Your Brand Lives Online Now. Why Indian Retail Needs a Digital Wake-Up Call

For years, retail success meant having great stores, stylish interiors, and busy footfalls. But in 2025, the real shopping doesn’t start on the street, it’s online. Still, most digital stores today feel basic, outdated, or like afterthoughts.

Ankur Rander, Founder & CEO of BOMBAYDC, tells ETRetail why this mindset needs to change and how retailers can build powerful, experience-first digital stores that actually grow the brand. Edited excerpts:

Q: As a digital products company that builds digital experiences, you work with many retailers. We see that the physical retail stores are often well-designed and thoughtful. But why do the digital stores for many of these same brands look basic as if treating the online store as a side channel?

Ankur Rander: Today, in the era of connected world commerce, people discover, research, and compare products online. That’s what drives both online and offline sales.

So, investing significantly in offline stores while using generic e-commerce templates for digital stores is a missed chance by brands to stand out.