British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) will open six stores in India in the next two months, according to Marks & Spencer Reliance India managing director James Munson. The company opened its first store here in 2001 and in April 2008 signed a joint venture with Reliance Retail to form Marks & Spencer Reliance India. It has 71 stores across 30 Indian cities.
The company opened nine stores in the last six months and would maintain that expansion pace in the next year as well, Munson told a news agency.British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) will open six stores in India in the next two months, according to Marks & Spencer Reliance India managing director James Munson. The company opened its first store here in 2001 and in April 2008 signed a joint venture with Reliance Retail to form Marks & Spencer Reliance India. It has 71 stores across 30 Indian cities.#
It has presence in New Delhi, Amritsar, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Bhopal, Kanpur, Hyderabad and Chandigarh. Of the 71 stores here, 10 are standalone beauty and lingerie stores.
A fifth of the turnover comes from outside the major metros, he said. The company sources 30 per cent of its products locally and India is a sourcing base for the wider British market as well.
M&S has partnered with e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart and this year it is expecting 75 per cent growth in online sales, he said.
However, the contribution from online to its revenues is still quite small in India, compared to the United Kingdom, he added. (DS)
ALCHEMPro News Desk – India
marketing@alchempro.com
