The booming e-commerce market in India has come down heavily on franchise store owners of brands like United Colors of Benetton, Lee, Wrangler, Levi’s, Louis Phillipe and others.
The mounting competition from e-retailers such as Myntra, Amazon and Flipkart has even forced many store owners to wind up operations and look for other business options.
E-shopping websites have been attracting consumers by offering heavy discounts on a wide range of products. This forced offline stores to opt for a similar discount strategy to lure customers at the expense of their margins.
Despite widening the discount offered by these retailers to 23% and even 30% on some brands from about 15% three years ago has not made them profitable. The retailers are being forced to sell half of their products at discounted prices to clear stock.
Entry of global brands such as Zara, H&M and GAP in India have also hit hard the franchise store operators. These brands have of late become the most sought after labels in the Indian fashion retail market, wiping out the fad of franchise-led brands.
A report published in TOI states that various franchise owners are even considering to create their own brand which would give them better return.
It remains to be seen how retailers cope with the changing retail scenario in the Indian market, which is witnessing a mega shift to online buying.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
