As India’s retail landscape undergoes a significant shift, Consulting & Beyond, a leading management consulting firm for MSMEs and family-run businesses, has announced a strategic focus on Tier II and Tier III cities as the next frontier for organized retail expansion.
With over 25 years of consulting excellence, Consulting & Beyond—led by founder Umesh Golecha—has helped transform retail businesses across metros. Now, the firm is aligning its next phase of growth with India’s changing consumption map.
“Retail is no longer a metro story alone,” said Umesh Golecha. “The real opportunity now lies in Bharat—in cities like Indore, Raipur, Lucknow, Coimbatore, and Surat. These markets are aspirational, underserved, and primed for growth.”
Why Tier II & III Cities Are the Focus Now
India’s retail sector has witnessed double-digit growth in non-metro cities, driven by rising incomes, digital exposure, better infrastructure, and aspirational consumption patterns.
According to recent industry reports:
- Over 60% of new mall developments are planned in Tier II & III cities.
- E-commerce penetration in these regions is growing at over 25% YoY.
- Organized retail is seeing higher footfall-to-sale conversions in these markets compared to Tier I cities.
“We’re seeing ambitious entrepreneurs and family-run retailers in these cities who want to scale like a brand, digitize like a startup, and build like a legacy business,” added Umesh. “They just need the right frameworks and handholding.”
Consulting & Beyond’s Tier II & III Strategy
To serve this rising demand, Consulting & Beyond is launching a dedicated consulting track focused on:
- Retail chain expansion strategy for regional players looking to scale
- Store profitability modeling tailored to lower-rent and high-footfall towns
- Merchandising and layout planning suited to local buying behaviours
- Inventory optimization and ERP integration for back-end efficiency
- Talent development for retail staff in non-metro areas
- Franchise and FOCO (Franchise-Owned Company-Operated) models for faster scale
This strategy is supported by the firm’s Four Wheels of Business® Framework, which blends financial discipline, operations, marketing, and leadership principles.
Local Knowledge, National Thinking
What sets Consulting & Beyond apart is its on-ground experience. The firm has already worked with retail brands in cities like Madurai, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Nasik, Nagpur, Wayanad, & across Tamil Nadu —helping them refine pricing, improve inventory turnover, and plan multi-store rollouts.
“Our strength lies in understanding regional realities while applying national-scale thinking,” said Golecha. “You can’t copy-paste a metro model into a non-metro. The design has to be local, but the ambition must be global.”
Creating India’s Next Retail Champions
The firm believes that the next retail unicorns may, with every possibility, be from regional hubs that are rapidly digitizing and professionalizing.
Consulting & Beyond will also be rolling out a Retail Readiness Index™ for Tier II & III businesses—a diagnostic tool to assess readiness for expansion, profitability, and funding.
“If we can empower 1,000 regional retailers to professionalize and grow, we’ll be building India’s economic backbone, not just advising it,” Golecha emphasized.
About Consulting & Beyond
Founded in October 2020 by Umesh Golecha, Consulting & Beyond is a boutique management consulting firm based in Chennai. It specializes in strategy, succession, retail transformation, financial structuring, and operational efficiency for MSMEs and family-managed businesses.