15 minutes for glow, 10 for delivery! Skincare and beauty race ahead on q-comm
Quick commerce apps are rapidly transforming into a significant beauty marketplace in India, with BPC products now a major growth driver. Beauty sales on these platforms have surged 160% year-on-year, attracting global brands and contributing substantially to revenue for both direct-to-consumer and legacy players.
What began as a platform for last-minute grocery runs is rapidly turning into a serious marketplace for beauty. On quick commerce apps, a bottle of anti-ageing serum now reaches consumers faster than many products can promise visible results, marking a clear shift in how beauty and personal care (BPC) products are being bought in India.The category has quietly become one of quick commerce’s biggest growth drivers, generating an estimated $100 million in monthly gross merchandise value, ET reported. The figure is only slightly lower than Nykaa’s average monthly beauty sales, signalling how quickly consumers are embracing instant delivery for products that were once carefully planned purchases rather than impulse buys.Executives say demand has expanded across both mass and premium segments.
“The BPC category has been one of the fastest-growing segments this year. We are seeing strong traction across core segments: makeup, skincare, and everyday beauty essentials,” Zepto chief business officer Devendra Meel told ET. He also pointed to rising interest in high-end skincare and cosmetics on the platform.Market data backs this momentum. According to Redseer Strategy Consultants, beauty sales on quick commerce platforms surged 160% year-on-year in the last quarter, far outstripping the 20% growth seen on traditional ecommerce platforms over the same period.
The growing reach of quick commerce is also drawing attention from global beauty companies. “In India, it’s clearly a game changer for us because whether it’s quick commerce or the traditional ecom platform, it allows us to reach consumers all over the country, which we couldn’t do before,” L’Oreal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said during a recent earnings call.For brands, the channel is already contributing a sizeable share of revenue. Quick commerce now accounts for between 7% and 25% of sales for several direct-to-consumer and legacy players. Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth and The Derma Co, has described quick commerce as its fastest-growing sales channel, contributing about 10% of its overall revenue.