Flipkart’s beauty business grows 50% YoY as premium skincare and smaller cities drive demand
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Flipkart's beauty and personal care business has grown 50% year-on-year in gross merchandise value and customer acquisition, buoyed by rising premiumisation, increasing beauty adoption beyond metros and a growing preference for problem-solving skincare and grooming products.
The momentum comes as India's beauty market is projected to expand from about $27 billion in FY25 to nearly $39 billion by FY30. Growing at around 10% annually, it is the fastest-growing BPC market among major economies. On the Walmart-backed platform, the company is currently selling about 12 beauty products every second, showing the rapid shift of beauty consumption online.
"The beauty category has grown 50% year-on-year in GMV as well as customer acquisition," Priyanka Bhargav, senior director and brand & strategy group insights head at Flipkart, told Fortune India. "What is changing is that consumers are becoming much more informed. Today consumers are entering the category through specific concerns such as pigmentation, hair fall, sunscreen or anti-ageing. The journey has become much more solution-led."
The category is among the fastest-growing on the platform. According to Flipkart's GlamUp Trends Report 2026, the company recorded 1.5 times growth in beauty GMV, 1.6 times growth in orders and 1.6 times growth in units sold, signalling both rising consumer adoption and increasing purchase frequency.
Industry estimates suggest Nykaa accounts for roughly 38% of the country's online beauty market and is a market leader for bringing global brands to its platform. Meanwhile, Amazon and Flipkart together command about just 20%, which shows the headroom available for marketplaces as beauty spending moves online.
Beauty and personal care have become a key focus area and growth level over the past year, with Flipkart investing in brand awareness, influencer-led discovery and simplifying the cost structure for sellers. “We’ve emerged very strongly as a beauty player over the past few years,” Nishant Dalal, senior director and head of BGM had told Fortune India in an earlier interview.
A significant part of that growth is coming from outside India's largest cities. More than two-thirds of beauty searches and over 70% of beauty sales on Flipkart now originate from non-metro markets, underlining how beauty consumption is becoming increasingly mainstream across the country.
Meanwhile, beauty sales through Flipkart Minutes have grown fivefold over the past year, highlighting how quick commerce is becoming an increasingly important channel for the category. Flipkart's GlamUp Trends Report noted that online beauty sales in India grew 41% in 2025, compared with 5% growth for offline channels, while beauty remains among the top three fastest-growing categories in quick commerce.
From aspiration to solutions
Bhargav said consumers are no longer shopping beauty products based solely on brands or broad categories. Instead, they are searching for solutions to specific concerns.
"Consumers are now aware of their problems and are also getting more aware of the solutions. If they see the right fit for their problem and solution, they are really ready to spend more," she said.
Searches for dark spot removers have risen 30 times year-on-year, while searches related to hair growth have more than doubled. Searches for dermatologist-approved brands have increased 2.3 times and sunscreen-related searches have risen 2.2 times, reflecting growing consumer awareness around efficacy-led products.
According to Kartheek Kanumuru, senior director, Beauty and Personal Care at Flipkart premiumisation is no longer confined to metros. "Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets are leading the game in terms of searches as well as units," he said.
The report found that Indian consumers are purchasing beauty products at twice the rate of the global average, while premium beauty on Flipkart registered a 1.6 times increase in GMV. Nearly 97% of surveyed consumers also indicated a willingness to try new products and brands.
As India's per capita income crosses roughly $2,700, Bhargav opined that rising disposable incomes are creating a structural tailwind for beauty consumption, a trend observed in other developing economies as consumers begin spending more on discretionary and self-care categories.
Yet affordability remains important. Bhargav said the ₹200-₹400 price band has emerged as the preferred range for trying new products, prompting brands to introduce smaller packs and trial formats.
The company is also seeing beauty emerge as a key entry category for younger consumers. Gen Z already accounts for 56% of beauty and personal care shoppers on ecommerce platforms, according to the report.
At the other end of the spectrum, Flipkart is betting on premium and international beauty by expanding its premium beauty offering through its Global Luxe Beauty Store, which currently houses more than 150 international brands. The company plans to increase that number to around 250 brands as it seeks to capitalise on growing demand for international skincare, fragrances and Korean beauty products.