Brands
Foot Locker to make its India debut
Mumbai: Foot Locker, a prominent name in sneaker culture, will inaugurate its omnichannel launch in India on 19 October, with Metro Brands operating physical stores and Nykaa Fashion managing the e-commerce business.
The first store, located at Select City Walk, will feature Foot Locker’s Reimagined concept, offering an innovative retail experience for consumers and sneaker enthusiasts.
Alongside the physical store launch, Nykaa Fashion will provide an online shopping experience that mirrors the excitement of the in-store journey through its Foot Locker website and Shop-in-Shop on the Nykaa Fashion and Nykaa Man platforms. This digital platform aims to deliver a superior online shopping experience with a focus on convenience and personalisation.
Foot Locker India will connect youth, culture, and passion-driven communities. The brand ambassadors, known as Stripers, will be category experts who enhance the shopping experience and lead community programs.
Customer-centric initiatives, such as India’s FLX(TRA) Rewards Program, will be part of the brand experience. Metro Brands and Nykaa Fashion will provide access to top sneaker and apparel brands, including Nike, Jordan Brand, adidas, PUMA, New Balance, FILA, Asics, New Era, and more. Customers can also personalise their sneakers at the Sneaker Hub and protect their footwear with sneaker care brands like Crep.
Commenting on the launch of India’s first Foot Locker store, Foot Locker, Inc Sr VP, strategic planning & growth Peter Scaturro said, “Bringing Foot Locker to India, via licensing arrangements with Metro Brands and Nykaa Fashion, is a pivotal milestone in our global expansion. India’s vibrant sneaker culture offers a unique opportunity for Foot Locker to become a leading brand in the market. With our Foot Locker Reimagined concept, we aim to elevate the sneaker experience by blending innovation and technology in an immersive environment. Together with Metro Brands and Nykaa Fashion, we’re thrilled to inspire and empower Indian sneakerheads to express their individuality and connect with the Heart of Sneakers.”
Metro Brands CEO Nissan Joseph said, “With India’s athleisure market expanding rapidly, the strategic relationship between Metro Brands Ltd, Foot Locker Inc, and Nykaa is a huge step in leveraging this tremendous opportunity. The commitment to customers and community is deeply rooted in Foot Locker’s ethos, and with Metro’s deep understanding of Indian consumers, we are excited to shape the next generation of sneaker culture, making the shopping experience more conversational and enriching for sneaker enthusiasts.”
Commenting on the partnership, Nykaa co-founder and Nykaa Fashion CEO Adwaita Nayar said, “As the exclusive e-commerce platform for Foot Locker’s launch in India, we are thrilled to collaborate with such an iconic retailer that is revolutionizing the sneaker market. With sneaker culture gaining significant momentum in India, Nykaa Fashion is set to deliver a next-gen retail experience through our sophisticated digital platforms. Together, we are excited to create a seamless shopping journey that caters to the diverse and passionate sneaker community in India, bringing them closer to the global sneaker movement.”
Brands
E-commerce growth rises, but profits come under pressure
Shop Culture flags rising costs, weak systems and a $5.38 billion quick-commerce boom reshaping global retail
MUMBAI: E-commerce is booming, but profits are thinning. A new report by Shop Culture warns that brands clinging to outdated, growth-at-all-costs strategies are being outpaced in a costlier, more complex 2025 landscape.
Global online retail is expected to cross $6.86 trillion this year, with 2.77 billion shoppers making at least one purchase. Yet returns are under strain: average return on ad spend has slipped to 2.87:1, exposing cracks in how brands chase scale without building sustainable margins.
Three shifts are rewriting the rules. First, retail media is getting pricier, with Amazon’s average cost per click rising 15.5 per cent year-on-year to $1.12. Second, while 77 per cent of e-commerce professionals now use AI daily, many see limited gains as weak systems blunt its impact. Third, geography is no longer expansion, it is strategy. The share of Shop Culture clients operating across multiple markets has more than doubled, from 30 per cent in 2024 to 65 per cent in 2025.
Subarna Mukherjee, founder and ceo, Shop Culture, is blunt: “The e-commerce industry has a nostalgia problem. In 2022, the playbook was simple: list aggressively, spend on ads, and ride the wave of post-pandemic digital adoption. It worked. Revenue grew rapidly. But by 2025, the industry is seeing the consequences of those structural shortcuts. E-commerce itself is not slowing down, the challenge lies in how brands are operating within it.”
Nowhere is the shift sharper than in India’s quick-commerce boom. The segment is set to hit $5.38 billion in 2025, growing 17 per cent and emerging as the fastest-growing globally. What began as a convenience play is fast becoming a margin buffer. In one case, quick commerce drove 70 per cent of a packaged food brand’s online revenue, delivering 130 per cent year-on-year growth. A beauty brand, meanwhile, saw selling prices rise 25 per cent higher than on traditional marketplaces.
Expansion, too, is being rethought. The report argues that brands chasing the largest markets first often stumble. Better outcomes come from sequencing entries based on efficiency, regulatory readiness and competition, with markets such as the UK and Germany offering smarter entry points than the United States.
Compliance has turned from a checkbox into a revenue lever, especially in Europe. Brands with ready frameworks can go live in 8 to 12 weeks, while others risk delays of six months or more due to listing and documentation hurdles.
AI, for all the hype, is no silver bullet. Across more than 1,500 listings, it improved conversion rates by 10 to 15 per cent, cut TACOS by 7 to 10 per cent and reduced stockouts by 20 per cent, but only when layered on strong foundations. As Mukherjee puts it: “AI is not a growth strategy, it is an amplifier. It enhances strong systems and exposes weak ones.”
The message for 2026 is stark. Growth alone will not save brands. Margins, discipline and smarter strategy will. In a market still expanding at breakneck speed, the real race is no longer for scale, it is for survival.
