Nykaa Beauty CEO Anchit Nayar outlines growth beyond founder-led roots
Anchit Nayar says Nykaa is combining brand building and retail while pursuing multiple growth levers in India’s beauty market, which he sees as retaining significant long-term potential.
What happened
Nykaa Beauty CEO Anchit Nayar discusses scaling the India-focused beauty retailer beyond founder-led roots, combining brand building with retail, and pursuing
Key facts
- 40 Under 40 2026
Why this matters
Nykaa’s institutionalising strategy may increase its appetite for partnerships, brand acquisitions and capability deals that strengthen its omnichannel beauty ecosystem.
What to watch
- Comparable sales growth and payback periods for Nykaa physical stores.
- Gross-margin movement and the contribution of owned brands, exclusives and premium beauty.
- Repeat customer trends, active customer growth and customer-acquisition-cost discipline.
- Senior executive hires, operating-segment changes or clearer delegation of founder responsibilities.
- Inventory days, fulfilment costs and working-capital trends during expansion.
- Competitive response from Tira, Sephora, Tata CLiQ Palette, quick-commerce platforms and direct-to-consumer brands.
- Expand premium and experiential beauty retail in major metros while testing smaller-format access points in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
- Increase exclusive launches, brand incubation and Nykaa-owned beauty propositions to strengthen differentiation and gross margin.
- Use loyalty, creator commerce and first-party data to raise repeat rates and cross-sell across beauty, personal care and fashion.
- Tighten leadership depth in merchandising, retail operations, technology and supply chain to reduce dependence on founder-led decision making.
- Pursue selective partnerships or acquisitions that add international brands, salon/professional capabilities or regional distribution reach.