Luxury beauty companies are increasingly seeing a new trend: consumers who hesitate to buy a designer handbag but are willing to spend on premium and luxury fragrances, lipsticks and skincare products. Global SS Beauty Brands (GSSBB), a distribution arm of K Raheja Corp’s Shoppers Stop, has emerged as one of its fastest-growing subsidiaries with about 50 brands in its portfolio.
The company, which began building its beauty distribution business in late 2022, reported gross revenue of ₹426 crore in FY26, up 81%, CEO and MD Biju Kassim told Mint. To fund the growth of the business, Shoppers Stop Ltd invested ₹20 crore in GSSBB in May as part of a planned ₹40 crore infusion, taking its total investment in the subsidiary to ₹125 crore. Its turnover rose to ₹379.8 crore in FY26 from ₹220 crore in FY25 and ₹95.7 crore in FY24.
Kassim said fragrances are likely to remain the biggest growth engine of the company over the next few years—they accounted for 75-80% of sales. He said India has historically been a deodorant-led market, but premium perfumes are increasingly finding takers. The company has also benefited from the entry of international beauty companies, which increasingly view India as a long-term market rather than a peripheral one.
Rather than tie up exclusively with one single retailer, GSSBB works with many premium and luxury brands. It has 27 retail partners including Nykaa and Tira in over 560 points of sale and distributes products of NARS Cosmetics, Clarins, Armani Beauty, Prada Beauty and Creed.
NARS recently opened its third standalone boutique in India in Gurugram in three years since it came to the country. Several global beauty companies have expanded their India presence over the past few years through dedicated boutiques, department stores and specialist beauty retailers, betting on a growing base of affluent and aspirational consumers.
Shoppers Stop and SS Beauty operate as retail formats—GSSBB is only an exclusive beauty importer and distributor.
Domestic resellers
Domestic beauty resellers are doing well, too. Last week, Reliance's Sephora—one of the businesses that GSSBB supplies to—emerged as one of the strongest-performing units within its portfolio. Reliance Luxe Beauty Ltd, which operates Sephora, reported FY26 revenue of ₹549 crore, up 23.4% from ₹445 crore a year earlier, while net profit jumped more than threefold to ₹29.18 crore from ₹8.8 crore.
There is a growing appetite for premium beauty products from Indian consumers even though demand in several discretionary categories remains uneven. FSN E-Commerce Ventures, which runs Nykaa, crossed $1 billion for the first time with revenue from operations clocking ₹10,022 crore in FY26, up 26%.
Experts said beauty has become one of the most effective ways for consumers to participate in luxury consumption.
“Beauty has become an everyday luxury habit, while fashion remains an episodic aspiration,” said Raahuul Kapoor, founding partner at luxury brand consultancy Luxury Ampersand Frolics. “A premium lipstick, fragrance or skincare product has repeat purchase, gifting behaviour, social-media discovery and a relatively low luxury entry point.
Additionally, he said, luxury beauty continued to grow strongly in India because it delivers emotional value, collectability, service and quality.
“The reason for its success is also because beauty monetizes aspiration weekly while luxury fashion monetizes aspiration only seasonally,” said Kapoor.
Online sales account for about a fourth of GSSBB’s business. Physical stores remain important because consumers often prefer consultations and in-person experiences before buying premium products.
Small-town beauty is driving consumption too. These towns, Kassim said, are becoming increasingly aspirational and looking to spend on international beauty products, even if physical access remains limited. E-commerce is helping bridge that gap, allowing premium brands to reach consumers beyond traditional luxury markets such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Discount risk
But deep online discounting is a growing concern for premium beauty brands, he added.
“While occasional promotions are necessary, frequent and steep discounts risk training consumers to delay purchases until the next sale, undermining full-price retail and brand equity,” he said, adding that many global luxury beauty brands monitor pricing in India and much prefer value additions over aggressive discounting.
In addition, there are headwinds from the West Asia war.
“Currency fluctuations have continued to pressure import-dependent businesses, although we largely absorbed higher costs,” he added.
According to EY-Parthenon, India’s beauty and personal care market is projected to rise more than 80% to ₹3.26 trillion by FY31 from ₹1.8 trillion in FY25.
