Hot off an IPO that raised $722 million that was oversubscribed 80 times with a valuation of $14 billion, Indian e-commerce platform Nykaa told Reuters it plans to triple its brick-and-mortar stores to 300, significantly expanding its offline footprint. The Mumbai-headquartered company launched in 2012, expanded offline in 2015 and currently has more than 2,500 brands, including 13 owned brands and over 84 offline stores. Nykaa has become India's biggest online marketplace for beauty, personal care, and fashion brands.

Chief executive Falguni Nayar declined to give a timeline for the rollout but said the company was targeting 100 cities, adding to the retail outlets it already operates in 40 cities. "The process of store expansion had slowed down due to (COVID-19) pandemic for a year or so," Nayar said in an interview for the Reuters Next conference broadcast on Wednesday, "but this year we have revived our store rollout."

In India's near $900 billion retail market most shoppers still buy products offline. Nykaa is targeting the $70 billion beauty, personal care, and fashion market. India represents tremendous growth potential. Many Indians, Nayar noted, are "yet to buy their first watch, first car, first home - I think India is in a very different place compared to other developed economies."

While India is the primary focus the business also has a strategy to ramp up exports of its own brands to the United Kingdom and the Middle East.