Beauty and fashion retailer Nykaa is increasingly leaning on artificial intelligence to improve customer acquisition, personalise shopping experiences and boost operational efficiency, according to the company’s latest earnings call.
The company, which crossed Rs 10,000 crore in annual net revenue for the first time in FY26, said AI is beginning to play a meaningful role across both growth and profitability metrics.
Sharing her views during the post earnings interaction, Falguni Nayar, Executive Chairperson, MD and CEO, Nykaa said the company was already seeing tangible gains from AI-led initiatives despite macroeconomic concerns around inflation and global uncertainties.
“But I have to admit that we are definitely seeing benefits of AI-led growth in our business for sure,” Nayar said. “The benefit is both on top line as well as costs.”
Nykaa reported a 28 per cent year on year growth in both GMV and net revenue during the March quarter, while EBITDA jumped 67 per cent. The company attributed part of the improved efficiency to better performance across the customer acquisition funnel.
Executive Director and Beauty CEO Anchit Nayar further explained on how AI is helping the company sharpen digital marketing spends and customer engagement.
“And I think FN was alluding to some of the benefits that AI has allowed us to drive in terms of efficiency on marketing, on third-party platforms for customer acquisition,” he said.
According to him, AI is also transforming the app experience through deeper personalisation. Traditionally, ecommerce platforms relied heavily on previous browsing and purchase history to recommend products. Nykaa now says AI is helping it understand even first-time shoppers better.
“AI has now allowed us to also infer signals about new customers where we don’t have too much previous browse and purchase history data on them,” Anchit Nayar said. “But AI allows us to personalize the experience for them to an extent that was earlier not possible.”
The company is also deploying AI in skincare discovery and consultation services. Nykaa highlighted that its platform now includes an “AI-powered skin scan” feature that analyses customers’ skin concerns and recommends suitable products.
In addition, the company has introduced a derma recommendation engine that enables dermatologists to interact with users through voice and video consultations.
Nykaa believes AI will become increasingly central to how consumers discover beauty and fashion online. The company also noted that AI-driven consumer insights are helping brands optimise campaigns and advertising performance on the platform.
“And again, here’s where AI is helping, but our ability to share real-time insights on performance of marketing campaigns on the platform has been seen as very helpful by brands as well,” Anchit Nayar added.
With AI now influencing marketing, product discovery, customer retention and shopping experience, Nykaa appears to be positioning technology as a core lever for its next phase of growth.
