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February 6, 2026
Anees Hussain and Kartikay Kashyap, Financial Express / Brand Wagon
6 February 2026
Swiggy Instamart’s Noice has consciously rejected every aesthetic that defines platform house brands. Its visual identity doesn’t sport minimalist colours or whites, no clean sans-serif, no ‘discount alternative’ signalling. Instead it uses Indian truck art inspired design with neon colours and bold text. That design architecture also personifies Swiggy’s big gamble.
Noice isn’t just a private label chasing margin expansion. It’s a differentiation play by a company that’s losing ground in a war in which being faster and cheaper is no longer enough. Early data suggests that Noice is finding traction. In namkeens, sweets, and western snacks, Noice holds a 4.4% market share on Instamart as of December 2025, competing against category leaders like Haldiram’s (16.7%) and Lay’s (9%), according to 1digitalstack.ai. This segment generated between ₹41-60 crore per month in the September-December period, with Noice’s share translating to roughly ₹1.8-2.6 crore a month. In beverages (fruit juice, mocktails, energy drinks, tea, coffee and soda), Noice more than doubled its platform sales share -from 2.6% in July to 5.8% by December. The brand now ranks 12th overall, ahead of Coolberg and gaining on established players. Category leader Real’s share fell from 12.3% to 9.5% over the same period. The beverage category generated ₹13,920.3 crore per month during July-December, with Noice’s December share of 5.8% representing about ₹88 lakh in monthly sales. Modest but shows velocity.
Bhushan Kadam, senior vice president, White Rivers Media, says the platform enjoys certain struc-tural advantages: “Swiggy has a credible shot at building Noice into a meaningful private label play because quick commerce (q-commerce) in India is still in a high-growth phase and Swiggy already has the scale, infrastructure, and customer base to drive repeat consumption.”
Swiggy’s own performance with private labels on q-commerce has been positive. Its Supreme Harvest brand, spanning pulses, oils, spices, and dry fruits has achieved just over 20% platform penetration, accord-ing to 1digitalstack.ai. The broader private label landscape offers both encouragement and caution. Tata Digital-owned BigBasket (BB) remains the clear winner, with private labels accounting for nearly 33% of its total revenue. But BB has a crucial advantage: Sourcing infrastructure inherited from Tata’s retail operations that provides scale – and supply chain depth that pure-play q-commerce platforms are still only building.
Noice isn’t Swiggy’s first experiment with owned brands. In May 2025, the company sold its cloud kitchen brands – The Bowl Company, Homely, Soul Rasa, Istah – to Kouzina Food Tech after years of trying to operate its own restaurants. Those brands required Swiggy to manage kitchens, hire chefs, and compete with thousands of independent restaurants. Unit economics never worked out.
Noice represents a fundamentally different model. Instead of large manufacturers optimised for extended shelf lives, Noice works with regional food makers producing in small batches. Launched mid last year with 200 SKUs across 40 manufacturers, it has expanded to over 350 products from 60 makers across 20-plus categories. Packaged versions of items like paneer and rasgullas from the mithai shop fail to resonate with consumers because they might use preservatives and taste artificial. Other offerings include biscuits made with butter instead of margarine, Punjabi lassi with seven-day shelf life delivered everyday like milk.
“Noice seems to be purpose-built for q-commerce: Impulse driven categories, low switching costs and algorithmic discovery. That alone fixes the biggest flaw of Swiggy’s past private label experiment,” says Ankur Sharma, cofounder, Brandshark. It is trying to do things for which customers come back to the platform – “products that are not there on any other platform”, adds Satish Meena, advisor, Datum Intelligence.
Uphill climb
Unlike other private label brands owned by Blinkit and Zepto who largely deal in non-perishable products, Swiggy-owned-Noice currently has a 50-50 split between perishable and non-perishable categories. Perishable products fetch 25-45% margins compared to 15-25% on non-perishable private labels and just 10-15% on third-party FMCG brands. Short shelf lives that enable freshness also mean higher wastage risk if demand forecasting fails. The solution Swiggy is testing hinges on shifting the capex risk entirely to small manufacturers while using its distribution scale as a leverage.
That apart, competition in q-commerce has intensified sharply over the past year. Reliance Retail’s JioMart, Flipkart Minutes, and Amazon Now have entered meaningfully with aggressive pricing. Zepto slashed minimum order values and waived customer fees at ₹149. Swiggy waived platform fees – but only on higher-value baskets at ₹299, essentially ceding low-AOV (average order value) products that drive frequency. In the meantime, market leader Blinkit’s gross order value reached nearly twice that of Instamart’s.
In q-commerce’s brutal pricing war, it is execution that will determine if Noice becomes a genuine differentiator or just another private label. “Proving Noice is not ‘just another’ private label would be the biggest challenge for the company,” says Devangshu Dutta,, founder and CEO, Third Eyesight.
(Published in Financial Express/Brand Wagon)
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January 17, 2026
Prachi Srivastava, Hindustan Times
January 16, 2026
We keep telling ourselves that 2026 will be the year of budgeting. So, we’ve cut back on weekend brunch, paused Zara hauls, are collecting every coupon code we can, and are furiously spinning the wheel of luck on every site’s pop-up box. One thing that’s making it a little easier: Mini-sized luxury.
We’ve been here before. India’s sachet and sample-size products have been so successful, they’re studied in business school. We’ve lived through the beauty-box-subscription revolution (we still have the empty pouches somewhere). We’ve sprung for discovery kits on Nykaa and Tira (those 7ml doses will never make a difference, but still…). But luxury in small sizes? In this economy, when we’re budgeting and still craving pick-me-ups, it’s an idea whose time has come.
Everyone’s doing fun-size now: There’s one-day-use SPF as a handbag charm, tiny tubes of mascara, three-spritz niche perfumes. There are advent calendars – 30-day boxed sets for December, promising big savings. But also tasting jars of chilli-oil, one-hour-burn micro candles, single-wash detergent pods, even a single-cup insulated flask for your morning brew.
They all have starring roles in What’s in My Bag videos and GRWM reels. “Mini-product content sees higher engagement because it’s visually satisfying,” says beauty influencer Preiti Bhamra (@PreitiBhamra). “The contrast of a big hand holding a tiny product instantly catches attention.” Minis are deliberately packaged in the same style as a full-sized product, for better brand recognition. They photograph better too. Plus, think of how many more treats can fit on a shelf or a handbag, if they’re a smaller size.
Thinking small
Minis used to be linked to the Lipstick Index. The uptick in small-luxury purchases has, for decades been a recession indicator – ostensibly because when finances feel uncertain, consumers tend to avoid big purchases and turn to smaller indulgences for an emotional boost. That’s no longer true. Small is now a category unto itself.
On top beauty sites, you can filter products by mini size (not Travel Size as they were once called). Korean and Japanese brands deliberately market “ampoule” sizes for single-dose products. Platforms such as Smytten sell only sample sizes. Gemz, a mass-market brand that hasn’t launched in India yet, is aimed directly at GenZ (as the name suggests). It sells bath products in single-use packs. Hang them on the shower rod, open one, add water, lather, rinse, repeat.
Retail and luxury analyst Devangshu Dutta notes that minis are just low-risk experiments in luxury. It “encourages consumers to try premium categories they might otherwise postpone”. Think about it: A full-size Maison Francis Kurkdjian perfume may cost more than a month of Uber rides, but its mini discovery set under ₹5,000 feels like reasonable adulting. A Jo Malone candle is basically an EMI for your nose — but the 35g version? Suddenly doable.
“Across beauty, fragrance, personal care and gourmet foods, minis help brands acquire new customers faster,” Dutta adds. “They rotate better on shelves, get tried more often, and build quicker loyalty.”
I feel so used
We don’t buy minis only because they’re practical. We buy them because they hit our emotional pressure points. Clinical psychologist Dr Prerna Kohli says that when life feels overwhelming, “a small treat feels manageable.” A tiny lipstick becomes a quick hit of “at least this feels good,” even when nothing else is going right.
“There’s also a cultural twist,” Kohli adds. Indians grow up on the idea of delayed pleasure — work first, reward later. Tiny luxuries flip that script. They’re permission to feel good now. “Choosing something beautiful reminds you that you still matter, without waiting for a milestone.” Women, particularly working women and caregivers, hesitate to invest in themselves. But a tiny serum? That feels “allowed.” Less money, less guilt, and far fewer explanations.
Tiny treats thrive in the kitchen, as young professionals find them easier to experiment with, than brimming jars of an unfamiliar flavour. Food creator Natasha Gandhi (@NatashaaGandhi) says that tasting sets, mini variety packs and weekend-use portions have been doing well in the gourmet and artisanal category as diners seek restaurant-style flavours at home, but don’t want to cook the same thing over and over. In smaller kitchens and cluttered pantries, they also feel practical. They sit “at the sweet spot of ambition, convenience and low commitment.”
Too tiny to thrill
Not all minis deliver value. A 7ml sunscreen sachet isn’t enough for a user to determine if it truly suits their skin. A one-meal condiment delivers flavour, not familiarity. Single-use homecare creates packaging waste, adds to clutter, and cost-per-use can quietly climb. Luxury shampoo and conditioner minis are largely “overrated,” says Bhamra — often more indulgent illusion than practical trial.
The real red flag appears when the buying shifts from enjoyment to emotional avoidance. “It becomes unhealthy when shopping is used to numb uncomfortable emotions,” cautions Kohli. The usual symptoms apply: Shopping in secret, adding to cart the same time every day, week or month – indicating shopping during cyclical low periods, overjustification for a purchase. “Enjoyment is fine. Distraction always circles back.”
Perhaps in an age of overwhelm, the new luxury isn’t about owning more, but about feeling steadier. “Sometimes people simply enjoy beautiful things in small forms,” says Kohli. “We’re allowed to like something just because it makes us smile.”
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December 29, 2025
Yash Bhatia, Impact Magazine
29 December 2025
App, Tap, Pay and Zoom it’s delivered – that is Quick commerce for you. And in India, the narrative has so far been defined by speed, scale, high SKU counts, and the dominance of dark stores. Last week, however, Instamart nudged that model by opening an experiential store in Gurugram, allowing consumers to see and feel select products available on the platform.
The Bengaluru-based company has positioned the outlet not as a conventional retail store, but as a compact experiential format with a sharply curated assortment of around 100–200 SKUs, compared to the 15,000–20,000 SKUs typically housed in a dark store. Spanning roughly 400 sq. ft., the space is about one-tenth the size of a standard 4,000 sq. ft. dark store.
Under this model, sales proceeds are paid directly to sellers. This differs from Instamart’s regular arrangement, where payments are routed through the platform and later settled with sellers after deducting the platform’s share. IMPACT reached out to Instamart for further details, but the company declined to comment.
Sources close to the development say that Instamart has enabled sellers to open branded experiential stores in and around residential societies as part of a targeted consumer experiment. These are not conventional retail outlets, but compact experiential formats with a highly curated SKU assortment, focused on categories where consumers prefer to assess the products first-hand before purchasing, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses, new product launches, and selected D2C brands. The initiative is largely centred on fresh categories and allows sellers to experiment with Instamart’s branding and service ecosystem.
Devangshu Dutta, Founder, Third Eyesight, a retail consultancy firm, says that physical presence plays a vital role in anchoring trust, particularly in premium products, groceries, and fresh produce. “Experiencing a product or brand physically can significantly enhance perceived value and help create stickiness. For this reason, offline stores continue to remain integral to the consumer products sector,” he explains.
Built on the promise of speed and convenience, quick commerce brands have come under growing scrutiny for quality and hygiene lapses at dark stores. Over the past year, several reports have flagged issues ranging from poor storage conditions and compromised freshness to the sale of expired or damaged products, particularly in food and grocery categories.
In some instances, regulatory inspections have led to licence suspensions after authorities identified hygiene violations at fulfilment centres. “Trust is what builds loyalty, and the shift is clearly moving from minutes to confidence,” says Shankar Shinde, Co-Founder, Aisles and Shelves, a behaviour-led brand consultancy in India. Shinde adds that the emergence of offline formats such as Instamart’s physical store aligns with this transition, particularly in grocery and fresh categories where consumers place a high premium on quality and consistency. “Physical touchpoints help reduce consumer anxiety, especially in a market like India, where shoppers still prefer hand-picked fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables,” he explains.
Against this backdrop, the opening of experiential centres could emerge as one way for quick commerce players to rebuild consumer trust by allowing shoppers to experience products in person before purchasing. IMPACT also reached out to Blinkit and Zepto for their views, but both declined to comment.
Kushal Bhatnagar, Associate Partner, Redseer Strategy Consultants, believes the move is aimed at unlocking incremental growth by tapping into offline-first consumers who are not yet active on quick commerce, while also catering to the offline purchase missions of existing quick commerce users. He notes that quick commerce currently reaches only about 75–80 million annual transacting users as of CY2025, even as over 90% of India’s grocery consumption continues to take place offline.
Beyond expanding reach, Bhatnagar sees offline formats as a way to address deeper trust barriers within the category. He adds that such formats can help deepen consumer confidence, particularly in categories where apprehensions around quality and freshness persist in quick commerce deliveries, concerns that are partly alleviated when consumers can experience products first-hand. Additionally, he points out that this approach benefits brands, especially emerging ones that are largely confined to quick commerce or a limited set of platforms, by giving them greater physical retail visibility without requiring heavy investment in traditional distribution networks.
Viewed through a financial lens, the move also carries implications for how quick commerce platforms justify value. Saurabh Parmar, fractional CMO, believes the initiative signals a shift from promise to performance, with a stronger emphasis on optimisation and a more realistic assessment of long-term value creation. He notes that while quick commerce has expanded into Tier 2 markets and seen growth in user numbers, these metrics alone still fall short of fully justifying current valuations. In this context, an offline presence becomes another lever to strengthen the overall business case.
At the same time, Parmar cautions that offline formats cannot replace the core proposition of quick commerce. He adds that experiential centres enhance brand credibility and make quick commerce feel closer to conventional retail, with the potential to eventually extend into other facets of e-commerce. However, he emphasises that quick commerce must continue to remain the frontline, as the sector’s valuations are fundamentally anchored in its speed-led proposition.
Retail experts, meanwhile, view physical touchpoints as a long-standing mechanism for building trust rather than a structural shift.
Dutta adds that such formats complement existing digital trust mechanisms such as delivery consistency, speed, ratings, and reviews by making brands feel tangible and accountable rather than abstract.
Bhatnagar notes that quick commerce currently has an average monthly transacting user base of around 40 million as of CY2025, leaving significant headroom for growth when compared to India’s overall e-commerce base of nearly 300 million active transacting users.
Beyond expanding the user base, he adds that experiential stores can also support wallet-share expansion across categories, which remains a key growth lever for the sector. “Non-grocery segments such as beauty and personal care, electronics, and fashion currently contribute about 25% of quick commerce GMV (Gross Merchandise Value), a share that is expected to rise further. Within groceries as well, platforms can drive incremental growth by building greater depth in fresh produce and staples,” Bhatnagar highlights.
From an operational perspective, however, the offline format is viewed more as a supporting layer than a core growth engine. Dutta sees Instamart’s offline presence as an experimental add-on rather than a replacement for its delivery-led model. The operating processes and economics differ significantly from those of quick commerce delivery, positioning physical formats as a complement to the speed proposition rather than an alternative. If the model proves viable and is backed by sufficient resources, it could eventually lead to a parallel scale-up of dark stores and experiential formats across different catchments.
For now, Instamart’s offline foray remains a tightly scoped experiment rather than a strategic pivot. Its significance lies less in square footage and more in what it signals about the evolving priorities of quick commerce. As the category matures, speed alone may no longer be sufficient to secure trust, loyalty, or long-term value. Experiential touchpoints, if deployed selectively, could help platforms bridge the gap between digital convenience and physical reassurance, particularly in categories where quality perception continues to remain fragile.
(Published in IMPACT)
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December 10, 2025
Shabori Das, ET Bureau
Dec 10, 2025
India’s social media platforms are powerful marketing tools but not yet retail destinations. Billions scroll and swipe daily, but few buy directly within apps. Unlike China, India faces regulatory hurdles and a lack of integrated payment systems.
A billion Indians scroll, swipe and double tap every day, but barely buy. Despite Instagram and Facebook Marketplace being in India for over a decade, social media here remains a showroom, not a store. Creators and D2C brands are hustling to convert attention into action, but the holy grail of in-app shopping where discovery, live streaming, and purchase happen seamlessly, remains out of reach.
The question is, what’s stopping India from becoming the next China or the US in social commerce?
Influence-to-Commerce Gap
Globally, social commerce is powered by influencers. In China, influencer Li Jiaqi reportedly sold products worth $2 billion on Singles’ Day on Alibaba’s online marketplace Taobao Live in 2021. Another popular influencer Zheng Xiang Xiang, with over 5 million followers on Douyin (the Chinese equivalent of TikTok), reportedly generated $18 million in sales in a week in 2023. These are numbers India’s creator economy can only dream of, for now.
To be clear, influencer marketing in India is booming. EY estimates the sector at over Rs 3,000 crore and yet, due to regulatory restrictions, social media platforms in India can’t host end-to-end transactions. What India has is content commerce, driven by players like Meesho and Myntra, not social commerce. Globally, social commerce is a $1-trillion market. China alone accounts for over $500 billion and the US, $100 billion. India’s share? Around $10 billion — despite being home to the world’s largest Gen Z population and the second-largest base of internet users after China.
What’s Holding India Back
“Just as quick commerce changed how India buys food, social commerce will change how we shop for fashion and lifestyle,” says Anand Ramanathan, partner, consumer industry leader, Deloitte South Asia.
The idea is simple: Social commerce enables an end-to-end purchase journey within a social media app. But in India, the final sale still happens elsewhere — typically on e-commerce platforms.
“In China, live streaming contributes nearly 20% of total e-commerce revenue. In India, it hasn’t taken off,” says Puneet Sehgal, CEO of D2C apparel brand Freakins. He believes in-app checkout could be transformative. “Our Gen Z audience spends over an hour daily on social media. If the purchase could happen right there, it’s one step less for the consumer — and one step closer to a sale.”
The China Contrast
China’s social commerce revolution was built on three forces — speed, scale and seamlessness. Influencer Zheng, for instance, showcases each product for barely three seconds and moves on. That brevity, combined with integrated payments, drives impulse buying at staggering volumes.
India’s influencer-driven commerce, by contrast, is still warming up. Projected to touch $ 55 billion by 2030, it remains largely limited to discovery and advertising.
The barriers aren’t technological, they’re regulatory. India’s payment rules require clear accountability and settlement tracking, making it difficult for global platforms to enable in-app sales. Meta’s 2023 policy shift also directed purchases off-platform, keeping Instagram and Facebook Marketplace confined to discovery and promotion, rather than purchase. For now, social media in India remains a potent marketing engine, not yet a retail destination.
Experiments and Exceptions
Some Indian players are testing new waters. Myntra’s Glamstream, launched this July, lets influencers host live sessions where viewers can “shop the look” in real time — though the final checkout still redirects you to the Myntra app.
“India’s creator economy influences over $300 billion in annual consumer spending,” says Sunder Balasubramanian, chief marketing officer at Myntra.“That could grow to $1 trillion in the next few years, making India one of the fastest-growing creator economies globally,” adds Lakshminarayan Swaminathan, vice president-product management, Myntra.
The potential is clear. In 2021, Taobao Live hosted a 12-hour live streamed sale with influencer Li Jiaqi in China that clocked $2 billion in presales and attracted 250 million viewers.
Closer home, Sujata Biswas, co-founder of Suta Sarees, recalls Instagram’s shortlived Shop Now feature. “We saw an immediate dip in transactions after it was withdrawn,” she says. “Fashion is about instant gratification. You see it, you want it and buy it right away.”
The D2C Advantage
India’s D2C market, valued at $87 billion as of 2025 by Deloitte, could be the biggest gainer if social commerce does take off. Most D2C brands currently pay 25–35% retailer margins to platforms like Myntra and Nykaa. Social commerce could let them bypass intermediaries and sell directly to their audiences.
“Anything that reduces friction between intent and purchase is gold,” says Sehgal. “If that entire journey — from watching to buying — happens within the same app, conversion rates would shoot up.”
Even so, social platforms come with their own costs. TikTok, for instance, charges promotional, marketplace and fulfilment fees. But for Indian D2C players, the larger hurdle isn’t cost — it’s access.
Open vs Closed Ecosystems
“India’s retail market is far more open than China’s,” explains Devangshu Dutta, CEO of ThirdEyesight, a retail consulting firm. “In China, closed ecosystems like WeChat and Douyin created the perfect environment for social commerce to thrive. In India, where consumers can freely move between Google, Meta and e-commerce giants, those closed loops don’t exist.”
Globally, TikTok Shop, Douyin, WeChat, Pinduoduo, and Taobao Live dominate social commerce. According to Business of Apps, a data provider for the global app industry, TikTok earned $23 billion in 2024, with nearly 23% of it from in-app and commerce purchases.
If similar models are launched in India, e-commerce giants would face direct competition from the very platforms that fuel their traffic.
The Wait Continues
From beauty tutorials to thrift stores, social media spawns thriving micro economies. Yet, true social commerce — where discovery leads directly to purchase — hasn’t yet clicked.
The next big leap for India’s e-commerce may not come from deeper discounts or faster delivery but from social media itself. “The idea of instant gratification is key,” says Biswas. “When the ‘Shop Now’ button comes back, we’ll be the first to use it.”
Till then, India scrolls, likes, shares — and waits.
(Published in Economic Times)
admin
December 7, 2025
Gargi Sarkar, Inc42
7 December 2025
The past year has been nothing short of monumental for LensKart — from reporting another operationally profitable quarter in Q2 FY26 to making the public markets leap in November, and crossing a market capitalisation of INR 70,000 Cr despite a muted stock market debut.
A clear shift this year has been Lenskart’s effort to move beyond the image of a ‘basic D2C eyewear’ brand selling prescription glasses and sunglasses. The company is now working to reposition itself as a new-age tech brand.
Further, Lenskart is rethinking where and how its products are manufactured. Currently, around 20–25% of its frames are reportedly manufactured in India. The company is ramping up its domestic production. As a new manufacturing facility in Telangana is a work in progress, Lenskart intends to gradually shift most of its manufacturing operations from China to India.
In many ways, 2025 has been about scaling up for Lenskart, and as it embarks on a fresh journey as a publicly listed company, let’s take stock of the company in 2025 and where it might be headed in 2026.
Lenskart’s Smart Eyewear Bet
Lenskart began its smart eyewear journey last year with the launch of Phonic, its audio glasses. It later deepened its push into the segment by announcing a strategic investment in Ajna Lens, a Mumbai-based deeptech company that develops AI-powered XR glasses. Back then, Peyush Bansal described the move as the “next chapter” in Lenskart’s smart glasses journey.
Cut to December 2025, the company is all set to launch its AI camera smartglasses, B by Lenskart, by the end of this month.
What makes B by Lenskart noteworthy is that it isn’t being marketed as just another pair of smart glasses. The new eyewear features an integrated Sony camera that enables hands-free photo and video capture. The glasses come with a built-in AI assistant powered by Gemini 2.5 Live. They are designed to offer natural, conversational interactions and pack in a range of advanced features — from hands-free UPI payments and live translation to wellness insights and more.
What makes the move even more significant is Lenskart’s decision to open B by Lenskart to India’s developer ecosystem. By making its AI and camera technology accessible to consumer apps and independent developers, the company is enabling integrations across categories such as food delivery, entertainment, and fitness.
“By opening its AI smartglasses to third-party developers, Lenskart is moving from a one-time product-sale model to a platform ecosystem model. In the long run, this could unlock recurring revenue streams and higher margins,” said a product developer.
Besides, the company is aligning itself with a younger customer cohort, aided by affordability, style, and technology.
“That’s what seems to define their current strategy. Over time, they’ve also brought in elements of innovation like virtual try-ons, and any product, feature, or service that brings novelty and appeals to younger customers has become part of their brand approach,” said Devangshu Dutta, the founder of Third Eyesight.
Next, the timing couldn’t be better for Lenskart to place its bet on smart glasses. An IDC report reveals that despite a slowdown in smartwatch and earwear segments in the second half of 2025, smart glass shipments shot off more than 1,000% over the last year.
However, it’s not going to be smooth sailing from here.
At its core, Lenskart is still a consumer-facing company, and it needs new products to keep its revenue growing. But the competition is already heating up. Jio unveiled its own AI-powered smart glasses, Jio Frames, at Reliance Industries’ 48th annual general meeting. And of course, Meta continues to lead the global smart glasses market.
At this point, smart eyewear is a niche category, which comes with a hefty price tag.
“Unless cost drops dramatically, mass adoption is still a distant dream. As of now, the product will only attract early adopters and tech enthusiasts, rather than the mainstream consumer,” Dutta adds.
Lenskart’s Make In India Push
Lenskart is not only widening its product range but also ramping up its manufacturing. The company currently operates centralised manufacturing facilities in India (Bhiwadi in Rajasthan and Gurugram in Haryana), Singapore, and the UAE. It also has manufacturing operations in China.
Back home, Lenskart has also signed a non-binding MoU with the Government of Telangana for setting up a greenfield manufacturing facility for optical glasses. The proposed investment stands at INR 1,500 Cr and will be supported by certain incentives and assistance from the state government.
The new production facility is expected to strengthen Lenskart’s domestic manufacturing capabilities while reducing its exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations and import-related volatility.
However, the expansion comes with its own set of challenges. While the new manufacturing plant in Telangana is expected to strengthen Lenskart’s vertical integration, it will come with a hefty cost burden.
Profitability Still A Troubling Question
The cost structure is becoming increasingly important for Lenskart. Despite its headline-grabbing profitability, the company is still operating on fairly thin margins.
Lenskart reported a net profit of INR 297 Cr in FY25, a notable turnaround from a loss of INR 10 Cr in FY24. However, market analysts caution that the business’ core operations were unprofitable. It was largely “other income” or investment income that drove the FY25 bottom line.
“Though Lenskart has increased its revenue from INR 3,789 Cr in FY23 to INR 6,651 Cr in FY25, the company’s profitability has largely improved due to a rise in other income. While it reported a PAT of INR 297 Cr in FY25, a closer look shows that the profit was driven significantly by an increase in other income, which jumped to INR 356 Cr in FY25,” SimranJeet Singh Bhatia, senior research analyst for equity at Almondz Group.
The point of concern here is that Lenskart turned operationally profitable only after its market debut. Bhatia believes that at least three to four quarters of consecutive profitability will be needed to prove the company’s underlying strength.
However, making matters worse are the company’s climbing expenses, which stood at INR 1,980.3 Cr in Q2 FY26, up 18.5% YoY.
What Lies Ahead?
The year was equally sour for the eyewear major. While its IPO generated significant buzz and saw strong subscription levels, its market debut turned out to be a muted affair.
At the upper end of its INR 382 to INR 402 IPO price band, the public issue implied a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of roughly 235–238 times its FY25 profits, placing it among the most expensive consumer tech listings in India.
On its first day of trading, Lenskart Solutions Ltd. was listed on the NSE at INR 395 per share, a discount of 1.74% to the issue price of INR 402. The stock, however, fell close to 9% shortly thereafter. On the BSE, it debuted at INR 390, marking a discount of nearly 3%.
After the IPO, Bhatia adds, the biggest concern surrounding Lenskart is the store-level unit economics, particularly because a significant share of the IPO proceeds is being directed toward expanding its company-owned, company-operated store network.
Entering the new year as a public company, Lenskart will have to prove that its scale-up plans are justified and that it has greater control over its balance sheet. 2026 will be a critical juncture for the company, as the next three to four quarters will be closely watched for signs of sustainable growth, improved margins, and stronger operational discipline.
[Edited by Shishir Parasher]
(Published in Inc42)
