Shoppers Stop aims for 12 per cent sales growth in 2017-18

Leading retailer Shoppers Stop is looking at 12 per cent sales growth in 2017-18 year and focusing on improving profitability. Shoppers Stop Customer Care Associate and Managing Director Govind Shrikhande says for the entire year, they are looking at 12 per cent overall sales growth and profitability growth should be double the sales growth for the year.

He further added they are eyeing 8-10 per cent like-to-like sales growth in the current fiscal. The company is looking at increasing productivity in the existing stores. Due to preponement of sales because of Goods and Services Tax (GST), a 10 per cent sales growth has been achieved in April-May period and additional 10 per cent came in June and a slowdown in sales in July was witnessed due to "affected supply" but in August the recovery had already started, post-GST, says Shrikhande.

Speaking on their profitability drive, he says the company has shut down three stores in the last fiscal and stores will be evaluated which are underperforming and there will be no level of impairment. The retailer narrowed down losses in the first quarter over same period last year but it did make profit in 2016-17. According to him, the retailer plans Rs 100 crores capital expenditure in the current fiscal and online sales contributed one per cent of its revenue last year but should be two per cent by the end of this year.

Online sales growth in the first quarter was around 70 per cent. The retailer is betting big on omni-channel, and is expecting online sales to grow by 100 per cent in the fourth quarter of the financial year.