Indian Retail’s Next Decade Will Be Defined by Resonance, Not Reach, Say Industry Leaders at ZFC Retail Conclave

Delaware, USA – Feburary 24, 2026

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ZEPIC and Seventh Triangle hosted the ZFC Retail Conclave: How to Win the Next Decade of Retail on Thursday, 19th February 2026, at Sofitel BKC, Mumbai. 

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The session brought together Meena Bhatnagar, Global Head – CRM & CX, Malabar Gold; Soumya Kant, Co-founder – Clovia; Rohit Kant, Brand Head – The Bear House; Vikas Dwivedi, Chief of Staff – CEO’s Office, Mafatlal; and Alok Dharadhar, Senior Leader – Style Union, for a candid and forward-looking conversation on the future of Indian retail.

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The discussion examined how legacy brands and new-age D2C players are adapting to a consumer who is more informed, more experimental, and less inherently loyal than ever before. The speakers touched upon navigating rising brand infidelity, omnichannel complexity, and the growing importance of data-driven intelligence.

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Key takeaways from the panel discussion included:

The Indian Consumer: Same Core Expectation, New Behaviour

While shopping journeys have become fragmented across Instagram, marketplaces, and stores, the panel agreed that the Indian consumer’s baseline expectation remains constant: value for money, i.e. quality at the right price.

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As discussed during the session, today’s consumer wants “Q1 quality at P2 price”, a premium feel at accessible cost but without aggressive selling or promotional bombardment. Soumya, Clovia, noted: “Customers still want value. What’s changed is how they discover and evaluate brands. You cannot interrupt them anymore, you have to be relevant.”

Brand Infidelity and the Loyalty Reset

The rise of brand infidelity was a central theme. Unlike earlier generations that showed multi-decade loyalty to a handful of brands, today’s consumers mix and match freely across categories.

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Rohit Kant, The Bear House, said: “Loyalty today is intentional. It’s when a customer actively seeks you out, not when they discover you accidentally through an algorithm. Gen Z are being more attached to products than brands. So finding that product-market fit is a gamechanger”. Meena Bhatnagar, Malabar Gold, added: “Customers are more informed and experimental. Sustaining loyalty means evolving with them, not assuming legacy trust is enough.”

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The discussion highlighted that loyalty in 2026 is less about incentives and more about consistency, experience, and emotional memory.

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Omnichannel and Marketplace Complexity

With marketplaces driving a significant share of business for many brands, understanding the customer journey across touchpoints has become critical.

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Vikas Dwivedi, Mafatlal, said: “Omnichannel for legacy brands is transformation. We are reinterpreting decades of trust for customers who now discover us digitally and data and context stays at the centre of it.” Meena Bhatnagar, Malabar Gold, observed: “Digital plays a critical role in influencing trust today. Customers research deeply before they walk into a store. Capturing that journey is essential.”

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At the same time, the panel acknowledged that traditional retailer relationships still hold value in certain segments, reinforcing that retail strategies must adapt by category and context.

Agility Over Prediction

As retail evolves rapidly, the leaders emphasized decisive execution over long-term speculation. Alok, Style Union, remarked: “You can’t plan ten years in detail. You move full throttle based on the signals you see today instead of preparing for the decade ahead. Things are changing very fast.” ‍

The Collective Takeaway

The discussion underscored that the next decade of Indian retail will reward brands that balance premium value with accessibility, combine digital intelligence with human understanding, and build intentional loyalty in a market defined by abundant choice, all pulled together with digital intelligence and customer data. 

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Naveen, CEO of ZEPIC added: “In an era of brand infidelity and endless choice, relevance is the new competitive advantage. The brands that listen better and act faster will lead the next decade of Indian retail. Retail is moving beyond segmentation to real-time signals. Brands that can capture context, make intelligent decisions, and build meaningful conversations across channels will define the next decade.”

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In an era of fragmented journeys and low switching costs, resonance, not reach will define the winners.

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