MUMBAI: American brands have 30% market share of the retail space taken by global brands in India and they are especially active in the food and beverages category, recent analysis of more than 300 global retail brands has shown.

Retailers from the US, Italy and the UK are the top three overseas operators in the country, with Italian and British brands accounting for 19% and 16% of market share respectively, Asian Age reported.

They are followed by retailers from France and Germany, which have 10% and 8% market share respectively.

The study, "Expanding Horizons of Global Retailers in India", was produced by international property adviser CBRE, which sought to identify the operating trends, expansion strategies and penetration in leading cities of leading global brands.

Most US retailers are present in the mass market F&B category, the report found, while retailers from Italy and the UK are more active in the luxury goods sector.

Meanwhile, Spanish retail brands such as Mango and Zara have made major inroads into the fashion sector since their relatively recent entry into the Indian market.

Separately, CBRE established that 40% of the global retailers in its study have yet to establish a presence in the country – and, of those already operating in India, well over 50% are concentrated in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Indian cities of secondary importance for foreign retail brands are Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Jaipur.

Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director of CBRE South Asia, described India as a "largely untapped and unorganised retail market" because of the large number of prominent global retailers that have yet to operate there.

"The country holds a considerable advantage over other emerging retail destinations due to its strong domestic consumption and low rate of market penetration by international retailers," he said.

Data sourced from Asian Age, CBRE; additional content by Warc staff