How Gillette India Got Its Razor’s Edge Back 

Gillette India should have been a casualty of changing times. A decade ago, its razors were a daily ritual for millions of Indian men. But then came the beard boom, fuelled by cricketers, actors, and influencers who made stubble sexy. The clean-shaven look lost its sheen and hirsute was in. Demand for traditional shaving products shrank, and with it, Gillette’s cultural cachet. Most legacy brands would have hunkered down, defended their turf, and blamed the youth. Gillette India did the opposite. 

And not with a lazy rebrand or token “lifestyle” campaign, but with a sweeping transformation anchored in technology, productivity, and product innovation. Today, Gillette India isn’t just selling razors, it’s selling style relevance.

Gillette India’s reinvention wasn’t cosmetic. As the shaving culture receded, the company expanded into electric trimmers, beard kits, and even ventured into women’s grooming and oral care with gusto. The company also embraced what it calls “constructive disruption”. AI and machine learning are now deployed to tailor product assortments store-by-store, enabling advance ordering and sharper demand forecasting.

The ₹3 billion “Supply 3.0” supply chain overhaul isn’t about warehouses and logistics jargon. It is investing in advanced supply planning technology to provide the right assortment at stores, and to make advance ordering a reality. It is about knowing that a consumer in Kanpur wants a Mach3 refill while one in Kochi is more likely to try Gillette Labs. For Gillette, premiumisation isn’t about slapping a higher price on an old blade. It is using technology to make the experience feel premium.

It is not a pie in the sky. The effort is already paying off. Sales are up by over 12% year-on-year for the nine months ended March 2025. Profit after tax? Up 40%. Margins? Up 300 basis points. This isn’t a brand surviving disruption. It is thriving on it.

Gillette’s transformation reflects something larger: the slow death of one-size-fits-all FMCG strategy in India. Urban consumers want personalisation; rural ones are slowly coming back online. And the gap between aspiration and affordability needs to be bridged not with discounts, but with better value and targeted reach.

Gillette India’s answer? It ploughed back ₹400 million in savings into marketing, innovation, and expanding reach in 2024-2025. The result was five million new consumers from the upgraded Gillette Guard alone. Oral-B Power doubled in three years. Even the Venus range for women is now growing faster than the core male grooming line, powered by tier 2 cities and online platforms.

From a stock perspective, Gillette’s dividend track record remains rock solid, with 2024-2025 seeing a ₹112/share payout. That’s a company that’s innovating like a start-up while rewarding shareholders like an old-school FMCG warhorse. With the stock already up 86% in two years, analysts believe that Gillette India shares are priced for perfection.

Still, it’s not all smooth shaving from here. Urban demand is soft, inflation remains a wild card, and the post-price hike base effect means revenue growth may moderate. Export recovery and growth in oral care will need to shoulder more of the load. But that’s exactly why the company’s continued focus on margin improvement, through premiumisation and productivity, not just price hikes, is worth watching. Gillette isn’t chasing volume blindly. It’s chasing relevance profitably.

Gillette India’s story isn’t just about razors or beards. If you don’t disrupt by yourself, get nicked by someone who will.