About Spencer's Retail Limited

Spencer's Retail Limited, part of the Rs 13,500 crores RPG group, is a multi-format food-first retailer providing the widest
range and assortment of products to its key consumer segment of female, SEC A in the age group of 25 - 34. The organization
runs 400 stores, including 28 large format stores across 66 cities in India, focusing on verticals like food and grocery, fruit and
vegetables, electrical and electronics, home and office essentials, garments and fashion accessories, toys, food and personal
care, music, books and mobility solutions, the later three forming part of specialty retail division.
Spencers is one of the earliest entrants into the retail space and literally introduced the Indian consumer to the concept of
organized retailing. In fact, the first ever hyper store in India was launched by Spencers at Hyderabad in the year 2000. The
journey onwards has been one of the most aggressive of all the retail players in India. In the last financial year, Spencers
increased their stores from 150 to 400 with a target of expanding by 600 more this year. It employs over 13000 professionals
who are specially trained to live up to the consumer needs and the business objectives of the organization. Spencers is on a
high growth path with a target of Rs. 2000 crores sales turnover by the end of the current financial year.
Spencer's was awarded the Turnaround Retailer of the year 2006 at the India Retailers Forum, 2007 in Mumbai.
Spencer's Retail

Profile
Spencer's Retail Limited is one of India's largest and fastest growing multi-format retailer with 220 stores, including 30 large
format stores across 35 cities in India. Spencer's focuses on verticals like fresh fruit and vegetables, food and grocery,
personal care, garments and fashion accessories, home and office essentials, electrical and electronics. Established in 1996,
Spencer's has become a popular destination for shoppers in India with hypermarkets and convenient stores catering to various
shopping needs of its large consumer base.

Operations
Spencer's has retail footage of approximately 1 million square feet and over 220 Spencer's stores in 35 cities. The company
operates through the following formats:

• The Spencer's Hyper stores are destination stores, of more than 15,000 sq. ft in size. They offer
everything under one roof. The merchandise ranges from fruits & vegetables, processed foods, groceries,
meat, chicken, fish, bakery, chilled and frozen foods, garments and fashion accessories, consumer electronics
& electrical products, home decor and needs, office stationeries, soft toys. On an average, a Spencer's hyper
stocks 70,000 SKUs across 35,000 items.
• The Spencer's stores are neighborhood stores ranging from 1500 less than 15000 sq. ft. These stores
stock the necessary range and assortment in fruit and vegetables, FMCG food and non-food, staples and
frozen foods and cater to the daily and weekly top-up shopping needs of the consumer.

Au Bon Pain
Spencer’s Retail Limited, has tied up with Au Bon Pain, the Boston-based fast casual dining and bakery café chain with more
than 200 outlets in the USA, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. A joint venture has been formed between Spencer’s Retail
Limited and Varin Narula which would be the Master Franchisee of Au Bon Pain in India. Varin is the Director & Promoter of Au
Bon Pain, Thailand. The outlets will offer the choicest of healthy and nutritious food, bakery products and beverages in a
relaxed and casual environment.

Beverly Hills Polo Club

Spencer’s, has signed an exclusive tie-up with the renowned apparel brand Beverly Hills Polo Club. Beverly Hills Polo Club®
evokes casual, relaxed yet affluent and elegant Southern Californian lifestyle. It presents product categories in-tune with its
image viz, T-Shirts, polo’s, sweat shirt & sweat pants, causal shirt & trousers, denims, winterwear, eyewear and watches for
men and women. Formal shirts & trousers are an added category in the menswear segment. It is strategically developed by
Spencer’s for the Indian market with fine product attributes that makes fashion, affordable.

Contact Us
Shakuntala Sarkar
Spencer's Retail Limited
7th Floor, 5 Clive Row,
Kolkata- 700 001
Tel: + 91 33 6625 7893
Email: s_sarkar@spencersretail.com
Customer Feedback for Spencers: customercare@spencersretail.com

Web Site: www.spencersretail.com

Spencer's Retail is one of India’s fastest growing retail stores.Spencer's is based on the 'Food First' Format (it mainly offers
fresh and packaged food). Many outlets though sport multiple formats for retailing food, apparel, fashion, electronics, lifestyle
products, music and books. It is owned by the RPG Group, a major business house.
Established in 1996, Spencer’s is one of the popular destination for shoppers in India with supermarkets, hypermarkets and
dailies spread all over India.

Spencer's Retail Limited

Type Subsidiary

Industry Retail

Founded 1920

Kolkata, West Bengal,

Headquarters
India

Number of locations 220 Across 35 Cities [1]

Employees 60,000+

Parent RPG Group

Retailing in India
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available. (February 2009)

A spice market
Retailing is one of the pillars of the economy in India and accounts for 35% of GDP.[1]
The retail industry is divided into organised and unorganised sectors. Over 12 million outlets operate in the country and only
4% of them being larger than 500 sq ft (46 m2) in size. Organised retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed
retailers, that is, those who are registered for sales tax, income tax, etc. These include the corporate-backed hypermarkets
and retail chains, and also the privately owned large retail businesses. Unorganised retailing, on the other hand, refers to the
traditional formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the local kirana shops, owner manned general stores, paan/beedi shops,
convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc.[2] In India, a shopkeeper of such kind of shops is usually known as a
dukandar.
Most Indian shopping takes place in open markets and millions of independent grocery shops called kirana. Organized retail
such supermarkets accounts for just 4% of the market as of 2008.[3] Regulations prevent most foreign investment in retailing.
Moreover, over thirty regulations such as "signboard licences" and "anti-hoarding measures" may have to be complied before a
store can open doors. There are taxes for moving goods to states, from states, and even within states.[3]

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Growth
• 2 The Indian Retail
Market
• 3 Major Indian Retailers
• 4 Entry of MNCs
• 5 Challenges

• 6 References

[edit] Growth
An increasing number of people in India are turning to the services sector for employment due to the relative low
compensation offered by the traditional agriculture and manufacturing sectors. The organized retail market is growing at 35
percent annually while growth of unorganized retail sector is pegged at 6 percent.[4]
The Retail Business in India is currently at the point of inflection. Rapid change with investments to the tune of US $ 25 billion
is being planned by several Indian and multinational companies in the next 5 years. It is a huge industry in terms of size and
according to management consulting firm Technopak Advisors Pvt. Ltd., it is valued at about US $ 350 billion. Organised retail
is expected to garner about 16-18 percent of the total retail market (US $ 65-75 billion) in the next 5 years.
India has topped the A.T. Kearney’s annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) for the third consecutive year,
maintaining its position as the most attractive market for retail investment. The Indian economy has registered a growth of 8%
for 2007. The predictions for 2008 is 7.9%.[5] The enormous growth of the retail industry has created a huge demand for real
estate. Property developers are creating retail real estate at an aggressive pace and by 2010, 300 malls are estimated to be
operational in the country.[6]
With over 1,000 hypermarkets and 3,000 supermarkets projected to come up by 2011, India will need additional retail space
of 700,000,000 sq ft (65,000,000 m2) as compared to today. Current projections on construction point to a supply of just
200,000,000 sq ft (19,000,000 m2), leaving a gap of 500,000,000 sq ft (46,000,000 m2) that needs to be filled, at a cost of
US$15–18 billion.[7]
According to the Icrier report, the retail business in India is estimated to grow at 13% from $322 billion in 2006-07 to $590
billion in 2011-12. The unorganized retail sector is expected to grow at about 10% per annum with sales expected to rise from
$ 309 billion in 2006-07 to $ 496 billion in 2011-12.[8]

[edit] The Indian Retail Market

Indian market has high complexities in terms of a wide geographic spread and distinct consumer preferences varying by each
region necessitating a need for localization even within the geographic zones. India has highest number of outlets per person
(7 per thousand) Indian retail space per capita at 2 sq ft (0.19 m2)/ person is lowest in the world Indian retail density of 6
percent is highest in the world.[9] 1.8 million households in India have an annual income of over 45 lakh[10].
Delving further into consumer buying habits, purchase decisions can be separated into two categories: status-oriented and
indulgence-oriented. CTVs/LCDs, refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, microwave ovens and DVD players fall in the
status category. Indulgence-oriented products include plasma TVs, state-of-the-art home theatre systems, iPods, high-end
digital cameras, camcorders, and gaming consoles. Consumers in the status category buy because they need to maintain a
position in their social group. Indulgence-oriented buying happens with those who want to enjoy life better with products that
meet their requirements. When it comes to the festival shopping season, it is primarily the status-oriented segment that
contributes largely to the retailer’s cash register.[11]
While India presents a large market opportunity given the number and increasing purchasing power of consumers, there are
significant challenges as well given that over 90% of trade is conducted through independent local stores. Challenges include:
Geographically dispersed population, small ticket sizes, complex distribution network, little use of IT systems, limitations of
mass media and existence of counterfeit goods.[12]

[edit] Major Indian Retailers

Indian apparel retailers are increasing their brand presence overseas, particularly in developed markets. While most have
identified a gap in countries in West Asia and Africa, some majors are also looking at the US and Europe. Arvind Brands,
Madura Garments, Spykar Lifestyle and Royal Classic Polo are busy chalking out foreign expansion plans through the
distribution route and standalone stores as well. Another denim wear brand, Spykar, which is now moving towards becoming a
casualwear lifestyle brand, has launched its store in Melbourne recently. It plans to open three stores in London by 2008-end.
[13]

The low-intensity entry of the diversified Mahindra Group into retail is unique because it plans to focus on lifestyle products.
The Mahindra Group is the fourth large Indian business group to enter the business of retail after Reliance Industries Ltd, the
Aditya Birla Group, and Bharti Enterprises Ltd. The other three groups are focusing either on perishables and groceries, or a
range of products, or both.
 • Vivek Limited Retail Formats: Viveks, Jainsons, Viveks Service Centre,
Viveks Safe Deposit Lockers
• PGC Retail -T-Mart India[1], Switcher , Respect India , Grand India
Bazaar ,etc.,
• REI AGRO LTD Retail-Formats:6TEN Hyper & 6TEN Super
• RPG Retail-Formats: Music World, Books & Beyond, Spencer’s Hyper,
Spencer’s Super, Daily & Fresh
• Pantaloon Retail-Formats: Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Pantaloons, Central,
Fashion Station, Brand Factory, Depot, aLL, E-Zone etc.
• The Tata Group-Formats: Westside, Star India Bazaar, Steeljunction,
Landmark, Titan Industries with World of Titans showrooms, Tanishq
outlets, Chroma.
• K Raheja Corp Group-Formats: Shoppers Stop, Crossword, Hyper City,
Inorbit Mall
• Lifestyle International-Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max, Fun City and
International Franchise brand stores.
• Pyramid Retail-Formats: Pyramid Megastore, TruMart
• Nilgiri’s-Formats: Nilgiris’ supermarket chain
• Subhiksha-Formats: Subhiksha supermarket pharmacy and telecom
discount chain.
• Trinethra- Formats: Fabmall supermarket chain and Fabcity hypermarket
chain
• Vishal Retail Group-Formats: Vishal Mega Mart
• BPCL-Formats: In & Out
• Reliance Retail-Formats: Reliance Fresh
• Reliance ADAG Retail-Format: Reliance World
• German Metro Cash & Carry
• Shoprite Holdings-Formats: Shoprite Hyper
• Paritala stores bazar: honey shine stores
• Aditya Birla Group - more Outlets
• Kapas- Cotton garment outlets

[edit] Entry of MNCs

The world's largest retailer by sales, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Sunil Mittal's Bharti Enterprises have entered into a joint venture
agreement and they are planning to open 10 to 15 cash-and-carry facilities over seven years. The first of the stores, which will
sell groceries, consumer appliances and fruits and vegetables to retailers and small businesses, is slated to open in north India
by the end of 2008.[14]
Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer by sales, is planning to setup two business entities in the country one for its cash-
and-carry business and the other a master franchisee which will lend its banner, technical services and know how to an Indian
company for direct-to-consumer retail.[15]
The world’s fifth largest retailer by sales, Costco Wholesale Corp (Costco) known for its warehouse club model is also
interested in coming to India and waiting for the right opportunity.[16]
Opposition to the retailers' plans have argued that livelihoods of small scale and rural vendors would be threatened. However,
studies have found that only a limited number of small vendors will be affected and that the benefits of market expansion far
outweigh the impact of the new stores.[17]
Tesco Plc., plans to set up shop in India with a wholesale cash-and-carry business and will help Indian conglomerate Tata
group to grow its hypermarket business.(19)

[edit] Challenges
To become a truly flourishing industry, retailing needs to cross the following hurdles:[18]

• Automatic approval is not allowed for foreign investment in retail.

• Regulations restricting real estate purchases, and cumbersome local laws.
• Taxation, which favours small retail businesses.
• Absence of developed supply chain and integrated IT management.
• Lack of trained work force.
• Low skill level for retailing management.
• Lack of Retailing Courses and study options
 • Intrinsic complexity of retailing – rapid price changes, constant threat of
product obsolescence and low margins.

To overcome some of the challenges faced by modern retail, the country is developing a support infrastructure in form of
specialised retail schools. One such skill development initiative has been taken by TKWs Group. Its TKWs Retail School has
already training over a thousand students and retail professionals for different retail skills. TKWs Retail School is also
associated with government projects like enhancing retail experience of foreign tourists, improving retail of handicraft and local
produce, skill development of village youth.

[edit] References

1. ^ "Retail reality." 7 November 2007.

2. ^ "ICRIER Begins Survey of Indian Retail Sector." 19 March 2007.
3. ^ a b "Retailing in India Unshackling the chain stores". The Economist.
2008. http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11465586.
4. ^ "India again tops global retail index." 22 June 2007.
5. ^ "Economic and financial indicators" 3 July 2008.
6. ^ "Indian Retail story from Myths to Mall." 11 August 2007.
7. ^ "Demand for retail real estate to soar"
8. ^ "Centre consulting states for setting up retail regulator." 2 July 2008.
9. ^ "Fashion meets tech as handsets get sleek expensive"
10.^ "LCD televisions, laptops are flying off the shelves."
11.^ "[ICICI Properties & KSA Technopak White Paper - [India Retail Real
Estate – 2005-06]"
12.^ "Traditional Retail Trade in India." 28 June 2009.
13.^ "Mahindra joins the retail bandwagon, to sell lifestyle products"
14.^ "Bharti & Wal-Mart joint venture"
15.^ "Carrerfour readies plan to enter India’s retail industry"
16.^ "Costco, US’s fifth biggest, eying India?"
17.^ "India's Retail Revolution - CNN Money"
18.^ "Retail Scenario in India"