GRW-MARS Cosmetics: The D2C makeup brand making inroads in India’s beauty market
From offline trading to online play, MARS Cosmetics has had a topsy-turvy journey. But this homegrown company is determined to be the go-to cosmetics brand for the Indian middle class.
Makeup is not restricted to a handful of well-versed artists today; it has reached every household.
From tutorials and product reviews to popular GRWM (get ready with me) reels and viral makeup trends—makeup, skincare, and wellness products have equally captured the attention of young and old.
For context, McKinsey & Company said in a report that the beauty market—comprising skincare, fragrance, makeup, and haircare—generated about $430 billion in revenue globally in 2022.
Closer home, India’s cosmetic sector is also experiencing remarkable expansion, fuelled by rising purchasing power and a vast array of options that leave consumers spoiled for choice. According to Custom Market Insights, the sector is expected to reach $18.4 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 3.2%.
But Rishabh Sethia, Director and Business Administrator at MARS Cosmetics, believes there to be a dearth of pocket-friendly and quality products for the mass customers in India. Today, many consumers rely on the unorganised cosmetics market, which, as per Redseer, makes up 75% of the total cosmetics market in India.
MARS Cosmetics started as an online direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand in 2016 by Rishabh’s father Manoj Sethia, who has been into offline retailing of cosmetics in India since 2014.
However, the brand did not take off for three years, and he had to bring in Rishabh—a graduate of Delhi Technological University—to help kickstart it.
“The challenge then was despite his offline trading business in full swing, the online business wasn’t scaling up. And we needed to do something to get better results,” Rishabh tells SMBStory.
So what was missing? The entrepreneur believes it was branding and product differentiation.
Building of MARS Cosmetics
When many D2C brands focused on a price range between Rs 600 and Rs 800, MARS Cosmetics strategically priced its products, like lipsticks, between Rs 250 and Rs 400.
“A normal middle-class customer would prefer buying this, especially when the quality is not compromised. There was a dearth of organised players in this segment, and we targeted that, and the brand kicked off,” Rishabh explains.
To start with, he went the omnichannel way instead of focusing on selling on its own website, which many other brands relied on. “We established our presence in , , , and all other portals that helped us reach out to customers everywhere,” he adds.
Besides targeting price-constrained customers, the brand also ensured good quality products by outsourcing its products to third-party manufacturers across India and importing from China, Taiwan, and Germany.
The brand has between 800 and 1,000 SKUs, including lipsticks, foundations, eye shadows, blushers, etc. Rishabh claims that MARS Cosmetics’ liquid lipsticks and sindoor are made in-house at its facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
It made Rs 200 crore in revenue in March 2024 and is expecting to close FY25 with Rs 350 crore. The Delhi-based brand competes with the likes of Hindustan Unilever-owned Lakme and New York-based Maybelline.
Challenges and the way ahead
In a crowded marketplace like India—where brands are a plenty—and consumer preferences often lean towards foreign brands, Rishabh acknowledges it as an ongoing challenge.
He also points out a gradual shift in the market, where customers are increasingly demanding made-in-India products. However, it is a long journey.
With a presence in over 8,000 general trade stores via a network of more than 400 distributors, the entrepreneur says an increase in both online and offline presence is on the cards for MARS Cosmetics.
The company already has kiosks in cities like Kanpur, Delhi, Chandigarh, Faridabad, etc., and plans to open 30 more in this financial year.
If one has a good product in a crowded market, it is bound to go viral, Rishabh says.
Edited by Suman Singh
