India’s retail and FMCG sectors are showing strong momentum despite global challenges. Ecommerce is playing an increasingly critical role for FMCG majors like Hindustan Unilever, Nestlé India, and Tata Consumer Products, all of whom are seeing a sharp rise in online sales and investing heavily in strengthening their digital channels. Global consumer giants such as P&G, Reckitt, and PepsiCo are also betting big on India, recognising it as a key growth market amid sluggish demand and economic headwinds in the US and Europe.
Reliance Consumer Brands has made impressive strides, with its FMCG business now rivalling Tata Consumer and surpassing Marico and Emami. However, not all FMCG news is positive - major players like Nestlé and HUL are grappling with weak urban demand and commodity price inflation, leading to muted single-digit growth for the year ending March 2025.
Quick commerce is another growth story, with Reliance Retail expanding aggressively after seeing a 2.4x surge in orders, planning new dark stores to speed up deliveries. Retail performance overall remains resilient, with a 6% year-on-year rise in sales in March 2025, according to the Retailers Association of India. Reliance Retail further strengthened its position, reporting a 30.4% rise in net profit in Q4, driven by operational improvements and technological investments.
On the premium side of retail, Apple is expanding its footprint, finalising new store locations in Noida and Pune, with more planned for Bengaluru and Mumbai. Overall, the Indian retail landscape continues to show robust growth and strong consumer sentiment.
Click on the headings below for insights on how these trends are shaping India’s retail landscape…
1. Growing pie: Ecommerce share on the fast track for FMCG companies
Ecommerce is increasingly turning out to be serious business for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) players despite the stress in urban consumption. FMCG majors including Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India and Tata Consumer Products are all witnessing a significant uptick in sales through their ecommerce channels and are targeting an even more robust online business in near term.
2. Amid global headwinds, FMCG cos bet on India
For global consumer giants battling business headwinds posed by tariffs and sluggish consumer spending in developed regions like the US, where an uncertain macro environment has nudged people to cut back on purchases, India is emerging as one of their key growth markets. From P&G to Reckitt and PepsiCo, companies in their recent earnings calls said that consumption in India remains steady, even as some firms have lowered their full-year forecasts due to the global backdrop.
3. Reliance FMCG business is now as big as Tata Consumer, bigger than Marico and triple of Emami
As per the fourth quarter data, Reliance Consumer Brands became the fastest growing FMCG company in the country. In the second year of operations, Reliance Consumer Brands saw overall sales of ₹11,450 crore, expanding its reach through general trade.
4. FMCG giants face slow urban growth, commodity headwinds in Q4
Urban sluggishness and commodity inflation (rising tea, palm oil, and coffee prices) have yet again weighed down top FMCG firms like Nestle and Hindustan Unilever (HUL), who have reported low single-digit sales growth for the year ended March 2025.
5. Reliance Retail plans to set up dark stores as part of aggressive quick-commerce expansion
Reliance Retail is aggressively expanding its quick commerce operations after witnessing a 2.4x surge in orders during the March quarter. The company plans to establish dark stores to enhance coverage and ensure sub-30-minute deliveries across its extensive network, which already spans over 4,000 pin codes.
6. Retail Expansion: Apple To Open New Stores In Noida & Pune
The Cupertino-based tech giant has finalised locations for its third and fourth stores at DLF Mall of India in Noida and Kopa Mall in Pune. Apple is said to be actively scouting suitable locations for two more stores in Bengaluru and Mumbai. As of now, Apple operates two retail stores in India – one in Delhi’s Saket and the other in Mumbai’s BKC.
7. Steady Domestic Demand Drives Retail Sector's Growth In March
Indicating steady domestic demand at a time when global trade conditions remain unsettled, the retail sales have marked a six per cent rise in March 2025 on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, as per the 60th Retail Business Survey by the Retailers Association of India (RAI).
8. Reliance Retail Q4 results: Net profit rises 30.4% to Rs 3,519 crore
Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) on Friday reported a 30.4 per cent on-year rise in its net profit at ₹3,519 crore for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (FY25). Its executive director Isha Ambani attributed this growth to the company’s “improved efficiencies, innovative formats, a sharper product mix, and continued investments in technology and customer experience.”