Are entrepreneurs prepared to tap India's growing beauty and hygiene market?

Internet is set to influence USD 11 billion worth of sales in beauty and hygiene products segment in the country by 2020, according to a report.

This represents more than two-thirds of sales in the category, the joint report by Bain & Company and Google said. Projecting the growth of online shopping, the report estimated that 130 million Indians will shop online by 2020.

Internet will be the prominent sales channel forming 20 per cent of total sales, it said. With online users in the county estimated to reach 650 million by 2020, more than 200 million will be women users and more than 250 million are likely to be rural users, it noted.

"Adoption of highly consumed product categories in beauty and hygiene is 2x higher in digital households compared with non digital households. Even the penetration of emerging product categories is higher in digital households," said Vikas Agnihotri, industry director, Google India.

"Beauty and hygiene related searches on Google make it the 3rd largest vertical for shopping related searches, behind apparels and accessories and mobile phones," he added.

The report also noted that most FMCG companies have underestimated the impact of internet and are struggling to ascertain a clear digital roadmap for their products.

"In line with key consumer segments moving to digital and spending more time online, FMCG companies will need to prepare themselves for the digital future," the report said.