Retail
Lenskart adds French brand Le Petit Lunetier to 50 stores
First international label lands in owned doors and online; premium frames get fresh shelf space.
Meera Iyer · 4 Oct · 4 min read
Search the desk
20 stories for “consumer”
Retail
Nykaa seals L’Oréal BOLD pact for beauty startups
Minority stakes in high-growth Indian labels give founders capital plus Nykaa shelves and L’Oréal know-how without ceding control.
Meera Iyer · 25 Sep · 4 min read
Opinion · Retail
Why festive capacity and MDR will decide October margins
Hiring blitzes and new payment costs land together just as festive tickets swell; the shop floor will sort winners fast.
The Desk · 17 Sep · 4 min read
Payments
Govt locks 0.4% UPI MDR above ₹2,000 from 15 October
Merchants pay the charge, consumers stay free; small retailers and petrol pumps scramble for exemptions before the festive rush.
Kabir Menon · 17 Sep · 4 min read
Retail
Nexus Select seals ₹1,600 crore Guwahati retail deal
Assam CM flags the mall investment as proof of rising eastern consumer demand for organised retail.
Meera Iyer · 13 Sep · 4 min read
Retail
Reliance Consumer launches Bombay Creamery from ₹10
New ice-cream brand with real dairy cream rolls out in West India first, targeting affordable premium.
Meera Iyer · 9 Sep · 4 min read
Retail
Reliance Consumer Products launches Bombay Creamery from ₹10
Ice-cream foray starts in western India with cones cups tubs bars and sticks; private-label push tests value pricing against established dairy brands.
Meera Iyer · 3 Sep · 4 min read
Retail
Reliance Consumer Products launches Bombay Creamery ice creams from ₹10
Western India first, pan-India next; real dairy cream at entry price puts pressure on Amul and Kwality Walls tills and freezers.
Meera Iyer · 2 Sep · 4 min read
Opinion · Retail
Why secondary sales now price Indian retail risk
Lenskart’s back-to-back block deals show listed consumer names face real liquidity tests that franchise and store expansion plans cannot ignore.
The Desk · 30 Aug · 4 min read
Ecommerce
ITC Nestle widen own e-stores with 30% discounts
FMCG majors expand direct platforms to more cities to cut marketplace fees and lock in shoppers before festive stocking.
Ananya Rao · 30 Aug · 4 min read
Retail
Lenskart sees ₹1,857 crore block deal at ₹630
Alpha Wave offloads stake days after SoftBank sale, testing post-IPO liquidity for eyewear chain and its franchise partners.
Meera Iyer · 30 Aug · 4 min read
Retail
Zudio ordered to pay ₹30,000 over carry-bag fee
Karnataka consumer commission rules ₹10 bag charge unfair; value fashion chain faces fresh scrutiny on extras.
Meera Iyer · 24 Aug · 4 min read
Opinion · Payments
The free-UPI era was always borrowed time
Charging merchants was inevitable once volumes turned the rails into critical national infrastructure.
The Desk · 22 Aug · 4 min read
Payments
Razorpay trained a payments model. The interesting part is who it already sits inside.
Vulcan is being sold as India's first foundation model for payments. The real story is routing, fraud, and an 8–10% lift in success rates at merchants that cannot afford a failed UPI ping.
Kabir Menon · 19 Aug · 8 min read
SaaS
The unsexy stack is the one that actually ships Indian commerce.
OMS, WMS, GST invoices, and a Shopify theme: the mid-market D2C company is a software company whether it likes it or not.
Rhea Kapoor · 18 Aug · 6 min read
Ecommerce
Amazon Now's 100-city map is a threat. It is also a confession.
The company that taught India two-day delivery is now paying to look like a dark store. The investment is real. The question is whether Prime and 10 minutes can share a brain.
Meera Iyer · 15 Aug · 6 min read
Ecommerce
Zepto's IPO clock is a product review in disguise.
The 2026 new-age pipeline has a grocery app in it because public markets now understand 10-minute demand. They still have to price 10-minute costs.
Ananya Rao · 14 Aug · 6 min read
Payments
PhonePe is a payments company that wants to be a switch. Those are different jobs.
UPI made a giant. The next decade is whether that giant is a surface, a lender, or the rails themselves.
Kabir Menon · 12 Aug · 7 min read
Platforms
ONDC had a quiet year. That might be the good news.
The protocol did not kill Amazon. It also did not die. India's public digital commerce layer is settling into the unglamorous job: being a pipe some apps use.
Rhea Kapoor · 11 Aug · 6 min read
Opinion · Payments
The next UPI war is credit. It will not look like credit.
The ping will feel the same. The balance sheet will not. Every app with a QR is auditioning to be a lender.
Kabir Menon · 8 Aug · 6 min read