Quick commerce is changing what consumers expect from beauty companies: not just what they can buy, but how quickly they can get it.
Oriflame, however, does not plan to respond by building a retail or e-commerce model of its own. The Swedish beauty and wellness brand believes its network of direct sellers can help provide the reach and speed consumers increasingly expect.
“We’re not there yet. I don’t think that we are going to migrate into quick commerce at all,” Oriflame’s newly appointed global chief executive officer, Kenneth Benaim Campbell, told Mint.
Campbell said the company already has the ability to reach smaller locations through its 250,000 direct sellers. In Oriflame’s model, the seller is effectively the last link in the chain. “If we don’t give her the product, she loses the sale immediately,” he said.
That is changing how Oriflame operates, even if it is not changing how it sells. The company is digitizing its direct-selling model and working to improve fulfilment for orders placed through its sellers. It is also available on quick-commerce platforms, but Campbell said these are partnerships rather than a shift in the company’s own distribution model.
“We are available on quick commerce but it is partners who earn the commission when an order is made in a particular location,” he said.
Of its €560.9 million turnover, India contributes under a tenth of revenue and is its third-largest market after China and Mexico. Its India sales in fiscal year 2025 (FY25) stood at ₹432 crore, with net loss at ₹30 crore, according to Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings accessed through business intelligence platform Tofler.
Oriflame’s global revenue fell 7% to €560.9 million in 2025, according to Campbell, with the company attributing the decline to inflation and instability in several markets, adverse currency movements, a smaller sales force and lower activity levels.
Beyond retail
The relationship once built largely offline is increasingly being built online. That puts Oriflame at an interesting point in a beauty market where D2C brands, marketplaces and quick-commerce platforms have changed how consumers discover and buy products.
According to EY-Parthenon estimates, India’s beauty and personal care (BPC) market is projected to reach nearly ₹3.26 trillion by FY31, up from ₹1.8 trillion in FY25.
“D2C beauty retail brands are successful. I’m happy for them, but we will not go into retail. DTC brands are successful. I’m not going to create an e-commerce model,” Campbell said.
Instead, Oriflame plans to expand its network of sellers. “India contributes roughly one in every 10 euros of revenue. We want the Indian community to reach one million partners by 2030 and expect India to account for as much as one-fourth of global revenue by then,” he added.
The next phase of growth, Campbell said, will involve identifying the next 500 cities, with tier-II and tier-III cities expected to make a significant contribution. The company’s beauty partners are currently present in about 517 cities, which Campbell described as a small footprint for a country the size and diversity of India. “There’s definitely room for 10 times more,” he said.
Oriflame is also looking at India’s growing creator economy. Campbell does not see influencers replacing traditional sellers, but wants to give creators with large communities a way to build businesses around the brand.
That model is also seeing a generational shift. The average age of a beauty seller and consumer is similar, at 35-37 years. The company is trying to bring younger consumers and more men into the model without losing its older network. Its core categories in India are skincare, fragrances and wellness, while colour cosmetics serve as a discovery category for younger consumers. Personal care is another important part of the portfolio.
At the same time, Oriflame is changing how it makes those products in India.
Around 240 products from the portfolio are expected to shift to contract manufacturing through Akums Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a contract development and manufacturing organization. Historically, about 80% of products sold in India were manufactured by the company and 20% were outsourced. That mix is expected to reverse to roughly 20% manufacturing and 80% outsourcing.
Campbell said the move is less about margins and more about speed. “We needed to become more agile and we needed a stronger partner,” he said.