# Wholesale and retail trade: Chokepoints and risks

Distributors, warehouses and stores moving finished goods from factories to households

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wholesale_retail/risks/

#### Chokepoints and risks

- Payments concentration: UPI runs through one operator (NPCI) and carried about 241.6 billion transactions in 2025-26, so an outage halts Indian checkouts^[4](https://newsonair.gov.in/government-says-nearly-55-49-crore-users-onboarded-on-upi-as-of-june/).
- Logistics costs at 7.97% of Indian GDP in 2023-24 squeeze thin retail margins when fuel or freight rates rise^[5](https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2025/nov/doc20251127708001.pdf).
- Channel shift: ecommerce was forecast at about 20.5% of worldwide retail sales in 2025, pressuring store economics^[3](https://www.emarketer.com/content/ecommerce-account-more-than-20--of-worldwide-retail-sales-despite-slowdown).
- Cold-chain gaps and refrigerant phase-downs raise costs and spoilage for fresh and frozen ranges.
- Scale concentration: Walmart alone took US$ 648 billion in retail revenue in FY2023, giving the largest chains strong pricing power over suppliers^[1](https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-shared/docs/industries/consumer/2025/deloitte-global-powers-of-retailing-2025.pdf).

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wholesale_retail/index.md)
- [Where ₹100 goes](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wholesale_retail/cost-mix/index.md)
- [Price links with suppliers](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wholesale_retail/price-links/index.md)
- [Example story](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wholesale_retail/story/index.md)
- [Linked industries](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wholesale_retail/linked-industries/index.md)
- [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wholesale_retail/value-chain/index.md)
- [Materials drawn on](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wholesale_retail/materials/index.md)
- [Sources](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wholesale_retail/sources/index.md)