Nature's Basket to strengthen online presence, take grocery items to 125 cities

Nature's Basket, retail arm of the $2.25-billion Godrej Group, will take its online presence from five cities to 125.

"We are targeting growing our online business 10 times in the current financial year. The contribution from online sales to total turnover at the moment is five per cent. This should go up as sales on the online platform grow," said Mohit Khattar, managing director.

Nature's Basket had acquired online grocery portal ekstop in April. The move to expand its online presence comes within six months of the acquisition.

The low cost of investment and ready back-end technology from ekstop had helped the company seek quick e-commerce growth, Khattar said.

"We will not stop adding offline stores but that process will proceed as and when we find suitable locations. We have been selective with our offline retail expansion. We will continue with that," he added.

Nature's Basket has 33 stores in five cities, which will act as hubs for the online operations.

Markets around Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad, where Nature's Basket stores are located, will be serviced by these centres.

Khattar said offline expansion would be tied to online performance. "Investments made in one channel should benefit the other as well," he added. The Godrej Group could take its online retail model to some of its other businesses such as fast-moving consumer goods.

Tanya Dubash, executive director and chief brand officer, Godrej Group, said the conglomerate was exploring options of how to integrate other businesses with the online platform. "Our focus is on the retail business, but there is work that divisions such as FMCG are doing. How to integrate that with this platform will come later," she said.

A recent report by technology major Google and consultancy firm Bain & Company said online sales from consumer goods categories such as male grooming, beauty, food and beverages, and infant care would constitute $5 billion (or Rs 30,000 crore) by 2020.

RAMPING IT UP

• Its 33 stores in 5 cities will act as hubs for the online operations
  

 

These centres will service markets around Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad
 

The group could take its online retail model to other businesses such as FMCG