India's lifestyle market to hit $210 billion by 2028

India’s $130 billion lifestyle market, with fashion accounting for around 80% and the rest beauty and personal care, is expected to grow at 10%-12% CAGR to reach $210 billion over the next five years, largely led by the organised segment, according to a report by Bain & Company and Myntra.

India’s e-lifestyle market is poised to grow from $16-$17 billion in 2023 to $40-$45 billion in 2028, the report says.

This growth in e-lifestyle will be enabled by the easing of short-term inflationary pressures, combined with favourable demand shifts, such as rise in income, growth of fashion forward, digital native Gen-Z shopper base as well as an increase in demand for organised and branded products, the report says. Additional tailwinds will come from customer value propositions of trendy selection, faster delivery, easier returns, tech-enabled purchase journey, social media powered discovery and omni-access.

This will bridge the massive penetration headroom versus global markets such as the US, China and Germany, which are at 35% over e- lifestyle penetration; as such the-lifestyle penetration in India will grow from 13% to 18%-22% over 2023-28, the report says.

“India’s e-lifestyle market has come of age in the last few years, with a diverse shopper base – 2 in 3 online shoppers are from beyond top 50 cities, 1 in 2 are from non-affluent segments, and 1 in 3 are Gen-Z. There still exists massive penetration headroom. 1 in 5 dollars spent on lifestyle will be online,” says Shyam Unnikrishnan, partner at Bain & Company.

Currently, e-lifestyle is dominated by fashion, comprising around 75% of the market, and accessories and women’s apparel are expected to grow faster than other fashion segments. Beauty and personal care has become more mainstream with about 16% penetration in 2023 and is expected to grow slightly faster over the next 5 years.

Another prominent trend driven by online platforms is the rise of the trend-first fashion market in India. With a large width of assortment and faster refresh cycles, this online trend- first market is expected to grow eightfold, reaching $4-5 billion by 2028, the study finds. Consequently, the online share of trend-first fashion is projected to increase to 50%-55%, up from the current 30%-35%.

In 2023, more than 175 million customers across India shopped for lifestyle online, transacting 6-7 times annually on average. For 40%-45% first-time e-commerce shoppers, lifestyle is their first purchase, thus becoming a key gateway category for e-retail. Deeply entrenched shoppers (defined as those with spend greater than ₹50,000 annually on a platform), visit their preferred platform at least once a day on average, and purchase over 25 times per annum versus the market average of 6-7, the report says. The 60 million Gen-Z shopper base transacts more frequently but spends lower per order.

India has been a core market for top global brands—90% of the top 50 global brands are already present in India, half of these brands have over $30 million in revenue from India operations. The confidence in India as a key lifestyle market is underscored by the launch or planned launch of over 60 global brands in the last 12 months, says the report.

“Three in five global brands have entered India via the online channel in the past year and we are proud to have contributed to the launch of some of these global brands in the country. A well-rounded and high-decibel launch, facilitating easier discovery, access to intel about the needs of Indian fashion-forward consumers and Myntra’s reach to 99% of serviceable pin codes are among the key factors enabling the scale-up of the global brands in the sub-continent,” says Nandita Sinha, CEO, Myntra.