Nykaa takes over Kiehl's India operations in exclusive L'Oréal Luxe deal

Nykaa signed an exclusive distribution agreement with L'Oréal Luxe India to run end-to-end operations for Kiehl's, spanning offline stores, its D2C site and multi-brand retail—deepening ties with L'Oréal and folding the 1851-founded brand into Nykaa's omnichannel network of 276 stores and 52 million customers.

— FiledWed, 15 Jul, 2026, 21:18 IST·First seen Wed, 15 Jul, 2026, 21:17 IST·Source Financial Express · BrandWagon

What happened

Nykaa signed an exclusive distribution deal with L'Oréal Luxe India to manage end-to-end operations of Kiehl's in India, overseeing stores, D2C site, digital

Key facts

  • 276 offline stores
  • 52 million customers
  • founded 1851
  • founded 2012

Why this matters

Deepening ties with L'Oréal Luxe via full Kiehl's operational control positions Nykaa as the go-to India platform for global luxury brands seeking a turnkey omnichannel operator.

What to watch

  • Kiehl's India same-store sales / D2C traffic post-transition
  • Contribution margin trend in Nykaa's BPC segment
  • Competing exclusive distribution deals from Tira, Sephora, Myntra Beauty
  • Any friction with existing multi-brand retail listings of Kiehl's
  • L'Oréal commentary on India as a strategic operator market
  • Nykaa announces dedicated Kiehl's store rollout and staffing plan across metro cities
  • L'Oréal Luxe signals whether additional brands follow the operator model
  • Nykaa reports luxury/premium GMV split in next quarterly results to show mix shift
  • Investment in supply-chain and CRM to integrate 52M customer base with Kiehl's D2C