Argos has put the brakes on further international expansion and has reviewed its strategy in its one overseas market, India, after the retailer failed to clock up the level of sales it hoped for.

The catalogue store group is understood to have halted plans for further expansion in India one year after signing a franchise deal there with HyperCity.

Argos, which is owned by Home Retail Group, is thought to have agreed to extend its partnership with HyperCity for one more year from March, after a review last month.

A source familiar with the situation said that Argos’s strategy in India had been executed poorly and that Shopper’s Stop, which is also part of the franchise deal and has a stake in HyperCity, is unhappy with its performance.

Home Retail Group head of strategic development Marc Spence is believed to be leaving the retailer following the decision not to pursue more international growth for the time being.

Spence is said to be joining Best Buy Europe – the joint venture between US electricals giant Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse – as trading director for games, DVDs and music in January.

HyperCity runs five HyperCity-Argos stores in Mumbai as well as a telephone and internet ordering service.

In Home Retail Group’s first-half results in October the retailer said “the outlook for the Indian retail market may reduce but the longer-term opportunity remains robust”.

However, it added it would “continue to review, along with its partners, the options for the low-cost trial” following the peak sales period of Diwali at the end of October.

A Home Retail Group spokeswoman said the trial in India is continuing and that it was “business as usual”.

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