The growth and expansion strategy of L'Oréal in India

Abstract

L’Oréal has been present in India for 15 years and is now number 3 of the cosmetics market with 10% market share (in urban areas, against 16.9% in mature market). Its main competitors are Unilever and P&G, positioned on more affordable brands. L’Oreal recently set very aggressive targets: from €170m (1% of group sales) in 2011, its 2020 objectives are €1Bn sales in India through an additional 150 million new consumers. The group seems to know where it is heading now but it has not always been like that. L’Oreal had to face and to deal with a lot of challenges notably in the market structure and consumption habits. When it entered the market, the company tried to “L’Orealize” Indian consumers by selling its traditional products but the strategy turned out to be quite unsuccessful. This paper intends to show why and then how L’Oreal managed to turn the situation around. Our study should be split in two parts, identifying the dynamics of Indian consumer markets first and then focusing on L’Oreal’s strategy to settle in India.