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Offline still drives 83% of India's apparel sales as digital-first brands like Nykaa and Neeman's open stores
Our read
Offline is likely to stay the dominant apparel channel, and digital-first brands will keep opening stores to capture the 83% of sales that still happen in person.
For operators
With offline still at 83% of India's $95.7 billion apparel sales in CY2025 and Nykaa (338 stores) and Neeman's moving into physical retail, digital-first teams should treat store rollout, store-level inventory and online-offline fulfilment as core capabilities, not add-ons.
Watch
Trent's next quarterly revenue growth versus the 23% in Q2FY27, and its store count versus 1,342
The report
Offline retail made up 83% of India's $95.7 billion apparel sales in CY2025, per a CMAI report. Digital-first brands like Nykaa (338 stores) and Neeman's are expanding offline, while Trent grew Q2FY27 revenue 23% to ₹5,788 crore with 1,342 stores.
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Signals to track
- Nykaa's next store-count disclosure versus 338
- Neeman's reported retail revenue progress against its ₹450–500 crore target
- The next CMAI report's offline share of apparel sales versus 83%
- Announcements from other digital-first brands that they are opening or pausing physical stores
The counter-case
The case against this reading — not reported by the source.
The headline joins several loosely related data points into a causal story that none of them proves. The 83% figure is a static share of a $95.7 billion market that includes India's large unorganised segment (local tailors, neighbourhood shops, weekly markets), so it is heavily offline by default. It says little about where organised or branded growth is going. The examples are also mismatched. Nykaa's 338 stores are mainly beauty rather than apparel, and Neeman's is best known for footwear. Trent is an offline-native chain, so its 23% growth to ₹5,788 crore across 1,342 stores shows offline strength but not digital-first brands moving into stores. Neeman's ₹450–500 crore is a management projection 3-4 years out, not a result. With no prior-year comparison, we cannot tell whether offline's share is rising, flat or slipping. If online is gaining a point or two a year, the story is erosion rather than resilience.
The source
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