Eternal and Nykaa post strong Q3 FY26 growth as India’s retail-tech market scales
Financial Express flags Eternal, Nykaa, Delhivery and IndiaMART as retail-tech plays tied to India’s expanding retail economy. Eternal reported Q3 FY26 revenue of Rs 16,315 crore, while Nykaa posted Rs 2,873 crore, alongside continued quick-commerce, store and platform expansion.
What happened
Eternal (formerly Zomato) · India’s retail market could reach Rs 210-215 trillion by 2035. Eternal, Nykaa, Delhivery and IndiaMART are positioned as retail-tech
Key facts
- India retail market projected at Rs 210-215 trillion by 2035, versus Rs 90-95 trillion in 2025
- Eternal Q3 FY26 revenue: Rs 16,315 crore, up 201.9% YoY
- Eternal Q3 FY26 net profit: Rs 102 crore, up 102.9% YoY
- Eternal added over 200 net stores
- Nykaa Q3 FY26 revenue: Rs 2,873 crore, up 27% YoY
- Nykaa Q3 FY26 net profit: Rs 68 crore, up 156% YoY
- Nykaa operates 276 stores across 94 cities
- Nykaa B2B platform serves over 4.8 lakh retailers across 1,100 cities
- Delhivery Q3 FY26 service revenue: about Rs 2,798 crore, up 18% YoY
Why this matters
The results make quick-commerce infrastructure, beauty-brand distribution, merchant software and last-mile logistics attractive partnership or acquisition targets for companies seeking scalable access to India’s retail-tech growth.
What to watch
- Sequential quick-commerce order growth, average order value, contribution margin and dark-store additions at Eternal.
- Nykaa's beauty gross-margin trend, repeat-customer growth, offline store productivity and advertising revenue mix.
- Evidence of increased discounting, delivery-partner costs or customer-acquisition expenses across quick-commerce platforms.
- Tier-2 and Tier-3 city expansion economics versus metro-market saturation.
- Consumer discretionary demand, urban inflation and regulatory developments affecting gig workers, food delivery or e-commerce operations.
- Eternal is likely to prioritize quick-commerce assortment depth, dark-store density and higher-margin advertising or private-label monetization over near-term margin maximization.
- Nykaa is likely to expand physical stores selectively, deepen owned-brand and exclusive-brand mix, and use its customer data to improve repeat purchases and ad yields.
- Delhivery, IndiaMART and adjacent retail-enablement firms may position themselves as beneficiaries of merchant digitization, fulfillment outsourcing and faster inventory replenishment.
- Incumbents and well-funded rivals are likely to respond with more promotions, delivery-speed investments and seller incentives, raising competitive intensity in metro markets.