Riding the surge of its success in the domestic retail market, Noel Tata-led Trent is searching for opportunities to establish its retail formats outside Indian shores, starting with a flagship store in Dubai. This shift comes as Zudio, one of its leading brands, exceeds the Rs. 7,000-crore revenue mark in India.
Trent had earlier delayed its global ambitions to merge domestic operations. Now, with a strong and profitable business model in place, the conventionally conservative retailer is now looking to tap the considerable Indian diaspora abroad, becoming the first retailer to do so. It may well consider an international ally for potential partnerships, though that is unverified.
CEO P Venkatesalu said the company, as formerly, continues to search for possibilities. “It is still premature to comment on plans,” he remarked. As per industry watchers, Trent has perfected a sustainable and lucrative business model and has now achieved the confidence to scale up abroad.
Trent’s combined revenue has improved at a five-year CAGR of 45 per cent, maintaining its expansion strategy pushed by swift on-ground execution. Amidst an apparel receission, Trent sets out as an anomaly, constantly delivering optimistic surprises in both revenue and profit margin.
During the March 2024 quarter, Trent’s fashion apparel brand Westside unit added 12 new stores, bringing the whole store count to 232, whereas value fashion concept Zudio opened 86 novel stores, taking its whole count to 545.
Trent’s brands are not sold on other e-commerce websites except for Tata platforms (Tata Neu & TataCliq). The Zudio format at present adds as much as 30 per cent to the entire revenue in comparison with only 8 per cent a few years back.
The retailer is applying the matching strategy at the Star Bazaar business in the food and grocery space and is seeing some very strong customer traction.
It has repeatedly delivered strong financial results, having 31 per cent and 26 per cent compounded annual growth rates (CAGR) in revenue and profit, correspondingly, over the past 5 years. Trent is presently seen by its management team as a platform that permits to originate, develop and scale a range of growth engines.
