The D2C & Retail Summit 2026 By Inc42

Commerce In The Age Of
AI & 10-Min Delivery

19th August 2026

The Leela Ambience, Gurugram

Only 97 Of 100 Regular Passes Left

WHY ATTEND?

WHAT'S IN STORE?

600+ Invite-Only

D2C Founders & Retail Leaders

15+ Sessions

High-Impact Firesides & Panels

4 Workshops

Playbooks To Scale With AI & Q-Commerce

40+ Speakers

Top D2C & Retail Leaders On Stage

Networking Tables

Gala Lunch & Dinners

The Closing Act

A Surprise Act In The Evening

Our 2026 Speaker Lineup

Aman Gupta

Founder | Cofounder

Siddharth Dungarwal

Founder

Sidhant Keshwani

Founder & CEO

Manu Chandra

Founder & Managing Partner

Nikhil Doda

COO & Cofounder

Akash Agrawalla

Cofounder

Shivam Shahi

Cofounder & COO

Avnish Kumar

Chairman & MD

Abhishek Bansal

Cofounder & CEO

Archana Jahagirdar

Founder & Managing Partner

Rajesh Chandan

Founder

Umair Mohammad

Founder & CEO

Kannan Sitaram

Cofounder & Partner

Arjun Vaidya

Cofounder

Sneh Sharma

Cofounder

Praharsh Chandra

Cofounder & CBO

Shashi Kumar

Founder & CEO

Devangi Nishar Parekh

Managing Director

thed2c&Retailsummit

350+ Brands attended The D2C & Retail Summit 2025

Agenda

Tracks 2026

Glimpse Into This Year’s Agenda

The New Commerce Playbook

Omnichannel Play

Bharat & Beyond

Capital Efficiency, Profits & M&A Readiness

Tech x Brand

Premium India

Modern Retail Infra

Leadership, Talent & Brand Culture

AI for Consumer Brands

AI as an operating layer inside the P&L, not a marketing toy on the surface.

01AI from buzzword to operating layer: forecasting, demand planning, inventory
02How AI is rewiring the ecommerce conversion funnel and customer experience
03Building the AI-native consumer brand across product, marketing, and ops
04Conversational and agent-led commerce: when search becomes a conversation
05How AI is breaking ROAS — and the new ways to measure marketing
06Where AI is theatre, and where it's compounding margin

Quick Commerce & the 10-Min Economy

Quick commerce has become the new shelf — and the next battleground for margin.

01The quick-commerce profitability playbook: dark-store economics and fulfilment efficiency
02The new shelf-space war: winning on Blinkit, Instamart, and Zepto
03Built for 10 minutes: designing products, packs, and pricing for instant commerce
04Balancing platform dependence: visibility, margin, and growth on platform-led channels
05The quick-commerce ops challenge: forecasting, replenishment, last-mile economics
06The future of instant commerce

Distribution, Omnichannel & Retail Media

How brands get found, stocked, and sold across every channel — online, offline, and in between.

01Omnichannel growth: when quick commerce, modern trade, and brand stores share one consumer
02Marketplaces vs owned channels: the new rules of discovery and conversion
03Retail expansion and modern trade: cracking offline in an online-first world
04Retail media as the new profit engine
05Building resilient distribution networks that don't break at scale

The New Consumer: Premium + Bharat

India's consumer didn't fragment in 2026 — it bifurcated. Premium consumption is surging alongside Bharat's deepening wallet.

01Premium is the new mass: riding India's ₹1,000 basket boom
02Bharat is not a discount market anymore
03The new consumer is Gen Z, Bharat, and mobile-first
04SKUs, pricing, and storytelling for ₹1,000+ price points and ₹49 sachets in one portfolio
05Loyalty, retention, and repeat purchase: the economics of the second order
06Creators, communities, and influence-driven commerce
07Vernacular, voice, and assisted commerce in Bharat (Meesho Vaani, the next 500M users)

Profitability, Capital & Exits

Profitability, capital efficiency, acquirability, IPO readiness — durable enough to last, disciplined enough to list.

01D2C 3.0: building brands where unit economics come first
02Profitability at scale: what ₹100 Cr to ₹1,000 Cr actually looks like
03Capital allocation discipline: when to spend, when to starve, when to compound
04The M&A and IPO playbook: what HUL, Tata, Marico, Reliance, and ITC are actually buying
05Inside the deals: Mamaearth's listing, HUL × Minimalist, Wakefit, the Drools unicorn moment
06The ₹10,000 Cr brand thesis: what it actually takes
07Public-market readiness — the boring boxes most founders haven't ticked yet

AI for Consumer Brands

AI as an operating layer inside the P&L, not a marketing toy on the surface.

Quick Commerce & the 10-Min Economy

Quick commerce has become the new shelf — and the next battleground for margin.

Distribution, Omnichannel & Retail Media

How brands get found, stocked, and sold across every channel — online, offline, and in between.

The New Consumer: Premium + Bharat

India's consumer didn't fragment in 2026 — it bifurcated. Premium consumption is surging alongside Bharat's deepening wallet.

Profitability, Capital & Exits

Profitability, capital efficiency, acquirability, IPO readiness — durable enough to last, disciplined enough to list.

AI for Consumer Brands

AI as an operating layer inside the P&L, not a marketing toy on the surface.

Quick Commerce & the 10-Min Economy

Quick commerce has become the new shelf — and the next battleground for margin.

Distribution, Omnichannel & Retail Media

How brands get found, stocked, and sold across every channel — online, offline, and in between.

The New Consumer: Premium + Bharat

India's consumer didn't fragment in 2026 — it bifurcated. Premium consumption is surging alongside Bharat's deepening wallet.

Profitability, Capital & Exits

Profitability, capital efficiency, acquirability, IPO readiness — durable enough to last, disciplined enough to list.

Workshops

Private
Workshops

2 Workshops On The Hottest Topics For D2C & Retail Founders

For the first time ever, we’re opening up private, closed-door sessions — designed for founders who want direct interaction with India’s leading D2C & retail operators.

Real-world strategies on cracking India’s most aggressive growth channel

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

Real-world strategies on cracking India’s most aggressive growth channel

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

NOTE: Limited seats. One workshop per attendee, choose at checkout!

tickets

Lock the Lowest Price of 2026

Who is it for?

Founders Of D2C & Retail Brands
CXOs & VPs From D2C & Retail Brands
VCs Or Institutional Investors Investing In D2C/Retail Brands
Angel Investors With At Least 10 Investments In D2C/Retail Brands
Founders or CXOs at D2C & Retail Enabler or Service Provider Companies

Applications Closing In

tickets

Lock the Lowest Price of 2026

Regular Pass is capped at 100 seats only

Priority Pass

Date - 8th May

₹5,499

Early Bird Pass

Date - 6th June

₹8,499

Regular

Open now - 6th July

₹9,999

Late

Date - 21st July

₹14,999

Super Late

Date - 1st August

₹19,999

Pre-Registration

Regular Pass

Built for Founders, CXOs, VPs and operators from D2C & Retail Brands

₹9,999 inc. Taxes

How many seats?

Full price 1 seat

10% off 2-3 seat

15% off 4-7 seat

20% off 8-10 seat

You Pay

₹0 (Inc. Taxes)

Pre-Registration Is Free! You Only Pay If You Get Shortlisted.

Book Your Pass

97/100 Seats left

Delegate Benefits:

15+ Sessions Led By 40+ Industry Experts
Network With 600 Top D2C & Retail Leaders
Unlock $320K+ Worth AI Tools & Credits
Executive Lunch, High Tea & Dinner

Pre-Registration

Built for Founders, CXOs, VPs and operators from D2C & Retail Brands

₹0 inc. Taxes

How many seats?

Full price 1 seat

10% off 2-3 seat

15% off 4-7 seat

20% off 8-10 seat

You Pay

₹0 (Inc. Taxes)

Pre-Registration Is Free! You Only Pay If You Get Shortlisted.

Book Your Pass

97/100 Seats left

Delegate Benefits:

Pre-Registration

Built for Founders, CXOs, VPs and operators from D2C & Retail Brands

₹0 inc. Taxes

How many seats?

Full price 1 seat

10% off 2-3 seat

15% off 4-7 seat

20% off 8-10 seat

You Pay

₹0 (Inc. Taxes)

Pre-Registration Is Free! You Only Pay If You Get Shortlisted.

Book Your Pass

97/100 Seats left

Delegate Benefits:

our legacy

Inc42’s Legacy in D2C & Retail

50000+

D2C & RETAIL BRANDS ENGAGED

12+

D2C CONFERENCES

20+

IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORTS

3500+

STORIES

Get In Touch

Vishvani Sharma

Delegate Team

+91 9650694242

Vishvani Sharma

Delegate Team

+91 9650694242

REQUEST A CALL BACK

Our team will get in touch with you

Frequently Asked
Questions

The Early Bird Pass is an early-access for The D2C & Retail Summit 2026 by Inc42. It's designed for founders, CXOs, and senior leaders who want to signal intent early and get a shot at a confirmed seat before general passes open. Only 150 Priority Passes are available in this round, so it's intentionally limited and curated.

No, and that's intentional. Payment signals that you're serious, which is what helps us keep the curation tight. If you're shortlisted after editorial review, your seat is confirmed. If you're not shortlisted in this round, you receive a full refund within 7 working days.

Every applicant is reviewed by Inc42's editorial team, not an algorithm. They evaluate your profile based on seniority, the brand or organisation you represent, and how well you fit the room we're building: D2C & retail founders, CXOs, investors, and enablers. This is a curated room, not an open-access event, so every seat is a deliberate decision.

If you complete the payment but are not shortlisted after editorial review, you'll receive a 100% refund within 7 working days, no questions asked. The payment is purely a signal of intent, not a purchase of access. You'll be notified at every stage of the process.

The D2C & Retail Summit 2026, 7th edition by Inc42 is upcoming and for 2nd physical, in-person edition. Through curated keynotes and panels, we'll be decoding the wave of New Commerce in India

The D2C & Retail Summit 2026 will be hosted in The Leela Ambience, Gurugram on 19th August 2026. We will be sharing venue and confirmed dates shortly.

You can apply to join The D2C & Retail Summit 2026 by purchasing either the Select Pass if you are a D2C/Retail leaders or if you are a D2C/Retail startup investor. If you are an Enabler, you can pre-register yourself, and you will be notified as we release Enabler Passes.

The D2C & Retail Summit 2026 will convene 300+ leading D2C/Modern Retail leaders, enablers, and investors.

We’ll constantly update the website to showcase more details so this is the best place to keep yourself up to date. We will also be sending you regular updates over email if you’ve signed up for our list.

Reach out to us here for anything related to The D2C Summit 2026.

You’ll get access to the entire conference including Networking Lunch & Gala Dinner where you can connect with any of the attendees.

If your application is rejected, we will issue a complete refund within 7-10 days.

If your application is not approved in the original pass category, we will give you a chance to change your pass type. Accordingly, the differential amount will be charged or refunded.

If you are an Inc42 Plus member, please reach out to us at 9650694242.

The D2C & Retail Summit 2026 is an invite-only conference and +1s are strictly not allowed.

Since this is a highly-curated conclave, apart from satisfying the criteria mentioned against each pass, Inc42’s editorial team will curate & approve every application.

Unfortunately, the passes are non-transferable.

In case you’re unable to attend, no refunds or pass transfer requests will be entertained.

You can fill up this form to become a sponsor for the event.

Please send in the Speaker profile you want to nominate to our curation team at here.

The D2C & Retail Summit 2026

Commerce In The Age Of AI & 10-Min Delivery