MyGlamm’s experiential beauty flagship sits in Mumbai’s bustling Juhu neighborhood. Inside, a range of makeup and skin-care brands, including MyGlamm’s own products, lines up across large mirrors. There are dedicated “influencer” spaces designed to help create the perfect Instagrammable moment—plus “makeover” desks and a newly designed manicure station.

But the 3,000-square-foot space, which opened in 2021, is a small (and recent) addition to MyGlamm’s success story.

• It has 40,000 points-of-sale across India, according to the brand.

Offline is ~35% of the beauty company’s revenue (MyGlamm says it has a $100 million annual run rate), while e-comm—given its DTC beginnings in 2017—“is thriving,” founder Darpan Sanghvi told Retail Brew.

Back up: With the rise of online shopping, India’s DTC market has been growing—and it could reach $100 billion by 2025, according to financial services firm Avendus Capital. Beauty brands, especially, are poised to benefit, said Triveni Kulkarni, a senior research analyst at Mintel.

“Post the liberalization of the economy in the early ‘90s, rising disposable incomes of the urban middle class have resulted in bigger budgets on discretionary spends such as beauty,” she told us in an email. “And with global exposure through social media, there is a consumer demand today for international trends with respect to skin care and makeup.”

For a while, the category was dominated by the likes of Nykaa, an e-commerce beauty platform that was founded in 2012. (It’s still a major player today, and is looking to expand its offline business.)

Sanghvi wanted to differentiate MyGlamm by “own[ing] the customer” and facilitating transactions through its own platform, he said.

• The Mumbai-based company invested in building out tech that would “capture customer data to segment them correctly, to understand them better, and create products that are more relevant for them,” Sanghvi noted.

Today, 80% of MyGlamm customers fall between the ages of 16 and 35 and are spread across Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities. And its price points match up accordingly: The products, ranging from eye cream to highlighters, cost between 199 Indian rupees ($2.60) for the “entry-level” younger consumer and 1,200 rupees ($16) for higher-end products.

“The gap we wanted to bridge was creating products that are personalized to the wants and needs of women,” Sanghvi said.

Click here to read the full story.—JS

This week, Macy’s announced an expansion of its off-price Backstage stores, opening 37 Backstage departments in addition to a few freestanding locations. The departments will occupy anywhere from 11,000 to 16,000 square feet per store and are stocked with discounted items. But is Backstage a good use of space for the iconic department store?

Out with the old: “We all know for a fact that Macy’s has way too much retail space,” retail consultant Jan Rogers Kniffen, who worked on the Macy’s Federated-May merger in 2005, told Retail Brew, noting that “they can’t make the store smaller.”

Macy’s carries a lot of seasonal merchandise, too, so Backstage could help it clear excess inventory for the next big trend.

• It added 45 Backstage shop-in-shops last year.
• In 2019, Macy’s attempted to curate in-store experiences with Story, a “narrative-driven concept shop” with merchandising built around themes that change every few months. (It eventually fizzled.)

Friendlier price tags: Macy’s shoppers love a good deal, and that may prove key to Backstage’s success—or failure. For example, when the retailer recently tried to raise prices on mattresses and sofas by $100, Macy’s chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette said customers weren’t happy.

• With inflation weighing on take-home pay, an off-price strategy might be a logical next step for now. “It’ll enhance the productivity in the store, and it’ll enhance the profitability because [it’ll] absorb overheads,” Kniffen said.

Tricky business: Macy’s may not want all of its customers shopping in the discount section forever. “The real acid test is how much it encourages people to shop across the wider Macy’s offer, including full price,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData’s retail division, told us in an email.—JG

Today’s top retail reads.

Dining out: The pandemic gave rise to NYC restaurants opening sidewalk sheds and structures for patrons. But while the City Council works on making outdoor dining permanent, the city is stepping up enforcement of rules. (Bloomberg)

Potato, potato: LA’s Silver Lake neighborhood is debating the spelling of its name, while many of the area’s retailers have already based their businesses’ names on the Silverlake one-word moniker. (The Eastsider)

Boot cut it out: Skinny jeans are on their way out, and retailers are taking note by offering more variety—or cutting the style all together. (Business of Fashion)

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Ace Hardware talks omnichannel
• Buy online, ship to store doesn’t get much glory. Here’s why it should.
• What makes a successful loyalty program

Three of the stories below are real...and one is most definitely not. Can you spot the fake?

1. PepsiCo and IHOP collabed on a limited-edition maple syrup-flavored cola.
2. Due to supply-chain constraints, Kellogg said it’s struggling to meet demand for Pringles and Cheez-It.
3. Peloton’s treadmills finally have a pause button.
4. Along with hard seltzer and CBD supplements, gift bags at this weekend’s Academy Awards also include a plot of land in Scotland.

Keep reading for the answer.