E-tailer YepMe plans to open 400 stores by the end of the FY

Gurgaon-based online e-tailer YepMe plans to open 400 stores by the end of this financial year. This is in keeping with the omni-channel strategy followed by most retailers to ramp up sales. The e-tailer already has four stores in Gurgaon. The cities identified for new stores include: Noida, Meerut, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ludhiana and Latur. This will be done through the franchisee route. Most of the stores in metros will be company owned while those in Tier II towns will be franchise owned and operated. By Diwali, the company plans to hit 75 to 100 outlets.

Vivek Gaur, CEO, points out that from the existing four outlets in Gurgaon they were doing five times more than what they were normally doing from online sales in the same city. That made them realise that they can sell profitably and get a multiplier on online sales by having an offline presence, thereby putting them in a different orbit altogether.

The company plans to offer a seamless shopping experience across multiple towns by running similar schemes and offers, allowing anywhere return of products bought by customers across stores in different cities. Goods that are bought from YepMe’s website in smaller towns will be shipped directly from the company’s stores rather than the warehouses.

The fashion brand is aiming to clock revenue of Rs 280 crore this fiscal. Last year it had made a loss of Rs 40 crore. YepMe was founded in 2011 and positions itself as an online fashion brand that makes its own brand of products. The company competes with Myntra, Amazon Fashion, Limeroad and Zovi.