As India’s retail growth story increasingly moves beyond traditional metropolitan markets, North India-based retail group KRPVT and Knockout Stores marked a strong presence at the Phygital Retail Convention 2026, joining industry-wide conversations around expansion, evolving consumer behavior, and the future of retail in emerging India.
Representing the group at one of the country’s largest retail industry platforms, Darpan Kapoor, Chairman of KRPVT & Knockout, participated in the panel discussion:
“Cracking Bharat: Lessons from the Frontlines – What CXOs Learned Expanding Beyond Metros.”
The discussion centered around one of the most significant shifts currently redefining Indian retail: the rapid rise of aspirational consumption across non-metro markets and the growing importance of building scalable retail ecosystems beyond India’s biggest cities.
Sharing insights from Knockout’s expansion journey across North India, Darpan Kapoor spoke about how emerging markets are no longer functioning as secondary retail opportunities, but are actively shaping the next phase of organized retail growth in the country.
He highlighted how increasing digital exposure, accelerating lifestyle aspirations, and stronger access to global fashion trends are transforming consumer expectations across Tier II and Tier III cities, creating consumers who are increasingly trend-aware, experience-driven, and brand-conscious
A key theme emerging from the discussion was the role social media has played in democratizing fashion consumption across India. Trends, styling inspiration, and global fashion awareness are no longer concentrated within metropolitan audiences. Consumers across smaller cities today engage with fashion at the same speed, intensity, and awareness as larger urban markets, fundamentally changing how retailers approach expansion and customer experience.
The panel also explored one of the biggest challenges retailers face while scaling across fast-growing markets: balancing speed and freshness while continuing to deliver strong value perception to consumers.
“The modern retail consumer wants everything together: freshness, speed, experience, and value. Balancing all four consistently is one of the biggest challenges in fashion retail today, especially across fast-growing non-metro markets,” said Darpan Kapoor, Chairman KRPVT & Knockout, while discussing
the operational realities of remaining trend-responsive without compromising accessibility from value-conscious shoppers.
Over the last few years, Knockout Stores has steadily expanded its retail footprint across cities, including Mohali, Barnala, Bathinda, Kharar, Jalandhar, Kullu, Moga, Amritsar, Zirakpur, building a retail ecosystem designed specifically for rapidly evolving consumers beyond metro India.
Today, their stores house 50+ international and premium fashion brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Levi’s, U.S. Polo, Nautica, Guess, Rareism, Kazo, USPA Kids, Chicco, Little Kangaroos, and more, while continuing to focus on making aspirational retail experiences more accessible across emerging Indian markets.
At PRC 2026, Knockout Stores also got nominated for its recent festive retail campaign, “Knockout Wali Diwali,” where customers got a chance to win FREE GOLD COINS, which explored how participation-led retail experiences can create stronger consumer engagement than conventional discount-driven festive Campaigns.
The campaign’s presentation reflected a larger retail philosophy increasingly being discussed across the convention floor: that the future of Indian retail growth will not be built solely through scale or discounting, but through stronger emotional relevance, localized understanding, and community-driven retail experiences.
Somewhere between all the serious retail conversations and panel discussions, things also got a little competitive. Knockout co-powered an engaging segment, the Retail Brain Quiz at PRC 2026, participating alongside brands like Lacoste, Technosport, Pepe Jeans, Mad Over Donuts, Bata,
Baskin-Robbins, and Retailopedia. A room full of retail geeks trying to out-guess each other on brands, trends, consumer behavior, campaigns, and industry trivia; it ended up being one of the most fun parts of the event.
As conversations throughout PRC 2026 repeatedly highlighted the growing importance of Bharat-led consumption, KRPVT & Knockout’s participation reinforced the emergence of a new generation of regional retail brands contributing to the future expansion of organized retail in India.
From digitally aware consumers and culturally connected retail communication to experience-led stores and aspirational fashion access, the company’s presence at the convention reflected the changing dynamics of retail growth beyond India’s metropolitan centers.
About Knockout:
KNOCKOUT is a fast-growing multi-brand retail outlet designed to bridge the gap in customers’ needs and provide the best value proposition on all the national and international brands. Starting small in 2017 with only a single operational store in Mohali, the sister alliance of KRPVT is now ruling in 9 cities of Punjab. Knockout Barnala was the first-of-its-kind fashion arcade curated for the ever-diversified shopaholics of Punjab, soon followed by Faridkot, Kharar, Jalandhar, Kullu, Moga, and Amritsar. Keeping the user’s experience at the forefront, the goal is to imprint a strong impression on the customers with a sublime, hassle-free shopping experience.
