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What format bets are Indian retailers making right now?

Answer

Three moves dominate. Reliance is doubling down on small-format grocery with 2,500+ Smart Bazaar stores planned by FY27 — the unit economics argument is that ₹3,000/sqft revenue density beats hypermarkets at ₹1,800. DMart is testing a premium format in Powai with 2× the SKU count. And Avenue Supermarts quietly filed for warehouse-club (Costco-style) membership retail in its latest RoC filing. Meanwhile Tata-owned BigBasket is pivoting brick-and-mortar with 200 "BB Now" dark stores converted to walk-in micro-markets.

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The first time someone on the desk pinged a competitor's format pilot before it hit the trade press, we stopped opening Mint at 7am. Strategy director · top-five Indian retailer

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