Nykaa Beauty CEO Anchit Nayar outlines plan to scale beyond founder-led roots
At Fortune India’s 40 Under 40 event, Anchit Nayar described Nykaa’s strategy of pairing brand-building with retail expansion and multiple growth levers in India’s underpenetrated beauty market.
What happened
Nykaa Beauty CEO Anchit Nayar outlines the company’s strategy to scale beyond founder-led roots, combining brand-building and retail while pursuing multiple
Key facts
- 40 Under 40 2026
- August 29, 2026
- 20:31 IST
Why this matters
Nykaa’s multi-lever growth agenda and institutionalized leadership could make it a more capable partner or competitor in beauty-brand alliances, retail distribution and adjacent-category deals.
What to watch
- Changes in beauty-segment revenue growth versus overall GMV and India beauty-market growth.
- Net store additions, store format mix, same-store sales growth, and evidence of tier-2 expansion.
- Beauty EBITDA margin trend, fulfillment and marketing costs, and working-capital movement.
- Senior leadership hires, expanded executive mandates, or a reduction in founder-facing operating responsibilities.
- Frequency and scale of exclusive brand launches, owned-brand penetration, and premium-category growth.
- Competitor store expansion and promotional intensity from Sephora, Tira, Purplle, Myntra, and quick-commerce beauty offerings.
- Delegate visible beauty P&L, merchandising, retail operations, and brand-incubation responsibilities to a deeper leadership bench.
- Accelerate store openings in tier-1 and selected tier-2 cities, with greater focus on experiential and premium beauty formats.
- Use customer data to connect online discovery, loyalty, creator marketing, and offline conversion.
- Expand exclusive launches, international brand partnerships, and Nykaa-owned brands to protect gross margin and differentiation.
- Tighten retail unit economics through cluster-based expansion, store productivity targets, and localized assortments.