Shoppers Stop, the K Raheja promoted departmental sto-re chain, is anticipating 5-7 per cent growth in same-store-sales (SSS) this year, even as the rupee-dollar imbalance threatens to put a pressure on prices of merchandise, especially that of imported category.
Govind Shrikhande –Customer Care Associate and Managing Director, Shoppers Stop Limited who was here to launch the Shoppers stop store in Jalandhar (second in Punjab), said the weakening of rupee against dollar is likely to put pressure on prices of imported accessories like cosmetic items, perfume and watches among other items that would become more expensive. The Indian rupee value has fallen over 20 per cent against the dollar in last one year.
However, on the apparel side things could be different, since majority of apparels are sourced locally and also the company has slashed apparel prices by 5 per cent in the private label category.
Imported merchandise on an average comprises 20 per cent of the total merchandise stock for Shoppers Stop.
Also the growth in SSS would be comparable to last year i.e. ranging from 5-7 per cent compared to 10 per cent growth achieved in Q4 of the fiscal 2011-12. The single digit growth in SSS is attributed to opening of new stores.
Launching the store in Jalandhar, Shrikhande said this is also Shoppers Stop’s second store in Punjab and fifty-second (52) store in the country.
Shoppers Stop is planning to open 23-25 stores in the next three years with investment of over Rs 300 crore. Out of the new stores planned, three would be in Punjab with a store each in Chandigarh, Mohali and Ludhiana.
Shrikhande added Shopp-ers Stop’s First Citizen Loyalty programme has base of over 2.5 million members across the country. Shoppers Stop also claims to have over 2.46 million fans on Facebook, making it the first large-format retailer to cross the 2 million mark on Facebook.