The retail sector of India is moving from aggressive launch to disciplined growth, since the large chains impose severe profitability objectives from six to 12 months for new stores and closes to non-performing ones, while global and digital brands-Prima seek places of high foot fall to increase offline presence.
Safe players such as Riliance Retail, Pantalions, Westside and Shoppers Stop have recalibrated their launch plans, giving priority to make a count of each square foot on the shop count.
“The profitability is now the North Star for the expansion, but the 6-12 months performance review window could be too short: most of the stores need at least two years to mature, depending on geography,” said Susil Dungarwal, head of the shopping center at the retail consultancy beyond the Squarefeet advice.
“While the D2C brands are moving offline, they are highly selective, doing deep market searches before choosing offices,” he added.Digital-First brands such as Snitch and Bewakoof, together with global names such as Skechers, true fashion and alone, are trying to open large shops in high-content-falling places to improve visibility and maximize the impact.
The cautious approach is echoed throughout the sector.
The combined imprint of Riliance Retail, Aditya Birla Fashion Retail that has Pantaloon, D’Arto, Trent, Titan and McDonald’s India have only witnessed a 3% increase to 34,839 points of sale in 2024, a growth drastically less than 12% in 2023.
Between January and June 2025, this cohort added about 617 stores, falling from 850-900 in the same period of 2024 to 25-30% slowdown, affirmed experts in the sector.”We continue to add new shops while we have eliminated all the shops that made no sense,” said Dinesh Tiluja, Chief Financial Officer of Riliance Retail, in a call of post-prose earnings of the quarter. “Even the business-to-business, we have in some way weaned some of the low-margin categories, which made no sense. Therefore, that transition has also been completed and is already reflecting in the numbers.”
The new point of reference for Riliance is that any new shop must become profitable within six -2 months or be closed. In the exercise25, the chain has closed 2,155 points of sale more than six per day, even if it has added new ones.
Realty Dynamics
With the profit approach that slows down the expansion of retail sale, the operators of the shopping center and the developers are actively taking care of tenants to increase the steps, combining fashion, food and drinks (F&B), entertainment and experiential concepts.
During the April-June 20 quarter of June 20, the retail leasing among the top eight cities of the country was 2.24 million square feet, falling by 6% compared to the previous year.
In the first half of the 2025 calendar, 2.2 million square feet of new space entered the Detail Real Estate Market of India, a jump from year to year of 346%, according to CBRA. Total absorption during this period was 3.2 million square feet, indicating a marginal gap of supply of demand that could influence the levels of short -term vacancies.
“Well-Located, Investment-Grape Malls Are Showing Strong Performance With Steady Rental Growth in Select Micro-Markets, Whereas Underperforming Assets Face Higher Vacancy Pressures, Making Location, STORE SIZE, and Experiential Appeal The Decisive Factors for Sustained Occupancy,” SAID ” Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, India, Southeast Asia (Sea), Middle East and Africa (Mea), At CBre. This influx has maintained vacant places in high performance shopping centers under control.
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