"Beauty items will be a primary priority for us," says the company "Noel Tata, non-executive chairman of Trent Ltd., a Tata Group business that operates a chain of retail locations, said in an interview at his Mumbai office that along with footwear and underwear will be added to the mix. "An expanded product line and format experimentation for these products are in the works, since we see these as retail growth areas.''

According to Statista, India's cosmetics and beauty business is expected to nearly quadruple by 2025 from $11 billion in 2017, driven in part by online shops such as Mumbai-based Nykaa, which enjoyed explosive growth during the pandemic. After a blockbuster IPO, the firm grew to a $13 billion company that assisted millennial and Gen-Z consumers in purchasing high-end beauty items as well as accessing instructions and testimonials from social media stars.

That's a long cry from the beauty industry, which India's largest conglomerate once dominated. Noel Tata's mother, Simone Tata, was instrumental in the founding of Lakme, the country's first cosmetics company, in 1953. Lakme is the French word for the Indian goddess of riches, Lakshmi. In 1998, the company was sold to Unilever Plc's local unit. Although the coffee-to-cars giant re-entered the market in 2014, long after the 10-year non-compete provision had expired, it is only now that the company has begun to up its game.Trent's sales from the beauty, footwear, and underwear categories is slightly over $100 million, whereas the market is currently valued at around $30 billion, according to company data.

"At a time when Tatas is rapidly building stores and distribution channels, these three areas would be low-hanging fruit for them." "WealthMills Securities Pvt. Ltd. equities strategist Kranthi Bathini said. "While competition is fierce in these categories, the pie itself is steadily expanding as the economy recovers."

New Formats:

Under Trent's leadership, the $103 billion conglomerate is considering developing new lines of in-house cosmetic brands that might serve as a growth engine, according to Tata. He stated that these products can be sold through current large-format outlets under Westside Trent's flagship retail network, as well as standalone stores and digital channels.

Noel Tata, Ratan Tata's half-brother, is a trustee on the board of the Ratan Tata Trust, which is part of a group of charities that controls two-thirds of the Tata Group's primary holding company. For more over two decades, he has been in charge of the group's retail operations, which are largely based in Trent.

Indian women were accustomed to purchasing cosmetics and hair care items from mom-and-pop neighbourhood stores with limited selection and no trials. The sector has changed into a fast-growing one, notably the three categories that Tata is targeting, with the expansion of malls and supermarket store chains, and more recently, internet stores.

"I believe we have only scratched the surface in these categories, and a large portion of these marketplaces is still unorganised, implying that a change to organised retail is inevitable." "We're also seeing a shift in customer behaviour in these categories, with consumers selecting more trendy products," Tata said.

 

Trent's stock has increased more than 9-fold since 2014 under Tata's leadership, beating peers Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. and Shoppers Stop Ltd. He became a non-executive director at Trent in November.

Online, Offline

"I see the digital opportunity as assisting us in reaching more clients wherever they are," Tata added, whether they are browsing and purchasing online or in a physical store.

With TataCliq, Trent was an early user of the omni-channel concept in Indian retail, and with Westside.com, it has lately expanded its online presence. Customers would have more access to a super app that the Tata Group is creating, he said.

Tata's retail division, on the other hand, will avoid the deep discounting technique used by e-commerce behemoths such as Amazon.com Inc and Flipkart Online Services Pvt. to entice price-conscious customers, the company said.

According to Trent's data, about 90% of the company's overall sales are made at full price.