Tata s Trent: In comparison, peers have been forced to raise prices to counter higher costs, with shoe chain Metro Brands even taking footwear below 1,000 rupees off its shelves. The price hikes are an even bigger dampener on sales, considering consumers remain discerning about their expenses due to sticky inflation. "For Trent, a good performance makes it a star but at the same time the kind of companies it competes with directly or indirectly have been performing poorly," said Arvind Singhal, chairman at business management consultancy Technopak Advisors.
While top companies including Reliance Retail, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL), D Mart, Tata s Trent, Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and Starbucks continued to add stores, companies such as Uniqlo, Latin Quarters, Meena Bazaar and Lee and Wrangler have also started expanding brick and mortar stores.