This Report examines the evolving landscape of India’s D2C beauty market, revealing the critical importance of both digital and physical channels in consumer journeys.
Indian consumers discover beauty brands through integrated digital and offline channels, with digital channels leading discovery. Successful brands must align digital storytelling with offline touchpoints to establish trust and drive meaningful engagement.
Millennials depend significantly on influencer reviews and peer recommendations for beauty purchases. Brands that strategically leverage this digital trust ecosystem can secure lasting Millennial loyalty and accelerate growth.
The Report concludes by highlighting what works about the digital beauty ecosystem, such as convenience or influencer-driven discovery, and reveals the strengths of physical retail, such as personal consultation and product trial.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Key trends impacting India’s D2C beauty market
- The role of digital and offline channels in brand discovery
- Purchase channels for new beauty brands
- Factors considered when purchasing from a new age online-first beauty brand
- Beauty and personal care categories of interest for new age online-first beauty brands
- Behaviours towards new age online-first beauty brands
D2C beauty is at a pivotal shift, where templatised playbooks will no longer work. To stand out, brands must sharpen audience targeting and deliver differentiated retail experiences.
Tanya Rajani, Principal Analyst, Beauty & Personal Care, India
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Mintel’s perspective
- What is a D2C brand?
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Overview
- The outlook for the D2C beauty market in India
- India’s D2C beauty market is undergoing a transformative phase
- Methods for discovery highlight a shift towards a more connected, online-driven approach
- Graph 1: touch-points for discovering new beauty brands, 2025
- Leverage social proof to build trust and lasting engagement
- Graph 2: touch-points for discovering new beauty brands, by generations, 2025
- Embrace an omnichannel strategy for enhanced experience
- Graph 3: agreement with select statements about online-first beauty brands, by online-only beauty shoppers vs offline-only beauty shoppers, 2025
- Earn offline shoppers’ trust through values-led branding
- Graph 4: factors considered when purchasing from a new age online-first beauty brand, 2025
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KEY TRENDS AND MARKET FACTORS
- What you need to know
- The growth and transformation of India’s D2C beauty market
- India’s D2C beauty market: from hype to hard decisions
- Thee key trends dictating the current D2C market
- The homogenisation of Indian D2C beauty
- From online-first to omnichannel journeys
- The new retail mix for D2C brands
- D2C brands enter the physical world
- The digital ecosystem fuels the growth of D2C beauty
- Digital channels are pivotal in shaping modern shopping habits
- The digital ecosystem has become the backbone of growth for India’s D2C beauty market
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WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- What you need to know
- Ignite new beauty brand discovery through strategic touchpoints
- Methods for discovery highlight a shift towards a more connected, online-driven approach
- Graph 5: touch-points for discovering new beauty brands, 2025
- Women’s discovery journey is rooted in storytelling, authority and influence
- Graph 6: touch-points for discovering new beauty brands, by gender, 2025
- Among women, age shapes the path to new beauty brand discovery
- Graph 7: touch-points for discovering new beauty brands, by women across age groups, 2025
- Leverage social media to drive product discovery and sales
- Cracking the code of social commerce in India
- Use conversational commerce to sell beauty smarter
- Use in-store channels to drive discovery, connection and narrative
- Case study: turning live beauty events into brand discovery powerhouses
- For Millennials: social proof is the new trust currency
- Millennials are the growth engine for online-first beauty brands
- Graph 8: agreement with select statement about online-first beauty brands, by generations, 2025
- Millennials drive purchase but not devotion
- Graph 9: agreement to select statement about online-first beauty brands, by generations, 2025
- Younger Millennials trust expert voices to guide beauty discovery
- Graph 10: touch-points for discovering new beauty brands, by generations, 2025
- Case study: Olipop’s success shows the impact of influencer-led storytelling done right
- For Older Millennials, trust is crowdsourced
- Graph 11: factors considered when purchasing from a new age online-first beauty brand, by total vs older millennials, 2025
- Turn positive reviews and UGC into a powerful marketing tool
- Case study: learn from Stratia’s community-powered growth on Reddit
- Opportunities exist outside the core D2C audience
- How to win with online-only beauty shoppers
- Online is a dominant channel for new beauty brand shopping
- Graph 12: purchase channels for new beauty brands, 2025
- Online beauty retailers are the go-to for most beauty categories consumers buy from online-first brands
- Why learning from online-only and offline-only shoppers matters
- Demographic profiles of the online-only beauty shoppers and offline-only beauty shoppers
- Online-only beauty shoppers lean toward brand sites, yet default to online marketplaces for convenience
- Graph 13: purchase channels of new beauty brands, by total vs online-only beauty shoppers, 2025
- Turn brand websites into enhanced destination stores
- Online-only beauty shoppers prioritise convenience, low perceived risk and value-for-money
- Graph 14: factors considered when purchasing from a new age online-first beauty brand, 2025
- Q-commerce is not yet a discovery-first channel for beauty
- What D2C brands can do to make q-commerce work harder
- Online discovery doesn’t mean online loyalty
- Graph 15: agreement with select statements about online-first beauty brands, by online-only beauty shoppers vs offline-only beauty shoppers, 2025
- Play to the strength of physical while harnessing the power of digital
- How to win with offline-only beauty shoppers
- Offline-only beauty shoppers prioritise convenience over premium experiences
- Graph 16: purchase channels of new beauty brands, by offline-only beauty shoppers, 2025
- Offline-only shoppers demonstrate a channel-loyal purchasing journey
- Graph 17: touch-points for discovering new beauty brands, by only online purchase channels vs only offline purchase channels, 2025
- Earn offline shoppers’ trust through values-led branding
- Graph 18: factors considered when purchasing from a new age online-first beauty brand, 2025
- Case study: how Foxtale uses brand values and storytelling to stand out
- Ingredient transparency is a universal expectation, but it can play an outsized role in converting offline-only shoppers
- Lead with ingredient transparency in NPD, retail and marketing
- Make online platforms a natural hub for ingredient information
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APPENDIX
- Abbreviations
- Repertoire analysis
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