World beauty giant Sephora ties up with Reliance Retail Ventures Limited to transform India’s prestige beauty retail segment.

A Sephora store in India

It’s time for a makeover for the beauty business in India. Sephora, the world’s leading omni-channel prestige beauty retailer, has announced a partnership with Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) to advance their shared ambition 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, Sephora has leveraged its unique 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.

Alia Gogi

“We are tremendously excited to partner with the largest retail group in India to step-change our business,” says Alia Gogi, Asia President, Sephora. “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. We are equally grateful to Arvind for their partnership over the past eight years to get us positioned for the next stage of growth.”

"We are excited and proud to partner with Sephora, a global leader in beauty,” says V Subramaniam, Director, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, “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,”

Sephora is now partnering with Reliance Retail Ventures Limited

As part of the partnership with Sephora, Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Limited will take over the current India operations of Sephora's 26 stores across 13 cities from Arvind Fashions Limited, 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 and this partnership will boost its portfolio of offerings.

The Indian beauty and personal care market pegged at USD 17 bn and set to grow at a 11% CAGR, is still believed to be in its infancy; positioning India as one of the largest untapped consumer markets globally. Not only is RRVL the largest retailer in India and one of the fastest growing globally, it also uniquely combines deep consumer insights with unparalleled customer access, both offline and digitally.