Gurugram (India)-based value retailer, V-Mart is geared up to expand its physical retail presence in the fiscal year 2018-19. Markedly, the company has been growing at over 20 per cent year-on-year in the past and over 90 per cent of its revenue comes from the fashion and apparel segment, while rest is contributed by Kirana.
The retailer is looking to increase its retail space by around 15-17 per cent that would translate into the opening of roughly 35 new stores during the current fiscal, Anand Agarwal, CFO at V-Mart Retail Ltd., said in a recent interview to BloombergQuint.
Currently, the company operates 172 stores, spread across 145 cities and towns in the Indo-Gigantic region, with a major presence in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Even as these both states are its largest markets, the company would like to tap other states also, Agarwal was quoted as saying.
So far, V-Mart has been mostly present in Tier II and III cities, and as it would continue to fortify its presence in its traditional bastions, Tier IV cities are also on its expansion radar now, he further apprised. Notably, the company reportedly began tapping Tier IV geographies about a year ago.
“Following a cluster-based expansion strategy, we will continue to roll-out stores in the immediate vicinity of the cities/towns where V-Mart is already present,” he defined, adding, they’ll refrain from entering unchartered territories unless a pertinent opportunity arises.
Also, for the last five years, the company’s same-store sales growth has been roughly 8 per cent, and it is expecting to touch double-digit levels by the end of March next year. However, Agarwal as well underlined that “it will depend on market conditions and our abilities”. Nevertheless, the continuous expansion is expected to benefit the company in the long run.
Furthermore, it has also been reported that the retailer has been working towards improving its inventory cycles and even increased focus on integrating technology at the warehouse, supply chain and store levels.
Besides, efforts have been made to enhance the customers’ in-store experience as well, by bringing about improvements in the look-and-feel and ambience of the store, visual merchandising and presentation of the products, and the merchandise itself. Several stores have been refurbished to lend fresh appeal to them.
It is worth mentioning that V-Mart Retail, founded in 2002, has been growing strength to strength over the past few years and has already surpassed Rs. 1,000-crore revenue mark in the fiscal year 2017.
