D2C brands lift share of India retail leasing to 28% in H1 2026

Digital-first brands accounted for 28% of India’s retail leasing in H1 2026, up from 23% a year earlier, as they added profitable micro-stores and shop-in-shops. Total leasing rose 20% year on year to 3.9 million sq. ft., led by Delhi-NCR, Chennai and Mumbai.

— FiledThu, 30 Jul, 2026, 18:03 IST·First seen Thu, 30 Jul, 2026, 18:03 IST·Source Financial Express · BrandWagon

What happened

D2C brands lifted their share of Indian retail leasing to 28% in H1 2026 as digital-first players expanded offline. Leasing reached 3.9 million sq. ft., with

Key facts

  • D2C brands accounted for around 28% of India's retail leasing in H1 2026, versus around 23% a year earlier
  • Overall retail leasing rose 20% year-on-year to around 3.9 million sq. ft. in January-June 2026
  • April-June contributed nearly 2 million sq. ft. of leasing
  • Domestic retailers accounted for over 70% of leasing
  • Delhi-NCR held a 35% leasing share, Chennai 17% and Mumbai 15%
  • Fashion and apparel represented 69% of D2C leasing; homeware and furnishings 12%; jewellery 7%

Why this matters

The accelerating physical rollout of digital-first brands creates partnership and acquisition opportunities in store operations, retail-tech, franchise platforms and shop-in-shop networks that can scale omnichannel distribution.

What to watch

  • Quarterly D2C share of retail leasing and whether it remains above 28% through H2 2026.
  • Prime mall and high-street rent growth, vacancy rates, rent-free periods and landlord fit-out incentives in Delhi-NCR, Chennai and Mumbai.
  • Store-level payback periods, four-wall EBITDA and evidence that offline stores lift nearby online conversion rather than cannibalize it.
  • Growth in shop-in-shops and franchise formats relative to direct leases, signaling rising caution on fixed occupancy costs.
  • Consumer discretionary-spend trends in apparel, beauty, wellness, home and lifestyle categories where D2C expansion is concentrated.
  • Digital customer-acquisition-cost trends and changes in marketplace advertising costs, which could further improve the relative economics of physical discovery.
  • Build city-level expansion models using incremental omnichannel revenue, not store sales alone, including online halo, returns reduction and fulfillment savings.
  • Prioritize flexible formats such as shop-in-shops, kiosks, franchise-led stores and shorter lease tenures before committing to large flagship footprints.
  • Negotiate leases around turnover-linked rent, fit-out contributions, exclusivity protections, renewal caps and data access for mall-led footfall attribution.
  • Concentrate early expansion in Delhi-NCR, Chennai and Mumbai, but test Tier 1.5 and affluent Tier 2 catchments through pop-ups before permanent openings.
  • Upgrade unified inventory, endless-aisle selling, store-assisted digital ordering and cross-channel loyalty to convert physical traffic into measurable customer lifetime value.

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