Rates by category
| Category | ₹ / sq ft | Typical area | Programme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacy, convenience and services | ₹2,000 – 3,000 | 300 – 900 sq ft | 3 – 5 weeks |
| Value apparel and general merchandise | ₹2,200 – 3,200 | 800 – 3,000 sq ft | 4 – 6 weeks |
| Furniture and home | ₹2,800 – 4,600 | 2,000 – 8,000 sq ft | 6 – 10 weeks |
| Electronics and appliance | ₹3,000 – 4,800 | 1,000 – 4,000 sq ft | 5 – 8 weeks |
| Premium apparel and lifestyle | ₹3,500 – 5,200 | 800 – 2,500 sq ft | 6 – 9 weeks |
| Optical, beauty and specialist | ₹3,200 – 5,600 | 300 – 1,200 sq ft | 5 – 8 weeks |
| Jewellery and luxury | ₹5,500 – 12,000 | 400 – 2,500 sq ft | 10 – 16 weeks |
Ex-GST. Includes civil, flooring, ceiling, fixtures, lighting, MEP within the tenancy, shopfront and signage. Excludes stock, POS, security systems and the lease deposit.
Where the money splits
| Element | Share of budget | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Fixtures and display joinery | 28 – 38% | The largest line; a system costs a third of bespoke joinery |
| Lighting — fittings, track, control | 12 – 18% | The highest-return line in the project; do not cut it |
| Flooring | 8 – 14% | Durability matters more than appearance in a high-footfall unit |
| Ceiling and services coordination | 9 – 15% | Includes the lighting track, sprinkler modification and AC diffusers |
| Shopfront and signage | 8 – 14% | Higher in a mall, where the specification is prescribed |
| Electrical and data | 7 – 12% | Power to every plinth in electronics and furniture formats |
| Civil, partitions and back of house | 6 – 11% | Fitting rooms, stock room, staff area |
| Design, coordination and supervision | 4 – 9% | — |
Fixtures, light and a shopfront, costed
Fixtures, priced per running foot
The fixture decision is the single largest variable in a retail budget, and the difference between a system and bespoke joinery is four to five times on the same shop.
| Fixture type | ₹ per running foot | Right for |
|---|---|---|
| Slotted wall system with brackets and shelves | ₹4,500 – 9,000 | Value retail, pharmacy, multi-brand; flexible and visibly generic |
| Modular gondola and mid-floor units | ₹6,000 – 12,000 | Convenience, electronics, general merchandise |
| Semi-bespoke wall bays on a system carcass | ₹12,000 – 24,000 | The sensible middle; a system frame with a designed face |
| Fully bespoke joinery with integrated lighting | ₹24,000 – 45,000 | Premium apparel, home, optical |
| Locked display case with case lighting | ₹14,000 – 38,000 | Jewellery, watches, luxury; the case is the experience |
| Fitting room, per cubicle | ₹28,000 – 95,000 | Lighting, mirror, seat, hook, lockable door |
| Cash counter and back counter | ₹65,000 – 3,20,000 | By length, finish and how much is concealed storage |
Ex-GST, per running foot of full-height wall bay (2,400–3,000 mm) including finish and integrated lighting where noted. Low gondola runs sit at the bottom of each band.
A worked BOQ: 1,400 sq ft premium apparel store
A high-street unit at ₹63 lakh, which is ₹4,500 per sq ft — mid-band for premium apparel.
| Line | Cost | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Wall fixtures — 62 running feet, bespoke full-height bays with integrated lighting | ₹17,80,000 | 28.3% |
| Mid-floor units, mannequin plinths and display tables | ₹5,20,000 | 8.3% |
| Lighting — track, 84 spots, feature pendants, control | ₹9,40,000 | 14.9% |
| Flooring — large-format porcelain with a timber-look zone | ₹6,30,000 | 10.0% |
| Ceiling, track integration and services coordination | ₹5,80,000 | 9.2% |
| Shopfront, glazing, entrance and signage | ₹6,80,000 | 10.8% |
| Fitting rooms — four cubicles with a shared lobby | ₹3,40,000 | 5.4% |
| Electrical, data and POS provision | ₹3,60,000 | 5.7% |
| Cash counter and back-of-house | ₹2,20,000 | 3.5% |
| Design, coordination and supervision | ₹2,50,000 | 4.0% |
| Total (ex-GST) | ₹63,00,000 | 100% |
Retailers ask us to reduce the lighting budget and increase the fixture budget. It is exactly the wrong way round: nobody has ever bought something because the shelf was well made.
Greenbox commercial fit-out lead
What moves the number
- Bespoke fixtures instead of a system — the single biggest swing available, at three to five times the rate on 28–38% of the budget. It can move a whole project by 30–50%.
- A bare shell instead of a warm shell — ₹600–₹1,200 per sq ft for HVAC, toilets, flooring base and ceilings that a warm shell already has.
- Mall rather than high street — 20–35% more for the barricade, night working, mandated MEP vendors and a fixed penalty-bearing handover date.
- A jewellery or luxury specification — case lighting, security glazing, strong rooms and a higher grade of everything. This is why the category band reaches ₹12,000.
- A rollout of identical stores — the reverse direction. Fixtures made in a batch for eight stores cost 18–30% less per store than the same fixtures made once.
- Heritage or conservation frontage — a protected shopfront limits what can be done and adds an approval cycle of six to twelve weeks.
Payback, which is how a retailer should read this
A fit-out is amortised over the lease, and the sensible test is what it costs per square foot per month against what the shop turns over. Three checks make a retail budget legible.
- Amortise it. A ₹63 lakh fit-out on a 1,400 sq ft unit over a five-year lease is ₹75 per sq ft a month. Against a rent of ₹250 that is 23% of the occupancy cost, which is the normal shape.
- Compare it with turnover. Retail fit-out capital typically runs at 12–25% of the first full year’s projected sales. Below 10% the store is usually under-invested for its position; above 30% the lease term needs to be long enough to earn it back.
- Separate the movable from the fixed. A system fixture package can be dismantled and reused in the next store; bespoke joinery cannot. On a five-year lease with an uncertain renewal, that is a real argument for the system.
- Plan a mid-lease refresh. Set aside 15–20% of the original fit-out cost for a year-three refresh of graphics, paint, lighting lamps and the front displays. Stores that do this hold their sales; stores that do not decline visibly from about month thirty.
What this excludes
- 18% GST on the contract value.
- Stock and the fixtures it needs beyond the fit-out — hangers, busts, trays, packaging storage.
- POS hardware, IT and network equipment, and any digital display or screen content.
- Security — CCTV, electronic article surveillance, shutters, safes and, for jewellery, a strong room.
- The lease security deposit, the landlord fit-out deposit and any supervision charge.
- Signage licence fees, which in many cities are recurring rather than one-off.
- Visual merchandising props and window schemes, which are a recurring seasonal cost rather than a capital one and typically run ₹40,000–₹2.5 lakh per change depending on the format.
- Any landlord reinstatement obligation at the end of the lease — returning the unit to a bare or warm shell. It is in most Indian retail leases, it is rarely budgeted, and on a heavily fitted unit it costs ₹200–₹500 per sq ft.
Local rates and the design
Mumbai runs 20–35% above these figures, with mall units above high-street ones — see retail store interior cost in Mumbai. For the customer path, display density and lighting strategy behind these budgets, see showroom interior design services and retail interior design.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
What does a retail fit-out cost per square foot in India?+
₹2,000–₹3,000 for pharmacy and convenience, ₹2,200–₹3,200 for value apparel, ₹2,800–₹4,600 for furniture and home, ₹3,000–₹4,800 for electronics, ₹3,500–₹5,200 for premium apparel and ₹5,500–₹12,000 for jewellery, all ex-GST including fixtures, lighting, flooring and shopfront.
How much of a retail budget goes on fixtures?+
Twenty-eight to thirty-eight per cent, which makes it the largest single line. A slotted wall system runs ₹4,500–₹9,000 per running foot of full-height bay, semi-bespoke bays on a system carcass ₹12,000–₹24,000, and fully bespoke joinery with integrated lighting ₹24,000–₹45,000. That choice alone can move a whole project by 30–50%.
Should I cut the lighting budget?+
No. Lighting is twelve to eighteen per cent of the fit-out and accounts for a disproportionate share of how the store performs, and unlike fixtures it cannot be improved later without opening the ceiling. If the budget has to come down, take it from the fixture specification rather than the lighting.
What does a fitting room cost?+
₹28,000–₹95,000 per cubicle including lighting, a full-height mirror, a seat, hooks and a lockable door. It is the most under-designed part of most apparel stores and the place where a sale is most often lost, so it is worth the upper half of that range.
How much cheaper is a rollout?+
Eighteen to thirty per cent less per store on the fixture package when the fixtures for eight or more stores are made in one batch, plus savings on design, which is done once. The trade is that the design has to be frozen before the first store opens, so any lesson from store one applies from store nine.
What is not in a retail fit-out quote?+
18% GST, stock and the merchandising accessories it needs, POS hardware and IT, CCTV and electronic article surveillance, shutters and safes, the lease security deposit, the landlord fit-out deposit and supervision charge, and signage licence fees, which in many cities recur annually rather than being a one-off.