Key Takeaways:
Not long ago, Indian women had to rely on relatives living abroad to bring them their favorite beauty products, unless they were traveling. Access to globally recognized beauty brands was limited, fragmented, often delayed, and out of reach. Today, nearly every cult brand, from Augustinus Bader to COSRX and Laneige, can arrive at their doorsteps in just a few days, all thanks to platforms like Tira Beauty. Tira, the beauty arm of India’s largest retailer Reliance Retail, is helmed by Isha Ambani, the daughter of Chairman and founder of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani.
Tira was born out of identifying a clear shift in the market: Beauty in India was no longer defined purely by aesthetics. Instead, it was becoming a powerful form of self-expression, identity, and community. Recognizing this shift, it set out to build an omnichannel platform that not only brought the best global and homegrown brands to Indian consumers but also did so with expert guidance, content, and immersive, tech-enabled experiences.
“We wanted to create an ecosystem where consumers don’t just shop but explore, learn, and connect too,” Bhakti Modi, co-founder and CEO of Tira Beauty, told BeautyMatter.
In just three years since its launch in April 2023, the platform is rewriting what beauty means in India. From shoppable content and virtual try-ons to fragrance finders, vending machines, and its first male beauty brand ambassador, Tira is reshaping how beauty is discovered, experienced, shopped for, and understood in the market.
“Beauty today is deeply personal and constantly evolving, so whether someone is just beginning their beauty journey or highly exposed, Tira is here to meet them where they are,” said Modi. India’s beauty and personal care market is expected to grow rapidly. In 2024, the market was valued at $28 billion and is expected to reach $48 billion by 2033 at a CAGR of 5.6%. According to Statista, as of 2025, the Indian beauty and personal care (BPC) industry’s revenue exceeded $33 billion.
Tech-Powered Beauty Loyalty
With a digitally native approach across both online and offline channels, Tira is on a mission to recruit the next generation of beauty shoppers in India and nurture them into lifelong Tira loyalists. On the digital side, features like shoppable content and personalized recommendations ensure that every customer journey is intuitive, relevant, and tailored to their preferences. In physical stores, technology makes the shopping and discovery experience feel immersive and exciting, with smart mirrors, skin analysis, and other interactive formats that make it perfectly tailored to their ever-changing desires.
Young consumers, particularly millennials and Gen Z, are responding to Tira’s tech-first initiatives. As this cohort becomes increasingly informed, conscientious, and discerning in their choices, Tira is not just commanding attention but quietly building loyalty. Driving substantial growth, the retailer’s program, Tira Treats, further strengthens this proposition by offering meaningful rewards, including the ability to redeem points in exchange for full-sized premium products.
“The shift we’re seeing in India’s beauty market is being driven largely by a generational change in consumer mindsets. Younger consumers are approaching beauty as a form of identity and self-expression, rather than just routine care, and they are far more informed,” said Modi.
Owing to the influence of creators, digital platforms, and ingredient-focused conversations happening online, young consumers’ interests are expanding across categories and encouraging experimentation, too. “As a result, beauty in India today is more dynamic and discovery-led than ever before,” she added.
Building a Disruptive Omnichannel Ecosystem
Tira is increasingly emerging as an aspirational discovery platform where content and education exist harmoniously. With strong repeat purchase rates, consumers return to the platform not just to buy the same products but also to discover new categories, brands, and launches. Ranging from Tira Tools, a curated range of in-house beauty accessories like makeup brushes, facial rollers, and beauty blenders, to Tira Tribe, an in-house, exclusive tribe of content creators, the platform has built a tightly integrated beauty ecosystem that extends beyond traditional retail.
Modi explained Tira’s focus since launch has been on building a strong omnichannel presence that combines digital reach with experiential retail. Its online platform allows Tira to connect with consumers across the country, and the brand is increasingly seeing strong adoption and new purchases from consumers not only in metropolitan cities but also in Tier 2 and 3 cities, where beauty discovery is growing rapidly.
Tira operates 28 physical stores in key markets such as Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, which are emerging as spaces where consumers can discover and try new products, interact with brands, and receive expert guidance to strengthen their engagement.
With plans to aggressively expand its retail footprint to reach triple-digit stores in the next four years, Tira is doubling down on its disruptive, omnichannel strategy to cement its position as both a discovery-led platform and a full-fledged, large-scale beauty retail player.
An Intentional Assortment Strategy Built for Premiumization
From the beginning, Tira has positioned itself as a premium beauty retailer, with a firm focus on curation and brand relevance, responding to a consumer shift towards more elevated, sophisticated beauty experiences. Already a billion-dollar market in 2024, according to global management consulting firm Kearney, luxury beauty in India is expected to reach $1.6 billion by 2028 and $4.0 billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 14%.
“Since inception, our ambition has been to bring together the best of global and homegrown brands, offering our customers a mix that is both aspirational and relevant,” said Modi. She added that another key focus is the product itself, with formulation, efficacy, and overall quality being non-negotiables. Equally important is the platform’s philosophy on how the brand and product authentically align with evolving consumer values around beauty, whether that’s innovation, transparency, or self-expression.
Indian shoppers are increasingly becoming more discerning and informed, demanding more from brands. They are no longer blindly buying legacy names; instead, they are gravitating towards brands and products that are both culturally relevant and performance-driven.
Relevance to the Indian market is another critical pillar of Tira’s curation strategy. “We actively seek out brands that cater to diverse Indian skin tones and types, as well as the country’s varied climatic conditions,” she added.
At its core, Tira aims to strike a balance between global excellence and local pertinence, ensuring that every brand on the platform adds value to the customer’s beauty experience. As the premiumization wave accelerates, Tira’s premium-led assortment positions it perfectly to capture the growing group of consumers looking to trade up in beauty, not just in price but in performance, aesthetics, and brand values.
“Premiumization in India is often misread as consumers simply spending more, but what’s actually happening is consumers are becoming much more intentional. They’re researching ingredients, questioning formulations, and seeking out brands with a clear point of view and willing to invest in products that genuinely perform,” explained Modi.
This shift in mindset is playing out across price tiers. “Aspiration now exists across the spectrum, a first-time skincare buyer trading up from a basic moisturizer to a targeted serum, all the way to an experienced beauty enthusiast who is exploring niche fragrances and clinical-grade skincare,” she added.
Tira’s portfolio, spanning masstige and premium, helps it meet consumers where they are and grow with them as their expectations evolve. This means not only championing international brands but also actively elevating homegrown ones.
“International brands bring aspiration, heritage, and access to global innovation, but homegrown brands are building for India first. The quality and sophistication coming out of Indian beauty is genuinely impressive, and Tira feels proud to play a role in giving these brands the platform and visibility they deserve,” she added. Favorite homegrown brands like D’you, Lovechild Masaba, Fix My Curls, and FAE Beauty have all gained significant visibility through the platform.
Setting the Pace for Indian Beauty
While competition for space heats up, and the entry of global players reflects just how quickly the Indian beauty market is evolving, the bar for excellence is being raised across the board. But Tira remains focused on what it knows sets it apart: a deep understanding of the Indian beauty consumer, aspirational curation, and retail experiences that are designed around discovery and personalization.
Modi added that over the last three years, the company has focused on listening closely to how Indian consumers engage with beauty across regions, categories, and price points. The goal isn’t to compete with every player entering the market, but to be the destination that feels the most relevant, most thoughtful, and most trusted to the Indian beauty consumer.
“Five years from now, we want Tira to be the answer to a question Indian beauty consumers didn’t know they could ask, which is: Where do I go when I want to understand what’s next? Not just to shop, but to learn, experiment, and stay connected with where beauty is heading. The ambition isn’t to be the biggest beauty platform; it’s to be the one consumers didn’t know they needed,” she concluded.
