Reliance Retail’s beauty platform Tira has expanded into colour cosmetics with the launch of its first make-up product, called the Tira Lip Plumping Peptint, on Friday. Positioned as a lip treatment range available in nine shades, the move marks the brand’s entry into the make-up segment, after rolling out its own skincare, wellness and nail care lines.
More importantly, Tira will take on beauty majors such as Lakme, L’Oreal, Nykaa and direct-to-consumer brands such as Plum, Sugar Cosmetics, Juicy Chemistry and Renee Cosmetics with the launch.
While a single product within the range is priced at Rs 675, executives at Reliance Retail say that it has been formulated in Italy and has been designed to offer both colour and care. Experts say the launch targets premium beauty consumers, a segment that has been growing in India.
According to estimates by Redseer, India’s beauty and personal care (BPC) market is the fastest growing globally, and is projected to reach $34 billion by 2028 from $24 billion now. Growth rates have been pegged at 10-11% per annum for the domestic BPC market, ahead of countries such as the US, the UK, Japan, South Korea and China. Key growth drivers, Redseer says, include rising disposable incomes, the influence of social media, and e-commerce, which is expected to account for about 33% of BPC sales by 2028. The premium segment is also growing significantly, expected to double from $2 billion now to close to $4 billion by 2028.
The move by Tira sets the stage for a wider range of make-up innovations that will follow, executives at Reliance Retail said. “The brand intends to expand its in-house beauty offerings with new product categories and a series of unique, high-performing formulations that reflect its mission to make beauty smarter, simpler, and more experiential for Indian consumers,” the retailer said, adding that it would be distributed both online (on the Tira platform) and in Tira stores.
Industry experts say that specialised products such as peptints, which basically protects as well as provides colour to lips, has the presence of niche local beauty brands such as Inde Wild (which has raised money from Unilever Ventures recently), Hyphen, promoted by actor Kriti Sanon, and Fae Beauty. Among global names are labels such as Rhode, promoted by celebrity Hailey Bieber. While Indian brands are priced at around Rs 500-1,000 per product, global brands such as Rhode are expensive, priced at around Rs 3,000 per unit.
Reliance Retail executives say that the new launch has been carefully developed, keeping in mind Indian lip and skin tones, pricing and quality needs. Tira has also opted for sleek packaging, replete with a collectible charm and a soft applicator for easy, on-the-go use. This template is likely to be applied for all future launches in make-up, it said.