Nykaa’s supersized SuperStore ambition to crack offline retail

While e-commerce may be all the rage in India’s startup ecosystem, India’s unorganised retail space simply cannot be ignored. With India’s 12 million-odd mom-and-pop stores, or kiranas, accounting for ~85% of the country’s $900 billion retail sector, it’s an opportunity that India’s online players—both platforms and brands—want in on.

Making the shift offline, however, is easier said than done. The shelves of India’s unorganised retail stores remain dominated by legacy brands due to the distribution network these brands have built over years, if not decades. For newer brands, especially digital-first, direct-to-consumer (D2C) ones, this poses a massive problem. Especially once online sales begin to plateau.

In the personal care and beauty space, Nykaa believes that its SuperStore app is just the bridge that could connect these two seemingly incompatible worlds. Unveiled in August 2021, first as a trial, the app connects new-age brands with shopkeepers.