Future Group expects Rs 850 cr sales during Great India Fest

Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Group today said it expects sales worth Rs 850 crore during the month-long shopping festival at its stores, which began last week.

The Group also said it expects to attract over 2.75 crore bargain hunters at its 1,000 outlets across India during 'The Great India Shopping Festival'.

The festival, which began April 16 and will go on till May 17, covers all Future Group stores, including Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central, Hometown, Food Bazaar and Brand Factory.

"Last year, during the first edition of the festival, we recorded sales of Rs 700 crore. This time we are targetting a growth of over 20 per cent and total sales of up to Rs 850 crore at our group's outlets," Big Bazaar Business Head (North Zone) Vineet Jain said.

He said the Group is also aiming to increase its footfall, or number of customer visits, by over 20 per cent during this year's festival.

"During the month, we are targeting footfalls of 2.75 crore, against 2.50 crore customers during last year. As the market condition currently is much better compared with last season, we expect a major boost in both demand and sales," Jain said.

The festival, which was started last year by the Rs 10,000 crore group, includes special discount offers, besides customer interactive programmes like food sampling, lucky draws and beauty contests.

"It also offers us an opportunity to amalgamate our shopping formats, which is part of our group's recent focus area. Besides, the customer engagement programmes allow our brands to be more recognisable," he said.

Future Group had last year announced plans to invest Rs 3,000-4,000 crore to more than double its retail space to around 24 million sq ft by 2013-14. This is part of its ambitious effort to increase revenue to Rs 25,000 crore during the period, from Rs 10,000 crore in 2008-09.