Opinion · Retail
Listed retailers are funding aggressive offline expansion even as quick commerce densifies urban delivery. The P&L test arrives this festive season.
The Desk, Editorial··4 min read
Top listed retailers added a net 2,182 stores last fiscal and are raising fresh capital—Trent up to ₹2,500 crore, Avenue Supermarts up to ₹1,000 crore in NCDs—while Reliance already runs more than 700 dark stores. DMart and Nykaa just printed higher store counts alongside solid sales growth. The question is whether physical square footage still delivers returns once every neighbourhood has a 10-to-20-minute option.
The capital is real and the openings continue. Yet mature-store productivity has been under pressure in metros where quick commerce takes the top-up basket.
A kirana next to a new Zudio or Westside still loses impulse trips to the dark store two lanes away. The till at a large-format store must now justify higher rent with experience and private-label margin, not just assortment breadth.
The country’s 10 largest listed retailers added a net 2,182 stores in 2025-26 after accounting for closures.
Expansion helps landlords and construction vendors while squeezing under-capitalised regional chains. It also forces qcom players to keep adding larger hubs just to stay visible.
Watch same-store sales and festive conversion rates in the October-December filings. If LFL stays soft while store count rises, the funding spree will look expensive by next monsoon.
Filed under Retail·The Desk
Readers' mark
Be the first to mark this story.
Ask the desk
Signed-in readers can put a question to the desk. We file a short take on this story — not a press release.
Opinion · Retail
Inflation absorption and quick-commerce frequency are testing the old low-price promise just as footfall peaks.
The Desk · 7 Oct · 4 min read
Retail
Convenience format posted ₹90 crore loss on ₹92 crore revenue; kiranas and quick commerce left no room for the middle.
Meera Iyer · 7 Oct · 4 min read
Retail
Strong top line failed to calm investors worried about same-store growth and quick-commerce leakage; shares fell over 6%.
Meera Iyer · 7 Oct · 4 min read