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How much do Indian D2C brands spend on ads?
Between 12% and 41% of revenue, across the six brands we could check. Being bigger didn't put a brand at the low end. The biggest brand in the set was near the top, and a mid-sized one was at the very top.
The numbers
| Brand | Category | Year | Ad or marketing spend, % of revenue | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traya | Hair care | FY25 | 40.8% | Sales and marketing, ₹138 cr on ₹338 cr revenue |
| Honasa (Mamaearth) | Beauty | FY23 | 35.5% | Advertising, company investor presentation |
| Minimalist | Skincare | FY25 | 29.9% | Ads and promotion, ₹154 cr on ₹515 cr |
| Mokobara | Luggage | FY25 | 20.0% | Advertising, ₹46 cr on ₹230 cr |
| Snitch | Fashion | FY25 | 16.7% | Advertising and marketing, ₹83 cr on ₹498 cr |
| Wakefit | Mattresses and home | FY23 | 11.8% | Advertising, ₹95.9 cr on ₹813 cr |
Honasa's figure is stated in the company's own investor presentation (Q2 FY24, slide 24). The other five percentages are our calculations from expense and revenue figures in Registrar of Companies filings, as reported by Entrackr and Inc42. "Advertising" in one filing may include promotions in another, so treat close percentages as roughly equal.
What the numbers show
These are facts from the table.
- Beauty and hair care spend the most. All three were at 30% or more. Luggage, fashion and mattresses were between 12% and 20%.
- High gross margin doesn't mean high profit. Honasa kept a gross margin of about 70% (FY21 to FY23), and still spent 35.5% of revenue on advertising in FY23.
- Revenue growing faster than ads wasn't enough. In FY25 Minimalist grew revenue 48% while ad spend grew 28%, and Mokobara grew revenue 97% while ad spend grew 88%. Both still reported losses.
- Traya's loss didn't come from ads. Revenue grew 43% and sales and marketing grew 40%, but employee costs grew 130%. A ₹8.6 crore profit in FY24 became a ₹23 crore loss in FY25.
- Headline losses can hide one-offs. Minimalist's FY25 loss of ₹31.5 crore included ₹46 crore of exceptional items. Before those, EBITDA was ₹18 crore positive.
What this can't tell you
- Six brands is not a benchmark. These are brands large enough to be reported on, which skews the set toward survivors.
- Line items differ between companies. Some report advertising alone, others sales and marketing together.
- No repeat-rate or CAC figures here. These filings don't disclose them. Those sit in IPO documents, which we haven't added yet.
What we read into it
This part is our view. Ad spend as a share of revenue says less than which way it's moving and what it buys. A brand at 35% that is falling, with customers who come back, is in better shape than one at 20% that is rising. When we review a brand, we rebuild this ratio by channel and by month, because the annual figure hides the trend.
We help founders fix these numbers and then raise. If we ran your venture diagnostics, the raise starts after a one-quarter cooling-off period. If not, we start right after our own investability review.
Questions
FAQ
What percentage of revenue do D2C brands spend on marketing in India?
In the six brands we checked, it ran from 11.8% (Wakefit, FY23) to 40.8% (Traya, FY25).
Do beauty brands spend more on ads?
In this set, yes. Honasa, Minimalist and Traya were all at 30% or more.
Does ad spend fall as a brand grows?
Not here. Honasa, the largest brand, spent 35.5%, while Snitch, at about ₹500 crore revenue, spent 16.7%.
Where do these numbers come from?
Company filings, as reported by Entrackr and Inc42, plus Honasa's investor presentation. Each figure is linked in our working file.