Reliance Retail in beauty, personal care biz with Tira

The retailer that now has a presence across apparel, grocery, luxury, footwear, electronics and jewellery retail also announced the opening of the flagship Tira store at Jio World Drive in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex.

The company could potentially scale up the Tira store format across 100 cities in India; formats could change according to locations, said people familiar with the retailer’s plan.

A quick look at the Tira app—presents brands available across price points and other websites selling beauty products. For instance, on sale are Lakme lipcolours, Mac lipsticks, Colourbar cheek blusher and Maybelline lipcolours. Several brands were available to order at discounts ranging from 5-20%. The Tira Red section of the app is where shoppers can find more up-market luxury brands such as Estee Lauder, L’Occitane, Bobbi Brown, and Clinique, among others.

Reliance’s entry is set to shake up the country’s beauty and personal care market that is estimated to reach ₹2.2.trillion by 2025. Incumbents such as Nykaa, Sephora and Shoppers Stop have for long built a wide assortment of products—a key ingredient to woo young shoppers, as well as driven engagement with beauty influencers to drive sales. Shares of FSN E-commerce Ventures, that operates the Nykaa beauty site closed at ₹136.55 a piece on Wednesday up 7.86% on BSE.

“Tira’s launch is in line with Reliance Retail’s overall vision of bringing high quality products to Indian consumers through multiple retail formats,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday announcing the launch.

The move marks growing clout of the company that has more recently made aggressive bets on India’s retail and packaged goods market. While the company has for years had a deep presence in India’s retail market—its recent efforts to acquire homegrown brands, as well as expand its footprint in the fast moving consumer goods market is being viewed as a potential threat to several large established businesses. Reliance Retail is a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. RRVL, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, operates integrated omni channel network of 17,225 stores and digital commerce platforms across grocery, consumer electronics, fashion and lifestyle and pharma consumption baskets.

Tira’s online platform also showcases shoppable videos, blogs, tutorials, personal recommendations and a virtual try-on features. The Tira store at Jio World Drive is spread across 4,300 square feet and has been designed by London-headquartered innovation studio, Dalziel & Pow.

“We are excited to bring the Tira experience to our Indian customers. With Tira, we aim to break down barriers in the beauty space and democratize beauty for consumers across segments. Our vision for Tira is to be the leading beauty destination for accessible yet aspirational beauty, one that is inclusive and one that harbours the mission of becoming the most loved beauty retailer in India,” said Isha Ambani, Executive Director, RRVL (holding company of Reliance Retail).

Tira stores will be a “beauty destination” with a focus on curated services. The stores will feature the latest beauty tech tools such as virtual try on to create customized looks, and a skin analyser, the company said.

RRVL reported a consolidated turnover of ₹199,704 crore and net profit of ₹7,055 crore for the year ended 31 March 2022.