Uniqlo India sees 15% of its sales come from online channels: CEO

Expands to West India after opening 10 stores in North

Japanese apparel retailer UNIQLO is planning to open two stores in Mumbai as part of the next phase of offline expansion in India, even as it is witnessing 15 per cent of its sales in the country via the online platform.

“Besides expanding our brick-and-mortar stores, we are aiming to maintain the online store portion at the same level. This, of course, differs month-on-month, based on seasonality and store openings,” UNIQLO India CEO Tomohiko Sei told Business Standard in an interview here.

In FY22, UNIQLO India’s sales stood at Rs. 389 crore against Rs. 236 crore in FY21, a rise of 65 per cent.

On its app, UNIQLO India witnesses 40 per cent traffic from Mumbai; on its website, the retailer sees 60 per cent of its traffic from the metropolis. The average order value (e-commerce) of Mumbai is the highest -- 10 per cent more than the average order size of other cities. UNIQLO’s performance in Mumbai via e-commerce rivals its showing in Delhi NCR, the CEO said.

After opening two stores in Mumbai by the end of 2023, UNIQLO’s total store count in the country will be 12. So far, all its 10 stores in India are concentrated in the northern region – 8 in Delhi NCR, and one each in Lucknow and Chandigarh; its first store in the country opened in 2019.

In Mumbai, UNIQLO India will first open its store on October 6 at Phoenix Marketcity in Kurla and then another on October 20 at Oberoi Mall in Goregaon.

“Our priority is to bring life-wear across India. In the first four years, we focused on north India because we wanted to establish our business in the region and now we are expanding to enter a new city for us, which is Mumbai,” Sei said.

He further said Mumbai would prove to be a large market for UNIQLO and the Japanese retailer is scouting for more locations in the city to open its stores.

Besides Mumbai, Uniqlo is looking at other metro cities to expand, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai. 

Sei said UNIQLO is witnessing strong offline growth in the country and even in the pandemic, the company saw growth when most retailers were affected as stores were shut or opened under Covid restrictions.

UNIQLO India is also on track to achieve 30 per cent of its sourcing from India. “We are actively growing local suppliers to deliver quality products for our customers. For example, now there are a total of 17 sewing factories and six fabric mills we work with in India. And from 2023 spring/summer, we are pleased to see some Indian factories starting to contribute to the production of our innovative product, with our strategic partner, TORAY Industries,” Sei added.

Looking dapper

- In FY22, Uniqlo India’s sales stood at Rs 389 crore compared to Rs 236 crore in FY21, a rise of 65%
 

- On its app, Uniqlo India sees 40% of its traffic come from Mumbai and on its website, the retailer sees 60% of its traffic from the island city
 

- The average order value of Mumbai is the highest on ecommerce as it is 10% higher than average order size from other cities
 

- The retailer started its online sales in India during the pandemic in 2021
 

- It also witnessed Mumbai as the second highest performing market in for Uniqlo India on its e-commerce after Delhi/NCR
 

- After North India, Uniqlo India will open two stores in Mumbai which will take its total store count to 12