Starting 10 years ago – Nayar Breaks the Bourses
Falguni Nayar’s story could be every business woman’s dream come true.
Nykaa, India’s first e-commerce platform for cosmetics launched just over a decade ago. It went on to cover new milestones in quick progression including NYKAA’s own private label that seemed a predatory move but also a Sephora like duplication, not really an original thought. Nykaa’s own label was heavily publicised in media and Lakmé like collaborations with designers like Masaba were quickly brought in.
Leaping forward Nykaa rushed headlong into signing exclusive retail rights with global brands, whilst also themselves importing brands big time they began rolling out brick and mortar across high street and malls. These outlets are known to stock an aggregate of brands both Indian and imported- with a masstige to luxury positioning. Whether Nykaa Luxe or Express – the footfalls are few and far between however the impressions and traffic online give a different story. What also is a matter of concern is training of Beauty Advisers that simply doesn’t rise to standards that one would expect from specialist retailers. One finds them pushing brands in your face rather then helping the customer discover.
Having said that here are some details of the IPO that shook the male dominated tech ventures world:
FSN E-Commerce Ventures, which operates cosmetics etailer Nykaa, rolled out on the Indian stock exchanges on Wednesday, 10th November with what was an all time Big Bang. Nykaa‘s market cap went past INR 1 lakh crore after the stock started trading at nearly 80% premium to its issue price of INR 1,125.
Nayar, who owns about half of Nykaa, is now worth about $6.5 billion.
