India's Haircare Market Is Moving Beyond FMCG Playbook Routine-led products, diagnostics and education-first strategies are turning haircare into a habit-driven category, pushing specialised D2C brands to the forefront of India's $4-billion market

A deeper shift is underway in India's haircare market, reshaping not just consumer choices but how new-age brands are building the category. In a USD 4 billion market long dominated by FMCG players, D2C brands are driving growth through education, diagnostics and routine-led products. As consumers move beyond mass shampoos and hair oils toward problem-specific solutions, haircare is evolving into a habit-driven category marked by higher repeat usage, more predictable demand and gradual premiumisation.

While traditional brands still control volumes, growth and innovation are increasingly coming from specialised players operating on depth rather than reach. Within India's $31 billion beauty and personal care market, haircare stands out as one of the most behaviourally transformed segments, shaped less by impulse buying and more by problem–solution logic and repeat usage.

From Quick Fixes to Targeted Solutions

Across the sector, founders point to a clear shift over the past 12 to 18 months. Consumers are no longer shopping only for "good hair days"; they are shopping for outcomes.

"At a category level, we're seeing a shift from curiosity to commitment," says Anshita Mehrotra, Founder and Managing Director of Fix My Curls. "Customers are no longer experimenting with one-off products. They're building three- to four-step routines and repurchasing the same SKUs consistently."

This move from product experimentation to routine adoption has been one of the most significant changes in the category. Curl-first brands were among the earliest beneficiaries. India's curly and textured haircare segment grew at an estimated 27 per cent CAGR between 2020 and 2024, driven by specificity and education rather than trend cycles.

Similar behaviour is now emerging across other concerns. Dhruv Madhok and Dhruv Bhasin, co-founders of Arata, point to the "skinification" of haircare. "Customers are adopting new formats such as serums, tonics, masks and leave-ins," they say. "While we have a strong position in the wavy-curly segment, our biggest revenue and repeat demand come from concerns like hair fall and dandruff."

The underlying shift is from generic cleansing to targeted problem-solving.

Haircare Becomes Habit

This behavioural change is reshaping how haircare businesses are built. Traditional FMCG models rely on scale and mass frequency. New-age brands are instead creating frequency through habit.

Routine-led models are also changing how consumers assess value. At Fix My Curls, Mehrotra notes that the anchor is no longer the price of a single bottle. "₹1,200 for a four-step routine has become a comfortable sweet spot when customers understand they're buying a complete curl solution," she says. "What matters is value per step, not price per product."

Bundling products into multi-step routines has helped brands lift average order values while improving repeat rates. Industry benchmarks suggest that while beauty categories typically see repeat purchase rates of around 26 per cent, education- and routine-led models can push this well beyond 40 per cent, particularly when replenishment cycles or subscriptions are added.

For consumers, routines reduce trial-and-error fatigue. For brands, they create predictability and longer customer lifetimes.

Education Drives Discovery and Trust

One of the clearest breaks from FMCG playbooks is the role of content. For new-age haircare brands, education now sits at the centre of the business.

"Brands winning today treat content as a product, not a marketing add-on," Mehrotra says. Ingredient explainers, routine breakdowns, quizzes and community-led education increasingly replace the role once played by mass advertising or in-store promoters.

Saloni Anand, Co-Founder of Traya, sees this shift as essential in a category long shaped by exaggerated promises. "Consumers today understand that hair regrowth takes months, not days," she says. "What influences willingness to pay is clarity on why hair loss is happening, how the solution addresses root causes, and what adherence actually looks like."

At Traya, diagnostics-led education is central to the model. Hair loss is framed not as a cosmetic issue but as an outcome of internal health factors such as nutrition, stress and hormones. This has helped move consumers away from quick fixes toward longer-term, coach-led regimens, strengthening retention and lifetime value.

Owned media also affects acquisition economics. Anand notes that reels, podcasts and community platforms educate users before conversion, lowering acquisition costs and improving marketing efficiency.

Personalisation as a Growth Driver

Alongside education, personalisation has moved from a supporting feature to a core driver of conversion and trust. This does not always mean customised formulations; often it takes the form of diagnostic quizzes, guided routines or expert consultations.

"Most consumers don't actually know their curl pattern, porosity or primary concern," Mehrotra says. "Personalisation removes confusion and increases consistency."

Arata applies personalisation at the routine level, allowing consumers to assemble combinations from a standard product range. Traya goes deeper, using diagnostics to guide treatment plans and content, particularly in hair fall, where root causes vary widely. Founders say these approaches improve relevance, adherence and long-term retention.

Capital Becomes More Selective

Investor behaviour reflects this maturing market. According to Tracxn, India's D2C haircare ecosystem has moved from rapid expansion to greater discipline. Between 2020 and 2022, new brand formation surged, driven by pandemic-led self-care and e-commerce growth. From 2023 onwards, the pace moderated as differentiation and sustainability gained importance.

D2C haircare startups have raised USD 76.1 million to date, with funding peaking at USD 22.3 million in 2024 before becoming more selective. Rather than backing volume-led growth, capital is increasingly supporting brands with focused positioning and defensible use cases.

"What we're seeing is a shift toward depth over breadth," says Neha Singh, Co-Founder of Tracxn. "Specialised haircare brands tend to show stronger resilience and capital efficiency because their relevance is clearer."

Mass brands continue to dominate volumes, Singh notes, indicating that premiumisation remains selective. However, the direction of capital and innovation is clear.

The FMCG Challenge

Legacy FMCG players are responding by entering niche segments and adopting science-led language. Yet structural constraints remain. Community-led trust, diagnostic depth and education-heavy models are difficult to replicate at scale.

Offline expansion also carries risks. Fix My Curls has stayed digital-first, citing the risk of miscommunication without consistent education at counters. Traya has taken a hybrid approach, opening experiential centres that combine digital diagnostics with human expertise, but only after establishing trust online.

As the market matures, growth will come less from frequent launches and more from credibility and results. Haircare is no longer a low-involvement FMCG category. It is becoming routine-led, outcome-driven and personal. That shift will determine where long-term growth and loyalty sit in the market.