Lifestyle retail chain Shoppers Stop will invest another Rs 20 crore over the next 18 months in technology and infrastructure to attain omni-channel status.
Omni-channel refers to retailing through online and offline channels. So far, the company has invested about Rs 40 crore toward this end.
“The company has embarked on its omni-channel journey to tap into the exponential e-commerce growth in India,” Shoppers Stop chairman Chandru L Raheja said in the company’s annual report for 2016. “Omni-channel initiatives of the company will continue to be a key pillar of its growth strategy.”
Shoppers Stop has “plans for focused investment in technology and operations over the next two years to provide a seamless online and in-store shopping experience and drive revenue growth through digital advancements and initiatives”, Raheja said.
This year, according to him, Shoppers Stop will invest in customer relationship management and warehousing management system to build on cross-channel customer service, supply chain and operations capabilities, enabling customer journeys, such as click and collect, endless aisle and ship from store.
The chain has also embarked on project ‘Mission 2020’, which aims to derive 15 per cent of the company’s revenue from digital commerce by 2020.
“The objective of the project is to create the next generation of Shoppers Stop stores that can navigate across channels and establish us as the most preferred brand and retail destination. The project focuses on areas of assortment, customer loyalty, store footprint, private brands, positioning and omni-channel strategy,” Raheja added.
-Apparel Talk, Indian Apparel
