Beauty, fashion to fuel future ecomm engines; AI speeding execution: Falguni Nayar at Nykaa AGM

New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) Beauty and Fashion categories are set to boost e-commerce growth engines, with a potential to capture 40 per cent of the market by FY30 - a slice bigger than the entire online market in FY25, Nykaa Executive Chairperson and founder Falguni Nayar said on Monday.

Addressing the 13th Annual General Meeting of Nykaa (listed as FSN E-Commerce Ventures), Nayar, who is also the company's CEO, also talked about the increased focus on AI.

"AI has truly been given a seat at every meeting we have," she said, adding the company has taken an internal goal of 50 per cent code generation through artificial intelligence by the year-end, well ahead of industry benchmarks.

The online BPC (beauty and personal care) market alone is projected to grow threefold between FY25 and FY30 to USD 15 billion, and the online fashion market is slated to more than triple to USD 60 billion in the same period.

"Nykaa is well-positioned for success, as we are operating in this high-growth environment where BPC and fashion are the fastest-growing categories in discretionary consumption," she said.

Outlining what she described as a "massive Indian opportunity and incredible economic landscape", Nayar noted that India, currently the third-largest global retail market, is expected to grow faster than other large economies like China and the US over the next five years.

"Beauty and Fashion are set to be the primary drivers of future growth, with the potential of making up 40 per cent of the market by FY30, which means Beauty and Fashion alone will be bigger than the entire ecommerce market of FY25," he said.

This, she said, demonstrates the long-term potential of the categories the company operates in, placing it right at the centre of India's e-commerce revolution.

The growth in e-commerce is going to be bolstered by evolving consumer demographics as well as the democratisation of technology.

India already has 280 million online shoppers, at par with the US, and this base is set to surge past 400 million by 2030.

The nation's youth are driving the digital wave, Nayar observed, and added that the digital-native Gen Z shopper base is poised to drive nearly half of India's consumption.

"They prefer platforms that are curated and discovery-led - a space where we have a clear advantage. Nykaa is well-positioned for success as we are operating in this high-growth environment where BPC and Fashion are the fastest-growing categories in discretionary consumption," she added.

An increasing share of codes is now written by AI, according to her.

"We expect our speed of execution to increase dramatically and have taken an internal goal of 50 per cent code generation through AI by the end of the year, well ahead of industry benchmarks," she said. PTI MBI MBI BAL BAL