Bata to expand retail with 500 franchise stores in small towns

Bata is planning to open another 500 franchise stores in small towns over the next five years. As of now, the brand has 150 franchise stores. The company has over the past three years pumped in around Rs 260 crores for modernising its manufacturing plants and renovating its retail stores. The company’s thrust is to improve customer experience, get more contemporary and attract, younger people to the stores.

The footwear major has invested around Rs 100 crores on its stores in the last three years. Bata now has seven entirely women-run stores, and is planning to open one in South Kolkata, which will also be its first such outlet in eastern India. In Bata’s 500 top stores, 22 per cent of team members are women. As much as 85 per cent of the company’s sales are through its stores, while about five per cent comes from e-commerce. The company now sells over 47 million pairs of footwear in India, with its business now growing at a rate of two to three per cent. In 2018-19, Bata opened 71 new retail stores in India and 51 franchise ones, besides renovating 47 outlets. It relocated 47 outlets and closed down 28.