The D2C & Retail Summit 2025 By Inc42

Agenda

Agenda 2025

The Oberoi, Gurugram

25th July, 2025

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

Fireside

11:00-11:30

25 minutes

How Veeba Is Defending Its Turf

Viraj Bahl

Founder & Managing Director, Veeba

Ishaan Khosla

Founding Partner, Huddle Ventures

01The challenges for incumbents in a crowded and commodified category
02Building an omnichannel moat across retail, quick commerce and HoReCa
03Fending off rivals and building defensible food brands in a hyper-competitive market
04What most new brands miss about manufacturing scale and operational leverage
05Beyond sauces: The strategy behind portfolio expansion and sub-branding
06What’s next on the menu: Defending turf across emerging categories

Panel

11:30-12:00

30 minutes

Channel Surfing: How To Win On Marketplaces In 2025

Shivani Malik

Director, Da Milano

Abhishek Agarwal

Cofounder, Farmley

Deep Bajaj

Cofounder & CEO, Sirona Hygiene

Sriram G

COO, The Whole Truth

Nikhil Subramaniam

Senior Editor, Inc42

01The new logic for marketplaces in a quick commerce world
02Are marketplace powering high sales velocity like in the past?
03Using marketplace data to inform strategies for other channels
04Native stores vs marketplace: How to manage pricing and channel conflict
05Going vertical vs horizontal: Finding the best fit
06The ad chaos: Smart spending in a high-cost, competitive environment

Panel

12:00-12:30

25 minutes

New Rules Of Retail: Adapt Or Perish

Ayush Bansal

Director, Liberty Shoes

Amit Dutta

CEO, Satya Retail

Nitin Dua

Cofounder & COO, Qubo

Mansi Khattar

Head - Organised Trade & Ecommerce, Nestle India

01Flexing legacy strengths without losing cultural relevance
02Unlocking supply chain as a competitive advantage in the new retail era
03Why omnichannel presence must go beyond just physical + digital integration
04What legacy retail brands get wrong about Gen Z and Alpha — and how to fix it
05The risk of brand fatigue: How to stay fresh without chasing every trend

Panel

12:30-12:55

25 minutes

Cracking Offline In An Online-First World

Siddhartha Gondal

Cofounder, XYXX Apparels

Pawan Gadia

Global CEO & Director, Ferns N Petals

Mohit Goyal

Cofounder & Director, Swiss Beauty

Vidur Kapur

Director, O3+

01Choosing the right offline format for your brand and category
02Solving the inventory balancing act across online, offline and retail partners
03How brands are using offline data to drive retention and CX
04Navigating offline distribution without cannibalising ecommerce sales
05Making offline expansion ROI-positive in an era of shrinking shelf space

Panel

12:55-13:25

30 minutes

Fast, Fresh & Bleeding Cash? The Truth About Quick Commerce Economics

Nikhil Doda

Cofounder & COO, Lahori Zeera

Rohit Chawla

Founder & CEO, Innovist

Jatan Bawa

Cofounder, Perfora

Varun Gupta

Founder & CEO, Boult

Renu Bisht

Founder & MD, Commercify360

01Why D2C brands are leaning into q-commerce despite thin margins
02Packaging, pricing & positioning for 10-minute delivery
03Mapping high-conversion categories in q-commerce
04How q-commerce data is shaping product, inventory & marketing bets
05Finding the margin: Navigating the unit economics of speed
06Can D2C brands build loyalty when convenience rules the funnel?

Fireside

14:30-14:55

25 minutes

The Distribution Engine Behind Drools’ Billion-Dollar Petcare Play

Dr Shashank Sinha

CEO, Drools

Shantanu Kwatra

Head of Product & Experience Design, Inc42

01How Drools mapped markets and phased retail expansion
02Turning vets, pet shops & micro-KOLs into distribution catalysts
03Building channel ownership and enforced SOPs at scale
04Using field sales to shape pricing and product strategy
05How offline insights shape Drools’ online strategy

Panel

14:55-15:20

25 minutes

The Marketing Stack For A New Consumer Reality

Irina Bonich

Marketing Director, Oriflame

Rahul Krishnan

Cofounder & CMO, Bold Care

Shwetha Sundaram

Head, Growth Advertising Sales, Amazon Ads India

Santosh Kumar

CBO & Head - Strategic Growth, FreshToHome

Shivam Dang

Growth Partnership & B2B Marketing, Simpl

01Rewiring growth for profitability — what’s replacing the performance marketing playbook
02Smart CAC control: Where brands are shifting spend across channels, creators, and formats
03How brands are designing multi-touch journeys to boost LTV
04Using AI to reduce content fatigue, lower creative costs, and personalise campaigns at scale
05Moving from awareness to affinity: Building brand equity without burning cash

Panel

15:20-15:50

30 minutes

What It Takes To Win In A Speed-Obsessed Fashion Market

Sidhant Keshwani

Founder & CEO, Libas

Pankaj Vermani

Founder & CEO, Clovia

Shivam Tripathi

Cofounder & COO, NEWME

Praharsh Chandra

Cofounder & CBO, Shadowfax

Shantanu Kwatra

Head of Product & Experience Design, Inc42

01Rethinking retail strategy in the age of fast fashion and rapid trends
02Cracking discovery and solving returns in an impulse-driven scroll economy
03Balancing SKU width with trend freshness in a low-AOV category
04Staying agile without burning cash on inventory, fulfilment, and sourcing
05Standing out when everyone’s chasing the same trends at the same speed
06Evaluating quick commerce as a channel for fashion D2C brand

Fireside

15:50-16:15

25 minutes

Noise @ ₹2,000 Cr: Building A Mass Wearables Brand From India

Gaurav Khatri

Cofounder, Noise

Abhishek Bansal

Cofounder & CEO, Shadowfax

01Building for Bharat and beyond: Balancing affordability, aspiration, and product innovation
02How Noise turns trend signals into SKUs at scale
03Cracking category leadership in a feature-led, price-sensitive market
04Scaling from D2C to quick commerce to offline touchpoints
05Expanding globally while staying rooted in Indian consumer insight
06Competing without legacy tech: What new-age hardware brands must get right on brand, UX and scale

Fireside

16:15-16:35

20 minutes

How Vu Is Redefining Scale And Shelf In A Brand-Heavy TV Market

Devita Saraf

Chairperson & CEO, Vu Group

01How Vu approaches product innovation in a cluttered TV market
02Betting on OLED and GloLED: Balancing aspiration, timing, and mass relevance without burning cash
03Competing with legacy brands through design, not just specs or scale
04Why Vu focuses on fewer SKUs with stronger brand pull rather than flooding the shelf
05How Vu scaled distribution without chasing discount-led retail or deep offline dependency
06How Vu built repeatability into a low-frequency purchase category

Panel

16:35-17:00

25 minutes

Decoding The New Indian Consumer

Archana Jahagirdar

Founder & Managing Partner, Rukam Capital

Sumit Keshan

Managing Partner, Wipro Consumer Care – Ventures

Kannan Sitaram

Cofounder & Partner, Fireside Ventures

Prashanth Aluru

Cofounder & CEO, TMRW

01Tracking consumption shifts across Bharat, Gen Z and affluent urban segments
02Mapping real consumer behaviours that move the needle for D2C brands
03Redefining retention, loyalty and LTV in a scroll-first landscape
04Spotting overestimated and underestimated demand signals
05The 3Ps of premiumisation, personalisation and participation
06What clinches a term sheet: The consumer insight insight investors back

Panel

17:00-17:20

20 minutes

Lab-Grown Diamonds And The Next Chapter Of Aspirational Retail

Pooja Sheth Madhavan

Founder & MD, Limelight

Lisa Mukhedkar

Founder & CEO, Aukera

Ishaan Khosla

Founding Partner, Huddle Ventures

01Mapping the rise of conscious, price-sensitive yet aspirational buyers
02Cracking trust without legacy: How brands are winning first-time buyers
03Navigating cultural resistance in a tradition-heavy category
04Cracking the high-AOV, low-frequency equation and leveraging seasonal spikes like festive, gifting, and weddings
05Experimenting with retail formats, offline experience centres and omnichannel models
06Will lab-grown diamonds mainstream or plateau?

Panel

17:20-17:50

30 minutes

Breaking Into The ₹100 Cr+ Club

Akash Agrawalla

Cofounder, ZOFF Foods

Srishti Tanwani

Cofounder & CEO, Indo Era

Shantanu Deshpande

Founder & CEO, Bombay Shaving Company

Rishabh Chopra

Founder & CEO, The Ayurveda Experience

Sahil Dharia

Founder & CEO, Soothe Healthcare

01Choosing your ₹100 Cr channel mix across D2C, marketplaces and modern retail
02Cracking market depth before width for smarter expansion
03Unlocking repeat cohorts and LTV as the real growth engine
04Staying distinct in a crowded category through emotional and operational moats
05Managing product, pricing and inventory complexity while keeping burn in check
06Adapting to evolving consumption patterns without losing brand focus

Panel

17:50-18:15

25 minutes

Winning India’s Most Competitive Sales Season

Malika Datt Sadani

Founder, The Moms Co.

Harsh Modi

Cofounder & CEO, Mulmul

01How D2C brands forecast demand and plan inventory ahead of festive spikes
02Choosing the right channel mix across D2C, marketplaces, quick commerce and offline retail
03Playing the pricing game without killing margins or LTV during discount-heavy cycles
04Solving for supply chain speed, warehouse capacity and last-mile reliability during festive peaks
05Standing out during peak noise: Creative, influencer and campaign strategies that convert
06Turning festive traffic into long-term customers through retention and reactivation loops

Fireside

18:15-18:45

30 minutes

The Multi-Channel Engine Powering Atomberg’s ₹1,000 Cr Brand

Sibabrata Das

Cofounder & COO, Atomberg Technologies

Umair Mohammed

Cofounder & CEO, Nitro

01Atomberg’s blueprint for category expansion
02Crafting the right channel blend across D2C, marketplaces & offline
03Building a logistics engine to support multi-category distribution
04How sourcing and operations evolved to protect unit economics
05Preparing for INR 5,000 Cr: Global plans, premium bets, and team scale
06Advice for sub-INR 100 Cr brands stuck in the mid-stage rut

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The D2C & Retail Summit 2025

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