From Margin to Mainstream: Rewriting the rules of consumption in Bharat

The future of Indian consumption will not be written in the metros alone. It will unfold across the vibrant, complex, and fast-changing landscape of the country.

By Mani Singhal  

For too long, the Indian consumer narrative has been synonymous with the metro dweller—digitally savvy, brand-aware, and upwardly mobile. But that lens is now outdated. Bharat—encompassing India’s Tier 2 and 3 cities, semi-urban clusters, and rural heartlands—is not merely catching up. It is defining its own rules of engagement, resetting expectations around value, access, and aspiration, and emerging as a powerful growth engine in its own right.

Leapfrogging, Not Imitating

Today’s Bharat consumer is no longer mimicking metro trends—they’re leapfrogging them. Rising incomes, digital access, and grassroots entrepreneurship are converging to create a confident, choice-driven consumer class.

In categories such as personal care, home goods, packaged food, and affordable fashion, Tier 2+ towns are leading in volume growth. In many cases, they also exhibit stronger loyalty and higher repeat purchases than their metro counterparts. For instance, several D2C brands report their highest customer lifetime value (LTV) in cities like Indore, Surat, and Madurai, where word-of-mouth still drives trust and community validation.

This shift isn’t just about affordability. It’s about value on their own terms—products that work in local contexts, messaging that reflects lived realities, and access that doesn’t rely on big-city infrastructure.

Digital-First, Vernacular-Driven

The smartphone has been one of the biggest enablers of Bharat’s consumption surge. Mobile-first behaviour is unlocking entirely new approaches to brand discovery and engagement. Platforms offering content in vernacular languages, voice search capabilities, and short video formats are now mainstream—especially for first-time internet users.

However, digital success in Bharat doesn’t follow metro logic. Purchase journeys are often longer, more collective, and deeply emotional. Trust is harder to earn, particularly for newer brands. A homemaker in a Tier 3 town might consult a family WhatsApp group or seek her neighbour’s opinion before buying a kitchen appliance—even if she first discovered it on Instagram Reels.

This is a consumer who embraces modernity but still values familiarity and reassurance.

From Value Engineering to Value Innovation

Legacy approaches often relied on “value engineering”—stripped-down versions of metro products. But that mindset is giving way to value innovation: designing products from the ground up with Bharat in mind.

Take home appliances. A mixer designed for a metro kitchen may not suit the power stability or space constraints of a small-town household. Likewise, apparel designed for local weather, festivals, or modest fashion preferences often outperforms global styles.

What works is relevance, durability, pride of ownership—and yes, affordability. Bharat’s consumers are willing to pay when there’s genuine alignment with their needs. While their basket sizes may differ, their brand loyalty and premium intent can rival those of metro consumers.

New Influencers, New Channels

Bharat’s commerce networks are hyperlocal and trust-based. While kirana stores remain central, commerce is increasingly flowing through WhatsApp groups, local Facebook pages, and micro-influencers—a schoolteacher, a beautician, or a neighbourhood grocer.

Traditional ATL (above-the-line) marketing has limited reach here. Brands gain more from investing in grassroots activations—at haats, mandis, or regional festivals—and by partnering with content creators fluent in local dialects and storytelling traditions.

Localisation goes beyond translation. It’s about cultural fluency: understanding how to tell stories that resonate with regional symbols, familial roles, and community values.

Investors Are Listening

The ecosystem is paying attention. Investors are backing Bharat-first start-ups for their early-mover advantage, loyal user bases, and lower acquisition costs. Brands built around regional foods, vernacular-first apps, or affordable beauty are attracting capital—not just for their scalability, but for their potential to build sticky, long-term businesses.

This isn’t just inclusion—it’s intelligent strategy. Some of India’s fastest-growing D2C brands attribute more than 50% of their revenues to non-metro markets.

Bharat Is Not the Back Row—It’s the Next Growth Engine

It’s time to stop treating Bharat as a fallback or an afterthought. It is a strategic frontier that demands a distinct playbook—one rooted in empathy, innovation, and respect.

Bharat’s consumers want the best of both worlds: tradition and technology, local pride and global quality, trust and speed. They are not waiting to be served—they are choosing actively, spending deliberately, and reshaping the consumer narrative on their own terms.

The future of Indian consumption will not be written in the metros alone. It will unfold across the vibrant, complex, and fast-changing landscape of Bharat, where aspiration is abundant, brand loyalty is earned, and innovation is just getting started.

(Mani Singhal, Managing Director and Co-lead Consumer & Retail practice Alvarez and Marsal India.)

Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.