India retail is projected to top Rs 210 trillion by 2035, resurfacing an April 2026 focus on retail-tech platforms

A Financial Express analysis from April 2026, now resurfacing, flags Eternal, Nykaa, Delhivery and IndiaMART as enablers of India’s expanding retail market. Eternal reported Q3 FY26 revenue growth of 201.9% year on year, while Nykaa’s revenue rose 27% and Delhivery’s services revenue grew about 18%.

— FiledTue, 21 Jul, 2026, 06:02 IST·First seen Tue, 21 Jul, 2026, 06:01 IST·Source Financial Express · BrandWagon

What happened

Eternal (formerly Zomato) · India’s retail market could more than double to Rs 210-215 trillion by 2035. The analysis highlights Eternal, Nykaa, Delhivery and

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 more than 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 total stores: 276 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 Q3 FY26 net profit: about Rs 110 crore before integration costs and Rs 40 crore after

Why this matters

The widening retail market creates a deeper pipeline for acquisitions and alliances across logistics, merchant software, discovery, payments and omnichannel enablement.

What to watch

  • Quarterly growth in India private final consumption expenditure and urban versus rural discretionary spending.
  • GMV, order-frequency, active-customer and take-rate trends across marketplaces and quick-commerce platforms.
  • Advertising revenue growth as a share of platform revenue, indicating improving monetization quality.
  • Delhivery shipment volumes, utilization, yield per shipment and EBITDA margin progression.
  • Nykaa repeat-purchase rates, beauty-category growth, private-label mix and fulfillment-cost trends.
  • Eternal contribution margin, adjusted EBITDA, quick-commerce store economics and competitive pricing intensity.
  • UPI transaction growth, credit penetration and adoption of digital merchant tools among MSMEs.
  • Policy developments on e-commerce foreign ownership, dark stores, gig workers, consumer data and platform competition.
  • Prioritize exposure to platforms with multiple monetization layers: marketplace fees, ads, payments, logistics and SaaS.
  • Track whether Eternal converts rapid revenue growth into durable contribution-margin and EBITDA improvement rather than subsidy-led volume.
  • Favor logistics operators that can raise utilization through B2C parcel growth, D2C brands and SME fulfillment while limiting capex intensity.
  • Watch Nykaa’s ability to expand premium beauty, private labels and offline-assisted commerce without materially increasing discounting.
  • Expect merchant-enablement providers such as IndiaMART to benefit as small retailers digitize procurement, lead generation and inventory workflows.
  • Anticipate consolidation among smaller commerce, delivery and retail-software firms as scale economics become more important.