Future banks on online growth

Future Group which recently acquired the online and telephone shopping portal Chaupaati Bazaar

as a part of its strategy now expects at least 10 per cent of the group’s total retail revenues to come from digital platforms in the next three years. The acquisition was to garner a greater percentage of sales from virtual shopping.

The company is partnering with banks such as HDFC and ICICI for transactions, Bluedart for logistics, and Octane for email and SMS marketing. With all retail formats such as Big Bazaar, Pantaloons and eZone, Future Group’s current annual turnover is estimated to be around Rs 10,000 crores. The idea is to integrate the group’s physical retail stores with online portals to drive efficiencies. To begin with the company is working to strengthen the online shopping portal futurebazaar.com by offering attractive deals, greater consumer engagement and partnering with other firms. There are a lot of product start-ups in India that the group would like to work with such as coupon companies etc. Other than FutureBazaar, the company also has online portals for other formats such as eZone, Pantaloons and Big Bazaar.

Future Group, led by its founder and Group CEO, Kishore Biyani, is one of India’s leading business houses with multiple businesses spanning across the consumption space. While retail forms the core business activity of Future Group, group subsidiaries are present in consumer finance, capital, insurance, leisure and entertainment, brand development, retail real estate development, retail media and logistics.