Surge of quick commerce sends DMart Ready stores reeling

DMart's aggressive expansion into quick commerce, particularly its DMart Ready stores, has faced significant challenges due to competition and changing consumer preferences. The company is recalibrating its strategy, closing numerous stores and shifting focus, while also announcing a new CEO.

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and hence, we continue to align our business to that extent. Our home delivery business now far exceeds our pick-up point sales contribution. In several towns, we now only operate home delivery as a delivery channel," said DMart. Alongside, the company said Unilever veteran Anshul Asawa will become CEO on 1 February 2026, succeeding Noronha who built up DMart since joining as CEO in 2007 as India's largest listed organized retailer by revenue.

DMart, which ended FY24 with ₹50,936 crore in revenue, had a market capitalization of ₹2,39,841 crore at the end of last week, making it again the most valued retailer. Trent Ltd's market cap totalled ₹2,33,980 crore on Friday. Still, Avenue's public investors, who own 25.35%, and the promoter, billionaire Radhakishan Damani, who owns 74.65%, are anxious about the retailer's future, especially its e-commerce business. According to one analyst and three investors, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, DMart's e-commerce strategy, which had 387 large-format retail stores at the end of December, continues to be a work in progress as it competes with quick commerce firms such as BlinkIt, Zepto and Instamart.