HyperCity brings in local flavours to boost revenue

Shoppers Stop is changing the merchandise mix at its hypermarket format HyperCity by bringing in regional flavours so as to make them more appealing to buyers in different regions. Already a new management team is in place and it is expected that HyperCity would turn around this year by becoming EBITDA-positive at the company level.

Earlier, HyperCity had similar products for stores across different regions but after a thorough research at store level, they decided to tweak the assortment to suit regional interests. So, now HyperCity will have more localised assortments in 100 to 200 SKUs of food, kitchenware and household goods. As Govind Shrikhande, Managing Director, Shoppers Stop points out that in Tamil Nadu steel utensils are used while Delhi prefers porcelain or glass. So such regional preferences have been incorporated within different product categories.

HyperCity’s sales were up five per cent in Q4 FY16 and like to like sales growth was 4.8 per cent. However, it continued to see margin de-growth in the quarter.

Recently, the new FSSAI rules regarding imported food and beverages had hit the availability of products on the retail shelves. FSSAI had issued new rules for importing products, seeking to address concerns over the entry of sub-standard items.