Future Retail is planning to open new distribution centres in the country to ensure products reach stores fast, saving on costs as the Goods and Services Tax gets implemented from July 1, 2017. The company sees GST as an opportunity for retail sector to cut costs using efficient routes, thereby leading to price reduction and higher consumption.

Future Retail joint managing director Rakesh Biyani said, “With the free movement of goods, no tax credit loss, we can plot at distribution centres as to where the consumption is and where we intend to build more stores so that we can bring in an efficient supply chain.”

“Ahead to GST implementation, we have upgraded our technology platforms, our supply chain is ready to do centralized distribution. We are now mapping out further distribution centres…to optimize our costs,” he said.

Future Group has two distribution centres in the country – one in Nagpur (Maharashtra) and the other in Burdwan (West Bengal) for long lead time categories, clothing and home products.

– Apparel and Textile News, Apparel Talk, Indian Apparel