Opinion · Retail
Value fashion keeps winning while premium defends margins
Zudio-style sub-₹999 weekly drops force department stores and mid-tier brands to choose volume or ticket size before the festive rush.
The Desk, Editorial··4 min read
Zudio and similar value formats delivered around 16 per cent growth in recent nine-month prints by holding price points under ₹999 and refreshing stock weekly. Premium players simultaneously push curated and higher-ASP assortments across large city networks to hold gross margins.
A Zudio till in a tier-2 mall clears more units per square foot than a neighbouring department-store bay; the shop assistant pushes three ₹799 tops instead of one ₹2,499 shirt, lifting conversion even if absolute ticket size stays lower. Kirana-adjacent value stores feel the same volume pull.
Sub-₹999 weekly drops at Zudio keep rewriting the volume-versus-margin trade-off.
The dynamic squeezes mid-tier apparel brands that sit between the two poles and helps pure value players and private-label programmes at DMart or Reliance. It also pressures franchise economics for slower-turning lifestyle formats.
Watch festive footfall splits between value and premium doors in October-November and the next set of quarterly SSSG numbers from Trent, Shoppers Stop and Aditya Birla Lifestyle.