Shoppers Stop, Hyper City has big expansion, integration plans

K Raheja Group run Shoppers Stop and HyperCity chain of stores will now spend Rs 500 crores in the next three years to expand operations and focus on its omni-channels. With this investment, its online business is going to get a push, increasing sales to 10 percent from a mere 1 percent at present. It may translate into Rs 750 crores being added to its revenues from online sales, which now contribute only Rs 52 crores. HyperCity, a hypermarket format store spread out over 25,000 to 40,000 square feet, will partner with online players like Snapdeal and Grofer’s to give the omni-channel a push.

The company has major expansion plans on the anvil. It will add six to seven stores of Shoppers Stop and two to three HyperCity stores every year. An investment of Rs 100 crores will be made every year for new stores, while Rs 40-50 crores will go for renovation of the existing ones while Rs 25-30 crores will go for omni-channel strategy. By 2020, Shoppers Stop will have 100 stores. The company will not venture into new cities in order to rationalise the cost of marketing and logistics. The expansion of Shoppers Stop will be funded by internal accruals while HyperCity will be through loans.

By next December, the company hopes to be completely omni-channel across all formats. Orders can be placed online or at a store and it can be delivered wherever desired. Govind Srikhande, MD and customer care associate, Shoppers Stop is gung-ho about the offline and online integration. He says that internationally, some big names such as Macy’s and Nordstrom have been successful in integrating the online and offline.