Brand Marketing
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Nykaa ups marketing spends to Rs 995 crore in FY25; AI, influencers drive 28% customer growth
Nykaa's consolidated ads and marketing spends rose by 34.5% to Rs 994.82 crore in FY2025
Nykaa posted a Rs 72 crore of profit after tax--marking an 81% YoY rise in FY25.
Omnichannel beauty and fashion retailer Nykaa is on a mission to upgrade its technology, including AI, and ramp up marketing spends to expand its customer base and accelerate premiumization.
According to Falguni Nayar, Executive Chairperson, Managing Director & CEO of Nykaa, the omnichannel retailer made several strategic investments in innovation, technology and customer experience in FY2025 to "shape the next phase of growth".
"AI, personalisation and virtual try-ons have been some of the crucial drivers of growth for the company," Falguni mentioned in Nykaa's annual report. Additionally, Nykaa's focus on advertising and marketing, and expanding its influencer network has helped boost its customer base, net revenue, as well as EBITDA, she noted.
Nykaa's consolidated ads and marketing spends rose by 34.5% to Rs 994.82 crore in FY2025. According to P Ganesh, Chief Financial Officer, marketing expenses rose to 12.5% of revenue compared to 11.6% in FY2024.
"We increased our marketing investments in FY2025 to focus on long-term category creation and customer acquisition. Key initiatives like Nykaaland and Nykaawali Shaadi aimed to boost brand equity, resulting in marketing expenses rising to 12.5% of revenue," Ganesh said.
"This strategy helped us acquire over nine million new customers, growing our cumulative customer base to over 42 million—an increase of 28% year-on-year," he added.
For Nykaa, India's Gen Z population and Tier-II markets have emerged as key consumption drivers. "Although they (Gen Z) account for 26% of the population, they are expected to influence nearly 50% of all spending by FY2030," Falguni Nayar stated.
On geographical expansion, Anchit Nayar, Managing Director & CEO of Nykaa E-Retail highlighted the strong growth in Tier-II and III cities. "We have significantly expanded our retail footprint, going from 63 stores in 34 cities in FY2020 to 237 stores in 79 cities in FY2025," Anchit said. Nykaa's Superstore, an initiative launched in 2021 to tap into unorganised beauty market, achieved Rs 941 crore GMV in FY25, accounting for 8% to the company's overall beauty GMV. "Our transacting retailer base grew 15x to 2.76 lakhs as of March 31, 2025," Ganesh added.
Anchit emphasized that Nykaa’s strategy revolves around a dual focus on deepening market penetration and driving premiumisation. Nykaa bets big on body care, fragrances; Offline sales gain momentum
"With the dual effects of penetration and premiumisation, we aim to grow our GMV to mid-20% levels by FY2030 by acquiring more customers, enhancing our premium offering and expanding our physical store footprint to over 500 outlets in more than 100 cities," he added.
Nykaa posted a Rs 72 crore of profit after tax--marking an 81% YoY rise in FY25. The company's net revenue surged to Rs 7,950 crore, while EBITDA grew by 37% to Rs 474 crore during the same period. Total capex stood at Rs 128 crores in FY2025, up 11% YoY, driven by store network expansion and investments in technology and automation.
Nykaa's House of Brands, crossed a GMV of Rs 2,100 crore in FY25, with Dot & Key contributing Rs 900 crore, Nykaa Cosmetics Rs 350 crore, and Kay Beauty Rs 250 crore, respectively.
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