KOLKATA: RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group’s Spencer’s Retail aims to finalise its e-commerce plan by April next fiscal (2015-16). Spencer’s Retail sector head Shashwat Goenka confirmed that prices at the brick and mortar stores and the e-commerce would be the same once the company offers the product online in April.

 
Additionally, Spencer’s Retail, a CESC subsidiary, also said that it has decided to augment and increase its private labels, mostly in food and apparels.

 
“We would freeze the e-commerce business model within next couple of months and implement it over a time period. We are likely to begin with a few categories of products for our on-line store,” Goenka said in Kolkata on Friday.

 
To make a differentiation and to cut down logistics cost, the company would depend on local sourcing more than pan-India collection. “In West Bengal, we are focusing on local food items including varieties of fish and rice,” he said.

 
It should be noted that within a short span of its operation, Spencer’s has become a family store since it offers regional flavours in the product vertical. “Spencer’s has decided to stress more on local sourcing and bring in regional flavours in the product baskets,” Goenka said.

 
Talking about the plans for apparel section, he said, “In the apparel segment, we are looking for a new sourcing point in Kerala. We have developed seven apparel brands including men’s, women’s, kids and sports wear.”

The retail chain is also looking to expand its chain but mainly through large-format in the range of above 25,000 square feet, said Goenka, explaining that all these efforts were geared to make Spencer’s profitable.

 
Speaking about the company’s expansion strategy, Goenka said that Spencer’s would focus on expanding in the eastern and southern markets of the country. “We would also be present in the north, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Region,” he said.

 
However, western region will continue to see a token presence in Gujarat.

In the next fiscal 2015-16, Spencer’s is looking at commanding a presence in 12 - 15 large format hyper stores, with a majority of stores being in the eastern and southern regions.

 
Currently, Spencer’s has around 125 stores in 36 cities including 33 hyper stores. The total store area now stands at over one million square-feet.

 
For expansion, Spencer’s would spend approximately Rs 3 -5 crore for each hyper store. When asked about the funding for expansion, Goenka said, “CESC, our parent company, would fund the projects.”