be operating business as usual. Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Limited operates the beauty business for RRVL.

Sephora needs no introduction. It is a leading global prestige beauty retail brand. It serves a community of hundreds of millions of beauty followers across its more than 2,700 stores, e-commerce and digital platforms. It also has a curation of close to 300 brands, including its own label, Sephora Collection. According to N.Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research, a consumer insights and brand analytics company, Sephora’s partnership with RRVL will be the inflection point for Sephora in India. “Don’t go by what has happened till now,” he says. “Reliance Retail has the largest retail footprint in the country, and that will make a huge difference to Sephora.

Reliance Retail Limited, a subsidiary of RRVL, is the only Indian retailer in the global Top 100, and amongst the fastest growing retailers globally as per Deloitte's Global Powers of Retailing 2023. The Indian beauty and personal care market is pegged at US$ 17 billion, and set to grow at an 11 per cent CAGR, is still believed to be in its infancy; positioning India as one of the largest untapped consumer markets globally. Though in the Indian market for the last eight years, it will be interesting to see how the financial and retail power of RRVL breathes new life into Indian arm of this global beauty business.