Eternal, Nykaa lead retail-tech watchlist as India retail market eyes Rs 215 trillion by 2035
Eternal reported Q3 FY26 revenue of Rs 16,315 crore, up 201.9% year on year, while Nykaa’s revenue rose 27% to Rs 2,873 crore. Nykaa added 11 stores to reach 276 across 94 cities as India’s retail market is projected to grow from Rs 90–95 trillion in 2025 to Rs 210–215 trillion by 2035.
What happened
Eternal (formerly Zomato) · India’s retail-tech leaders Eternal, Nykaa, Delhivery and IndiaMART are positioned for a retail market projected to exceed Rs 210
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%
- Eternal added over 200 net stores
- Nykaa Q3 FY26 revenue Rs 2,873 crore, up 27%
- Nykaa Q3 FY26 net profit Rs 68 crore, up 156%
- Nykaa added 11 stores, reaching 276 stores across 94 cities
- Nykaa B2B platform serves over 4.8 lakh retailers across 1,100 cities
- Delhivery Q3 FY26 services revenue about Rs 2,798 crore, up 18% YoY
- Delhivery net profit about Rs 110 crore before integration costs and Rs 40 crore after
Why this matters
India’s projected doubling of retail-market value by 2035 strengthens the case for acquisitions, partnerships and technology-led capabilities that can accelerate store-network scale, beauty retail penetration and omnichannel reach.
What to watch
- Eternal’s order growth, quick-commerce gross order value, contribution margin, dark-store count and same-store productivity.
- Nykaa’s retail-store payback period, physical-versus-online growth, premium beauty share, gross margin and repeat-customer metrics.
- Customer-acquisition costs, discount intensity and delivery-fee trends across quick commerce and beauty retail.
- Urban retail rents, availability of suitable dark-store locations and any regulatory changes affecting delivery workers or quick-commerce operations.
- Whether India’s consumption growth broadens beyond major metros, supporting profitable expansion into smaller cities.
- Eternal is likely to prioritize dark-store density, assortment expansion, advertising monetization and retention programs over purely geographic expansion.
- Nykaa is likely to add stores in high-income tier-2 and tier-3 cities, use them as omnichannel fulfillment and experience hubs, and deepen premium beauty and owned-brand mix.
- Both companies are likely to pursue higher contribution margins through personalized promotions, loyalty ecosystems, vendor-funded marketing and supply-chain automation.
- Traditional retailers and marketplace rivals are likely to increase investments in rapid delivery, beauty retail formats and hybrid online-offline fulfillment.