India has emerged as the second largest market for Marks & Spencer and the retailer is looking at a double digit growth in terms of store addition in the next fiscal, said a top company management official. The British retailer has celebrated a major milestone recently with the opening of its 75th store in Chennai and another one in Hyderabad.
Going forward with its expansion drive, M&S is now looking at the every growing markets of tier-II and tier-III towns and also plans to increase the products range with more local relevance.
“India has now the largest market for us outside UK. We are really excited to be reaching the landmark of our 75th store opening, as well as continuing to improve the online experience for our customers. The company clocked a turnover of Rs.908 crore in India in FY 2017-18 and expects to continue its growth momentum further in the next fiscal. “In FY 2019-20, we would continue double digit growth in terms of store addition on like-to-like basis.” – James Munson, MD, Marks & Spencer India
For M&S, India is a “strategic market”, where there is acceptance of international brands and has space to grow.
After recent openings, M&S now has 76 stores across 32 cities and is continuously expanding its presence and has opened six stores in last 48 days
The retail brand sources around 30 percent material locally from India and the rest is from imports and is planning to increase more products which are relevant to the customers in India.
M&S products are also present on the fast growing online sales through its several channel partners. Although, the present contribution of online sales is in single digit but Munson expects it to grow further.
M&S opened its first store in India in 2001 and in April 2008 signed a JV with Reliance Retail to form Marks & Spencer Reliance India Pvt Ltd. Established in 1884, M&S is one of the UK’s leading retailers and trades in 57 markets, with over 400 stores and online presence in 33 markets.