India’s oldest department store chain Shoppers Stop posted a 69% year-on-year drop in third-quarter (Q3FY26) profit on Tuesday, as urban consumers reduced their discretionary spending amid slowing wage growth in key cities.
The retailer posted consolidated net profit of Rs 16 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2025 compared to Rs 52 crore reported a year ago.
Large retailers have been grappling with intensifying competition as well as moderating consumer spending. The country’s top two organised retailers – Reliance Retail and Avenue Supermarts – have mirrored this trend of retail stress in Q3. Shoppers Stop is the third retailer to reflect the slowdown.
Overall consumer demand, experts said, has remained soft with only intermittent spikes, leaving quarterly sales for most retailers largely flat. This is despite a bazooka of income tax cuts, GST rate cuts and reduced interest rates initiated through calendar 2025. The GST price cuts which was timed with the festive season while boosting spending proved short-lived, Shoppers Stop said in an earnings presentation on Tuesday.
Why Tax Cuts Failed
The company, which retails major brands such as Estee Lauder and Shiseido, reported only a 3% rise in revenue to Rs 1,416 versus Rs 1,379 crore reported last year as an ongoing boom in beauty products sales helped cushion the slowdown seen in the apparel segment.
Beauty Buffer
The retailer is now betting on benign inflation in the country to support demand recovery over time, sector experts said. Earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) saw a 11.3% year-on-year decline in Q3 to Rs 218 crore, the company’s results showed.
Ebitda margins fell 240 basis points to 15.4% in Q3 from 17.8% reported a year ago. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Shoppers Stop’s rivals Arvind Fashions, Tata Group-owned Trent, and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail are yet to report their earnings.