Bata India to add 150 retail, franchise stores in 2018-19

Footwear major Bata India, which is focusing on "aggressive launch" of new products, plans to add around 100 new retail stores and 50 franchises across the country in 2018-19, an official said here on Friday.

"Your company plans to add around 100 new retail stores and 50 new franchise stores in the current year across India," Chairman Uday Khanna told shareholders at the 85th Annual General Meeting here.

He said the growth of the industry has been triggered by increasing internet and smartphone penetration and the shoe maker sold more than 8.9 lakh pairs of footwear through e-commerce channels, recording a turnover of Rs 87.9 crore during 2017-18.

In order to expand its presence in the e-commerce space, the company also listed its products on high traffic-generating websites, Khanna said.

Sales through e-commerce channel contribute about 4-4.5 per cent to company's revenue currently and it could be double digit soon, company's Whole Time Director and CEO Sandeep Kataria said, adding that e-commerce channel has been "profitable".

"It plans to focus on building the Bata brand and attracting footfalls through attractive store decor, in-store activities, aggressive launch of new products and increasing our advertising spend," Khanna said.

The emphasis of the company will now be both on volume and premiumisation.

In 2017-18, the footwear major added over 100 new retail stores, 31 franchise stores and renovated more than 90 stores across India.

"Over the last couple of years, we have focused more on upgradation which will continue to be big priority for us," Kataria said, adding that it has potential to go much beyond 450 odd towns where it has exclusive outlets.

Potentially, there is an opportunity for 500 franchised stores and it has just opened 101 franchised stores, he said.

He said one of the biggest challenges for the company was to "contemporise" and it has been focusing on this by introducing contemporary design, decor of stores, etc.

The company will be investing Rs 100 crore as capital expenditure in the current fiscal, he said.

It recorded a turnover of Rs 2,636 crore, which marked a 6 per cent growth over the previous year.

--IANS

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