Future Grp eyes 10% of retail sales from online in 3 yrs

Betting big on online retailing, Future Group today said it is targeting at least 10 per cent of the group's total retail revenues to come from digital platforms in the next three years.

As a part of the plan, the group is strengthening its online businesses led by FutureBazaar.

"We realise that the digital platform offers immense potential. In the next three years, we are targeting that 10 per cent sales of Future Group (retail) should come from online and other digital mediums," FutureBazaar Chief Executive Officer Rajiv Prakash told PTI.

He said with all the retail formats such as Big Bazaar, Pantaloons and eZone, the Future Group's current annual turnover is estimated to be around Rs 10,000 crore.

"The idea is to integrate the group's physical retail stores with the online portals to drive efficiencies," he added.

He, however, did not disclose the company's current turnover from online sales. "It has been a learning for us in the last 3-4 years and have not reached a point yet, where we can start talking about figures," Prakash said.

To begin, the company is working to strengthen online shopping portal futurebazaar.Com by offering attractive deals, greater consumer engagement and partnering with other firms.

Future Group had recently acquired online and telephone shopping portal, Chaupaati Bazaar as a part of its strategy to garner a greater percentage of sales from virtual shopping.

According to him, the company is partnering with banks such HDFC and ICICI for transactions, Bluedart for logistics, and Octane for email and SMS marketing.

"There are a lot of product start-ups in India that we would like to work with such as coupon companies etc. That help us enhance our offerings to customers," Prakash said.

Other than FutureBazaar, the company also has online portals for other formats such as eZone, Pantaloons and Big Bazaar.

"In the next 3-4 months, we will also start focusing on other portals as well to drive more business," he added.