Tata Group Back in Cosmetics Business

India: Indian cosmetics segment has got another player and this time it’s India’s $100 billion conglomerate Tata Group. Indian organised makeup market is registering the highest growth and has been growing with 20% on yearly basis in last decade. This lucrative growth has brought in Tata Group which once created Lakme brand and then sold it to HUL in year 1998. The company is eyeing the growing consumerism in the country and to boost its earnings the group entity Trent has begun retailing the makeup range of Studiowest.

This has come as the further diversification from the group which already has portfolio from Tea to Telecom and from aviation to pharmaceuticals. Tata’s Westside departmental stores already retail its own range of labels along with third party brands and now they will have the whole range of Studiowest products. Studiowest products will be competing with Lakme, Chambor, Maybelline and Revlon among others.

Besides cosmetics Studiowest has bath and body products and also perfumes, competing with Tata group company Titan’s Skinn.

According to TechSci Research, this move from Tata will increase competition in INR 2500 crore organised makeup market which is currently dominated by HUL’s Ponds, Lakme, Vaseline and L’Oreal’s brands. Tata group has many advantages in terms of local market knowledge, access to huge funds for marketing and branding and strong retail & distribution infrastructure across the country. This will also benefit the consumers who will have more choices with different prices. This strategy is being viewed as an attack on HUL and L’Oreal marketing strategy whose products compete with those of the same companies and thus maintain their lead in the market.

According to a report published by TechSci Research “India Women’s CosmeticsMarket Forecast & Opportunities, 2020”, the market for women’s cosmetics products in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 16% during 2015-20. India women’s cosmetics market is highly competitive, and so major players are working towards optimizing their sales, by focusing on product development and innovative packaging to lure more customers.