India-based retail chain Shoppers Stop, owned by K Raheja Group, is eyeing to enhance its input from higher margin, launch exclusive, global and celebrity labels, improve selected outlets and strengthen its management, in a bid to increase profits and come back on track with growth.
Shoppers Stop (SSL) Managing Director, Rajiv Suri told a leading media house, “The company is not in an improvement stage as of now, but they are considering about transformation. The retailer has been finding it hard to match with its online and offline rivals, reporting a fall in its sales growth and footfalls in 2017-18.”
Reportedly, the company went through a complete revamp recently when Shoppers Stop Chairman Chandru Raheja bid adieu to the company, and Non-Executive Vice Chairman BS Nagesh was asked to take the vacant place. Suri, who joined the India-based retailer earlier this year as the CEO. was promoted as the Managing Director of the company, as Govind Shrikhande left his post after serving the company for eight long years.
As a plan to resurrect the fortunes of the retailer the newly appointed MD is targeting to focus on in-house brands, as part of its efforts to improve operating margins. Most of its competitors like; Tata Trent and Future Lifestyle Fashion have been generating more profit by retailing the majority of their exclusive brands. Trent gets about 90 per cent with its private brands, while Pantaloons and Central Brands are getting 60 and 30 per cent respectively for the Future Group.
In comparison, the share of private labels within Shoppers Stop has seen a significant decline in growth, from 14.1 per cent in FY ‘15 to just 10 per cent in FY ‘18.
Notably, the leading e-retailer Amazon acquired a 5 per cent stake in Shoppers Stop back in September last year and as per the agreement Amazon has rolled out its Amazon Experience Centres to exhibit its exclusive products in several Shoppers Stop outlets.
