India Is An Important Market For Unilever In The Beauty Space

Unilever said India is it’s most important and “disproportionately important” for it in the beauty and well-being space in which its local unit Hindustan Unilever regulates more than half the market. “India is the number one priority and disproportionately significant to us. In India, our relative market share is more than four times our closest competitor when it comes to haircare and skincare, and positions us exceptionally well in one of the key markets,” Fernando Fernandez, president, of the beauty and wellbeing company at Unilever, said during Deutsche Bank-dbAccess Global Consumer Conference.

Globally, Unilever restructured its business into five divisions with personal care and beauty and well-being housed under separate segments. However, in India, both these segments are still under the same division. For HUL, the beauty and personal care segment accounts for 37% of its overall sales and 44% of its operating profit with five brands including Lux and Pond generating more than Rs 2,000 crore of annual revenues.

“We are absolutely convinced that India will be for Unilever beauty and wellbeing in the next 10 to 15 years what China has been for some of our competitors in the last decade or so,” said Fernandez, adding HUL’s market share in the hair-care category has moved from 43% to 55% over the past decade while competitors lost 10% share in the same period.

The maker of Dove and Sunsilk controls nearly two-thirds of the market in shampoo and about three-fourths in conditioners. In the beauty space, HUL competes with multinationals such as
L’Oreal and Procter & Gamble as well as local players, especially newer direct-to-consumer firms including Mama Earth and Sugar Cosmetics. Even HUL has five digital-first brands — Simple, Love Beauty & Planet, Baby Dove, Acne Squad and Find Your Happy Place.

The beauty and personal care market in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12% to reach Rs 1.9 lakh crore in 2025, driven by increasing urbanization, a young population, and other demographic and socio-economic factors. Experts feel the key trend to look out for in the segment is an increasing demand for clean beauty products, drawing a higher focus on ingredients, sourcing and environmental consciousness, and diversity.

“The beauty category in India is experiencing a remarkable surge in growth fuelled by factors like a rising population with disposable income, the influence of social media influencers, and a shift towards a more conscious approach to beauty,” said Prateek Ruhail, co-founder of Agility Ventures-backed beauty marketplace Vanity Wagon. “There is also a growing demand for products with natural and organic ingredients as consumers become more mindful of health and environmental impacts.” The segment is also seeing interest from retailers including Tata, Shoppers Stop and

Reliance launched its own beauty products stores in line with online beauty product retailers Nykaa and NewU.