Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Q4 and FY 2026 earnings conference call of Shoppers Stop Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star 0 on your touchtone phone. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Pranay Premkumar from Dentsu One investor relations team. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Premkumar.
Thank you, Michelle. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us on the Shoppers Stop Q4 and FY 2026 earnings conference call. Today, we have with us the senior management represented by Mr. Kavindra Mishra, Customer Care Associate, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, Customer Care Associate, Chief Financial Officer. We will begin the call with the opening remarks from the management. After which, we will have the forum open for the interactive Q&A session. I must remind you that the discussion in today's earnings call may include certain forward-looking statements and must be viewed therefore in conjunction with the risks that the company faces. Please restrict your questions to the quarter performance and to the strategic questions only. Housekeeping questions can be dealt with separately with the IR team. I will now request Mr. Kavindra Mishra for the opening remarks.
Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Pranay. Good morning, all. I'm joined on the call with, along with Biju. In addition to my colleagues from finance team, Pankaj, who's our new CFO, this JP and Rohit. We have uploaded the investor presentation on our corporate and stock exchange website. Let me start with talking about the key highlights for the year, followed by highlights for the quarter, and subsequently on the current operating environment and our focus for the coming financial year. The departmental store business crossed INR 5,000 crore revenue for the first time, which is a big milestone for us.
At the start of the year, we had given a guidance of mid-single-digit LFL, and I'm very happy to share that we ended the year with a 4.7%, which is our highest ever LFL in a decade, particularly after two consecutive flattish LFL sales for FY 2024 and 2025. We reversed the continuous decline in customer entry by recording 3.8% customer entry growth in like-for-like stores, which augurs well for us in terms of our premiumization strategy. We had the highest ever additions to our First Citizen loyalty program with 9.4 lakh new recruits. The premium end of our loyalty, which is our Black Card program, has reported the highest ever 67,000 new recruitments and highest ever renewals of 66,000, with the renewal rate being impressive 74%.
Demonstrating deep value proposition from customer perspective besides personalized service standards helped us to increase the loyalty base at 13.5 million, and the total contribution during the year was at 84% with a repeat rate of 69%. Both the above have helped us to move the premiumization contribution in stores by 3.6%. Now we are at 69%, and the ABV for the year has gone up by 7%, showing core operational strength. Our personal shopper program, which is central to our experiential retail strategy, recorded a 4% increase in contribution this year, taking the contribution up to 26% from a 22% last year. Sales generated through personal shoppers grew by 24%, and it touched INR 1,257 crores of revenue last year.
Overall, non-apparel business continues to outperform following non-apparel power categories posted robust growth, which has helped us in driving overall growth and premiumization. Watches grew by 16% YOY. We sold close to 6 lakh watches during the year, which translates into 70 watches sales per hour. Similarly, fragrances grew by 12% YOY. We sold close to 12.1 lakh units during the year, which is equivalent to selling 150 units of fragrances every hour. Handbags grew by 10% YOY. We sold 4.7 lakh bags, which was approximately 60 bags per hour. Now let me talk about the private brand business. Private brand business continues to be a key strategic pillar in terms of offering differentiated range and covering the gaps for set of categories.
It had a very good performance in terms of profitability driven by improved productivity, lower discounts, and premiumization. During the year, we reduced the inventory by INR 40 crores. We have also identified additional spaces in the box and categories where private brands have a role to play. We believe that men's ethnic, western women's wear, women's Indian wear, and kids wear are categories where private brands have got a very important role to play, and hence we are expanding current brands like Kashish and Bandeya. We also have just launched Fratini Girls, a premium apparel line for young girls, which is now expanded to 69 stores. We will continue to elevate the product offering to higher mix of premium and natural fabrics, enhance design language and styling, and swift launch of prevailing trends. Let me talk about the beauty business.
The company's beauty business, including Global SS Beauty Brands, delivered revenue of INR 1,281 crores during the year, registering a healthy year-on-year growth of 17%. We deeply engage with customers through social media interactions, makeovers, and master classes revolving around expression, engagement, and education to drive consumption. Beauty category followers base crossed 1.6 million on Instagram and 440,000 on YouTube. Our beauty distribution business continued its strong growth trajectory, generating revenue of INR 426 crores, which is equivalent to INR 650 crores of GMV, with a stellar 81% growth YOY, and delivering a three-year CAGR of 90%, which would make us the largest beauty distributor in the country.
During the year, GSSB has introduced 20-plus new and exclusive premium brands to the Indian market, strengthening its premium beauty portfolio and further differentiating its value proposition. To name a few, in full line brands we had Shiseido and Serge Lutens. In fragrances, we launched Versace, Michael Kors, Steve Madden, Bvlgari, and Tory Burch. In skincare, we launched Sisley. During the year, we launched one boutique store each of Armani and Nars, taking the total number of premium boutique stores to 7. The performance underscores beauty as a strategic pillar for Shoppers Stop, aiming high growth through strategic partnerships, digital acceleration, and store expansion. Now let me talk about the Intune business. Intune had a slow start. However, with focus on improving productivity and unit economics over the past 2 quarters have helped us stabilize the business and position it for sustainable growth.
Key call-outs for Intune for the year were: We recorded a revenue of INR 282 crores, which was a growth of 46% year-over-year. We opened 14 stores during the year. Total store count now stands at 84 stores across 39 cities. Relentless focus on inventory freshness through in-season clearance, online accessibility helped us to reduce inventory by INR 36 crores year-over-year. Through structured CRM outreach, we were able to drive improvement in key KPIs. Repeat customer mix improved from 35% to 45%, and items per ticket sustained at 3.8 during the year. We have seen a turnaround in LFL trajectory from February 26 onwards. It will also continues to see a LFL momentum in Intune. Now let me talk about the e-com business. During the year, the company invested in technology to upgrade both UI/UX with a mandate to have robust omnichannel experience.
As we speak, large part of the investments have already taken place, and in this financial year, focus will be on scaling volumes that improve profitability. With improved customer interest for the month of April 26th, we have seen a 60% growth YOY, driven by improvement in conversion. In this journey, we are also planning to integrate ssbeauty.in into shoppersstop.com as a microsite to sweat marketing investments favorably. Now let me talk about store expansion and financial discipline. We maintained a disciplined and prudent capital allocation approach during the year, with a strong focus on driving returns and strengthening the balance sheet. I'm very happy to state that because of strong operational efficiency, we were able to generate the Cash operations of INR 301 crores.
This is the highest in last 8 years, supported by working capital optimization of INR 155 crores. During the year, we opened 27 stores, 8 departmental stores, 3 beauty, 2 HomeStop, 14 Intune, and we renovated 3 stores, including our Juhu store with state-of-the-art design offering, premium and aspirational assortment with a capital investment of INR 114 crores. The total inventory optimized for the year was INR 153 crores. Shoppers Stop has also made focused investments across infrastructure, network and security, delivering tangible business and operational outcomes. These include the highest NIST maturity score in Indian retail, which is 3.6, early adoption of DPDP compliance, and a material reduction in system outages and service ticket volumes, resulting in 100% uptime and system availability. Now let me talk about the highlights for Q4. Let me address the departmental store business first.
The departmental store recorded a 4.6% like-for-like sales growth despite a challenging environment marked by global disruptions. Operational KPIs continued to improve with the ATV or average bill value going up by 8% and the ASP going up by 11%. Most importantly, the customer entry, which grew by 3.2% like-for-like, and we are seeing a consecutive 3 quarters of LFL customer entry increase. We continue to strengthen the emotional connect with customers through our proprietary Gifts of Love brand IP. The Valentine's Day campaign under this delivered strong customer engagement and traction, which has reached, which has a reach of 155 million and a view of 282 million. Non-app category reported 13% growth, reflecting current consumer preferences for premium offering. It's a reflection of our strategy which pivots a lot around non-apparel.
We opened 4 departmental and one HomeStop during the quarter. We launched several new premium brands during the quarter, and just to name a few, we launched Baume & Mercier. It's a premium Swiss brand with average ASP of INR 1.5 lakh in watches. We launched Brooks Brothers, Juicy Couture, Hugo Boss, Charles Tyrwhitt. We also launched Vigneto and Crystal Bohemia in home category. The core business, which is a departmental store business, delivered an EBITDA of INR 50 crores, up by 52% YOY. It excludes the one-off gain of INR 22 crores recorded last year from the reversal of excess prior year provisions. Let me talk about the beauty business now. The total beauty segment recorded revenue of INR 309 crores, which grew by 17% YOY, led by fragrance, which grew by 37%.
Overall contribution of beauty now stands at 21% to the revenue. GSSB recorded revenue of INR 114 crores, which was 69% YOY in sustaining the growth momentum. We onboarded several new premium brands as well, and we added 20 new points of sale. Right now the total presence is 565 points of sale across 27 retailers. Let me talk about Intune. Intune recorded a sale of INR 67 crores, which grew by 24% YOY. Improvement in sales trends witnessed from February onwards is what we have seen, and the momentum continues in April. We introduced a new price point of INR 1,299 across the categories, and initial response is very encouraging. On gross margin side, we have seen improvement quarter on quarter led by improved intake margin and lower discounting.
We opened 4 Intune stores during the quarter. Let me address the current operating environment, and then I will talk about the way ahead for business. We have seen a pickup in demand from mid-February, and it sustained through April as well, and it's sustaining in the first few days of May. Strong wedding calendar, growing local travel, and general buoyancy in e-economy are the favorable triggers to demand in coming quarters. Having said that, we do foresee a challenge on 2 fronts. First one being on fuel price and raw material led inflation, which may impact demand in short term. As Shoppers Stop is already into premiumization journey, we expect the impact to be relatively limited compared to mid-segment players. Second is the supply chain uncertainties. They may cause some intermittent disruptions in merchandise availability, particularly in H2.
However, given our diversified sourcing and scale, we are confident of effectively managing and mitigating this risk. Way ahead for business. I think the first important thing is we are going to double down on premiumization as the strategy has started delivering results on ground for us. As we speak, we have become the first port of call for almost any premium brand coming to India, and we are using this strength to work with strategic partners to drive business. Continuously working on the brand mix and churn and make space for high performers is the key. Focus on generating consumer walk-ins. One of the big wins for us last year was the increase in customer entry, and we are investing in building on the same both through brand marketing as well as loyalty.
Our investments in partnership with HYBE is one such effort to do differentiated programs and get a new audience coming to Shoppers Stop. Drive expansion of the brand in key markets and premium malls. I'm delighted to share that our repositioning efforts have started yielding results, and we are increasingly becoming the departmental store of choice with some of the leading mall developers. We plan to add 9 departmental stores during the year. Renovation of marquee stores. We have seen with both Orbit Malad and Juhu that once we renovate our marquee stores, the throughput really increases. We have seen a amazing uptick there, and we'll be renovating 5 stores this year with our new premium identity, and all these are marquee stores. Let me talk about Intune.
This is a year where we will be able to see major improvement in Intune business driven by improved productivity, gross margin expansion, and tightening the cost base. We have come out of the inventory issues. Overall EBITDA loss shall be curtailed to half of FY 2026 loss. Our focus will be on driving efficiencies and turning around unit economics of existing stores in H1. We shall evaluate thereafter we shall evaluate expansion. We are also putting investments in technology, and we are right now piloting RFID for Intune stores. We are looking at breakeven at business level in Intune in FY 2028. Let me talk about the investments and the cash flow. In FY 2026, we have been able to generate high operating cash flow with tight controls on working capital and have retired INR 109 crores of debt.
On similar line, we will continue to focus on high internal accruals in FY 2027 through following initiatives. Strong surge in profitability driven by LFL growth and productivity improvement, rationalization of losses from new businesses, and I spoke about them in my speech. Tight control over costs and continuous working capital optimization. These internal accruals shall be utilized towards investments towards growth. I think opening of new stores is essential, and we are in the process of opening some very marquee stores and refurbishment of our top stores. I think that's super important for us. Additional capital infusion to enable beauty distribution business growth, and we will be debt-free by Q4 FY 2027, which I think would be a major plus for us over the last two years.
Unfortunately, Devang is not there today in the call because of some personal exigency, so I would be addressing any queries, if any, about Intune. My speech is over now. We can now open the floor for interesting Q&A session. Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask questions may please press star and one on their touchtone phone. If you wish to withdraw yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use only handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Sameer Gupta from India Infoline. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking my question. Firstly, sir, I'm looking at the core business in FY 2026, and the EBITDA margin on a gross sale or a non-GAAP sale that you record is around 4%. This is in a year of a 5% LFL and a strong cost control exercise over the years. We have had a guidance of a high single-digit margin for this business. Just wondering that we would still need like 3, 4 years of sustained LFL to be in that ballpark. Are there any other levers that can result in better margin performance like in the foreseeable future or this is a correct thesis or correct assessment?
I think, Sameer, thanks for the question. No, you are right. I think it will take 2 years for us to reach there. Having said that, there are a lot of initiatives in terms of, you know, we have shut, what, around 7 stores last year. We are in the process of premiumization. I think there are a lot of projects which we are driving to ensure that the GMROI for us grows substantially. While I think it might take 2 years, but the general direction is what we are focusing on.
Just to give you a sense, when we looked at our business and our spaces dispassionately, there are a couple of categories where we believe and, for example, I spoke about Or I didn't speak about home, but for example, home within Shoppers Stop, we have identified in the box there are certain spaces where we can release it and we can use it more efficiently for national brands. That's what we are doing. Similarly, we are driving a heavier non-apparel mix, because I think watches is something which is really faring well for us, along with fragrances, beauty and handbags. I think as we premiumize, we will see the journey becoming faster. Having said that, I think 2 years is a fair assumption.
Got it, sir. Thanks. Thanks for the detailed answer. Second question is on the gross margin. Now, I look at it again on non-GAAP sales. It is down 100 basis points this quarter. For the full year also, if I look at it's down 60 basis points. Just wanted to understand what is driving this and is, in a way, the higher LFL is it linked to the, you know, margin weakness in the gross margin line?
I think this is more to do with. We did mention about the one-offs in the gross margin case, right? That one-off was coming from the margin because if I talk only about the operational, there's a positive movement. If I just look at BAU and I just remove the operational, as in the one-offs, where actually the gross margins have improved by 50 basis points. Why you don't foresee or why don't you see in the P&L is right now it is colored with a one-off. Yeah.
What is exactly this one-off? Sorry, I probably missed it.
Pankaj, this side, I'll just take this. See this one-off is nothing but, on account of, you know, prudent accounting, we have had some provisions, you know, in our COGS side. Last year when after due assessment, when we didn't need this provision, we, you know, we did the unwinding. That was bit significant last year. It's a very normal thing that happens year on year, you know, providing for certain items and then unwinding. Since last year it was bit more significant, hence, you know, we are just calling this out.
Oh, it's a provision write back in the base.
Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.
Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. That settles it. lastly, if I may squeeze in, you did mention.
Sameer, sorry.
Hello.
Can I also address your first question with some more detailing.
Sure. Mm-hmm.
While the gross margins is the journey is there, but I think EBITDA you will see a lot of improvements because as I have detailed through my presentation, lot of cost initiatives have been triggered in. You will see substantial improvement in the EBITDA, right. Just to close the whole loop on this. Yeah.
Sure. You still will say that 2 years is a fair assumption on the high single-digit margin expectation.
Yeah
with the cost initiatives, right? Okay.
Yeah, yeah.
Sure. Last question, if I may squeeze in. You did mention on the guidance on department stores, but I missed it on Intune. Can you like elaborate your plans on the expansion on this front?
Sure. In the case of Intune, as I mentioned, right now we are not looking at opening stores in H one. I think we have just got out from all the operational issues and inventory issues in Intune. Right now the trajectory is very positive. I want that to be happening for the next two quarters before we start opening Intune stores again. The focus, the investments on Intune remain, but I just want this year to be a cleaner year where we are able to build operational efficiencies and build the throughputs from the store before we move ahead. Yeah.
Fair assessment that it is still a work in progress for us and we are still assessing the strategy here. I mean, it's fine to wait, but will that be a fair assessment?
Sameer, it's a 2-year-old business, okay? Any 2-year-old business will have some w-- In Shoppers Stop after 31 years is a work in progress business because you change the thing, customers change. I think it's just but natural that it is a work in progress business. Having said that, whatever steps we had to take to get the product, to get the operations, to get the store learnings, I think those are in place. We just need to ensure that we drive the efficiencies. I mean, all businesses are work in progress. I don't think there is any harm in committing that because that's how the nature of business is. Customers change.
Sure, sure.
markets change and we work around it. Yeah.
Sameer, if you just also refer to, you know, our presentation wherein we are specifying new venture performance update and look at Q4 specifically for the new ventures. While on a full year basis the negative EBITDA has increased, but if you look at Q4, you know, the negative is flattish. Somewhere that n egative EBITDA declining has been arrested, if I can call, you know, give a bit more color to that. Q4, if you look specifically on the new ventures, which includes Intune, that has been, you know, quite positive for us.
Sure, sir. The problem is that if we don't add stores, competition is still adding at a very high pace, and we may, you know, just play catch up in this journey then. That is the concern.
Okay.
I understand every business is work in progress, but I think that's a lot humble commentary from your side. Yeah, best of luck.
Sorry, I didn't get.
I mean, I mean, if you're, like, not adding stores and competition keeps adding, you'll probably, you know, just be playing catch up here. That is the worry.
No, no, don't worry, Sameer. We are cognizant of what the market is doing and competition is doing. We are also aware that we need to do things in the right way. We are also aware that, you know, we need to get the unit economics right. Once the unit economics are right.
Right
Then the expansion. See, expansion is one of our strengths. With our ability to, and the resources which we have and the presence which we have, opening of stores is the least issue. The ability of the stores to give the throughput and provide profitability, I think is very, very important. It's a CapEx light model. I don't think that that is any issue for us. For us, the focus right now is to get this, and I think we are on this journey. Maybe. And, you know, a very similar discussion used, and not in case of, not with you, but it was happening with private brands when I had just taken over. We said that it takes 2 to 3 quarters to put the product, all the things right.
Once it starts happening, you start seeing the growth. I'm pretty confident that we will deliver it. We are cognizant of that, we are aware, and we will work on it. Don't worry on that, yeah? The market is so vast that, you know, there is huge space for everybody, provided the business models are right.
Sure, sir. That's all from me, and thanks and all the best for the future.
Thank you. Thanks, Sameer.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tejas Shah from Avendus Spark Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, thanks for the opportunity. I will just start with the question where the previous participant left off. You said that we'll be kind of waiting and consolidating on Intune for next 2 quarters. Just wanted to know what are, what will be, what will you qualify as a success in next 2 quarters for us to again go back on that expansion mode?
Thanks, Tejas. I think the fundamentally the SPSF is the space or the space productivity is what we call them, is something which we need to see a incremental number there. I think we are very sure about the margin expansion because that's happening correctly. The SPSF, it should go up by another 25%-30% for us to be confident. That's not in 1 or 2 months, but couple of quarters. I think that's something which we are working towards, and that's the number we are looking at, Tejas.
Sorry, did you say 35, 40%?
Twenty-five. Twenty-five percent. Twenty-five, thirty percent.
What will Like, what are the interventions we are making to achieve that?
I think there are multiple interventions, right from the freshness in the stores. You know, weekly deliveries, freshness in the stores, operational changes, making the stores little lighter in inventory, improving the quality of the staff. I think the interventions have been made across the board. Also, as I mentioned, we have just tested out a line at 1,299, which is delivering at least 4x of the profit, of the throughput which a normal line does because the product is literally elevated. I think the intervention is happening across the board to drive that.
Sure. Just to elaborate on that. What is the problem statement there? Is it that the brand has got the traction, footfalls are happening and we are not able to convert because of merchandise? Is it that footfall itself is an issue and hence we need to work on brand also to kind of get the traction going from the footfall itself?
If I divide this, I think it's a great question, Tejas, first of all. I think there are two parts to it. What we are seeing is that the person who is coming and shopping, the convergence are very strong. The IPTs are very strong and the repeat rates are very strong, right? I think the brand is still very new in its journey. We are spending money on marketing. We have built the CRM muscle. What The CRM muscle which we have in Shoppers Stop, we are building the same for Intune as well, both in terms of ability to reach out to the customers with new lines. I think that's a journey, and that's why I'm saying this will take this year to, for the, for the customers to become, you know, coming back again and again.
I don't think the issue is on the product or conversion or anything. It's just a very nascent brand. It will take time to settle in. I think that's where we are right now.
Perfect. Second, very hearty performance on premiumization, and then watches also. Just wanted to get some insight that in a year where urban job creation right from IT has been under pressure, how to reconcile? Obviously, your customer might not be only from IT. How to reconcile this premiumization trend? Any one-offs, any base effect there? Do you see that kind of stretching or extending to FY 2027 and beyond?
No, I think, Tejas, I think we should also meet one-on-one. You ask very good questions. I think you are a very good question you have asked. You know, Tejas, what is happening is that premiumization is a way of is the pivot which we took 2 years back, right? That was the time when we said, "Okay, how do we differentiate versus other players in the market?" When you say you are premiumized, then you premiumize not only on product categories, you premiumize on brands. You also discontinue few stores, then you work on personal shoppers. You give us spaces, you put play areas in the store. I think we have gone through this journey in the last 2 years or so.
Invest money on marketing of Shoppers Stop as a brand. Premiumization, what we are seeing is consistency. For example, if my weighted average growth for Shoppers Stop is, say, 4.7 for the year, my premium, or premium plus categories, the growth rates are far higher. What we are seeing is that consistently people are coming to us for that. If you look at our competitive scenario, and the market scenario, for anyone who is a department store, which is a premium department store, we are the only people who is there. I think that's something which is very strong for us, and we are not resting on it.
Both in terms of whether it's the merchandise which is exclusive only with us, the brands which we are launching. I think we are able to provide that experience to the customer, which was always the core Shoppers Stop promise when we all started this. I think that's something which is very strong. The other thing is when we look at pre-premium categories, what we are seeing is the SPSF are quite high. The sales productivity is coming is very high. In this journey of premiumization, we have identified 5 categories which are our power categories, right? It will be very interesting to know what are those power categories. One is watches, other is beauty, then we talk about handbags, then we are talking about footwear and shades.
This amazing mix of all merchandise, there is no retailer who does it. I think we have been able to carve a niche, and we don't share our brand loyalty scores in this as a part of the deck. When we are doing our brand loyalty scores, we are seeing that continuously both top-of-mind awareness and recall is becoming better on year-on-year. I think it is not only one product category, it's a mix of everything. We believe that increasingly at the top there won't be anybody or there are not many people who are vying for that customer, and that is where we come in with our play.
I think we have taken a stand, and we have been honest to it, and it has now started showing results there.
Sir, last one. Premiumization means you have foreign brands there, and if that's so, does that conflict with the private label ambition that we have?
No. You know, we have spoken about this multiple times. For me, I am a retailer first, right? My productivity and net GMROI is the most important KPI for me. When we look at Shoppers Stop, we can clearly see that there are product categories where we have the need for private brands because they become the recruiters for us. For example, Indian wear or Western women's wear or kids' sportswear, the private brands have got a very big role to play because they are the recruiter brands. That might not necessarily be the case for menswear because this is a more logo-driven business, or which is non-aps, which is again a more logo-driven business.
I think where we are very clear, there is no conflict. In fact, what we are doing is Our private brands also we are premiumizing in the sense we are making better products. If we were used to use poly before, that blend has moved to cotton-based or linen. Premiumization is the way of life for Shoppers Stop. Across every category, every product category, whether it's private brands or national brands, we will continue to give a better product to the customer. I think they don't conflict. In fact, for us, Indian wear, for example, is a higher productivity than any of the national brands there. We know how these categories play with them, and I think they all blend together.
For me, just increasing the private brand contribution is not the or sales is not the benchmark which we as a group look at. We look at the profitability of the business. We know which categories and private brands do well for us. We are double downing on premiumization. In fact, we just launched Fratini Girls, which are our private brand for girls' business. Doing really well. We started with 5 stores. We have expanded to 69, there the throughputs are higher than any of the international girls' brands also. Yeah.
Thanks for detailed answers. All the best for coming quarters.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management will be able to address questions from all participants in the conference, kindly limit your questions to only two per participant. Should you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue. We'll take the next question from the line of Avinash Karumanchi from Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead.
Good morning, sir. Congrats on good set of numbers from the department stores. My question is regarding to the beauty. Majority of the growth in beauty is being driven by the distribution business. If I exclude that and look at it, there was a segment closure of beauty EBOs during this fiscal year. What are we learning from these closures, and how do we see this going forward?
Okay. Maybe I will answer part of it and then Biju, if you can.
Yes.
Yeah. You know, one, we have to look at beauty as overall business. We can't differentiate because that's not the way we should look at business, number one. Number two, the national brands business in beauty continues to outperform. In fact, the growth rates are quite high there, and we did mention about the fragrance businesses going forward. I think in previous call also we have mentioned about the ST business being under pressure, where that's where the standalone business of stores come in. We are doing a lot of interventions there, working closely with the partner company or with the brand partner to increase the walk-in center throughput there.
We are launching a max card or loyalty card especially for Estée Lauder stores starting from first of next week. There are a lot of inputs happening there. Biju, you wanna talk about beauty as a whole, especially what's happening.
Sure. Sure. No, no. great, a great question and great observation. I think I will just step back a little bit to give you an overview about the landscape. Please understand that 10 years back or 20 years back, the penetration of beauty in each and every mall or each and every catchment was too little. At that time, it made great sense to have a very compelling boutique or a beauty standalone store strategy. As we see that retail is growing, Shoppers Stop along with all the other retail partners are growing footprint in beauty, it is also sometimes associated by the fact that like we do in Shoppers Stop, what works well for us, we double down, and what is not working well for us, we sort of close down.
I think we should just see it in that light and nothing beyond that. As Kavi explained, the category is quite heated up, and there is a lot of, let's say, investments coming from everywhere. For us as a retailer primarily, our drive and promise is to the customer, and that's where we want to again double down on categories that we have been quite strong, where we had strong leadership and great representation. What we are trying to do, which we have always tried to hold on, is the philosophy of giving a greater expression, engagement and education to the customer, and that is something that we continue to do.
Kavi did mention that there is strong headwinds on the ST portfolio, some of the brands which are global iconic brands. That is something intervention-wise, loyalty-wise, we are working around. The other aspect, again to agree fully with Kavi, that I think beauty we need to see it in the overall spirit of it, because at the end of the day, retail and distribution is catering to consumers. Maybe one is to the end consumer and one is to the mid consumer. We still see and we still are learning what works well for us, and that is where we are trying and bringing in more better brands, both in retail and in distribution.
If you think about it, if you look at the new brands that we are signing, is also going to reinforce beauty within retail as well as the distribution landscape is concerned.
Got it. Got it, sir. Speaking particularly of the distribution set also, if I look at it like, given the POS that you are having, revenue per POS are actually doubled in this year. How much could that be the potential there we could further speed up for the next coming years?
You know, the fact of the matter is, yes, it is quite progressive and strong, but I think it is also at the phase because we have been acquiring brands which has been launched media towards the later part of the year. The annualization effect is yet to come through. To give a ballpark, I think we will continuously grow the productivity as we go. It also depends on the category, particularly on fragrances, it's quite strong. It is also followed by a reasonably strong push on the makeup, and I think skincare will also follow. I'm talking largely on prestige and lifestyle, not on the mass street side. I think the trend is here to stay, to your question.
Got it, sir. Much information. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ashutosh Joytiraditya from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello. Hello. Good morning, sir.
Good morning, Ashutosh.
Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity, sir. First question is on the premiumization thing. You have mentioned that the premium portfolio is actually doing well, and typically what happens is that richer, you know, premium mix generally tends to have a better margin. I understood your point on gross margin, but going forward, can we assume that the EBITDA margin should ultimately improve? What would be the exact LFL threshold, if you can tell for the business, which we actually, you know, need to cross the revenue momentum basically to deliver, you know, more than the operating cost. Ultimately there should be a profitable growth, something like that.
Yeah. No, Ashutosh, thank you for the question. There are two Like, let me address all parts of your queries. First is, the premium brands need not necessarily have a higher margin. They have a higher GMROF because the throughputs are stronger, so they obviously give us higher rupee value margin, right? I think that's very important. I'm sure you have been covering us for quite some time. Ours is a very high operating leverage business, right? As the LFLs keep on growing, we will see the rupee value profitability going in very, very strongly.
My sense is that for the coming year, we are looking at a performance which is going to be a little better than what we've delivered as a team in. I am talking about like-for-like stores. That's one. Second, we are also opening some very good stores. You will see, in fact, we are launching one on 7th, which is tomorrow we are launching in Vizag. We will be launching Goa with DLF. We are going to launch Pacific Jaipur. These are all very marquee stores and stores which will become INR 75 crore, INR 80 crore, INR 100 crore stores over the next 2-3 years. What we are doing is we are changing the mix of the way we looked at business. It falls in line with our strategy of premiumization.
The third thing is, I think while the margin, we will continue to be where we are, we have given a guidance of improvement over the next 2 years. You will see lot more initiatives on cost saving, because we believe that still there is some money there which we can cut. As I don't know whether I have addressed. Through Intune partly we have addressed, to give a sense of our new businesses, whatever losses we made in the FY 2026, we will at least half it down in FY 2027. We are going to see EBITDA throughput coming through various inputs. One is obviously the revenue growth like for like. Since we have now shut most of the non-performing stores, I think that will start adding up LFL plus new store opening.
We will see a better INR gross margin coming from the premiumization strategy. We will see very strong and active work happening on the cost controls and removal of formats which we feel are just taking up the space and not delivering the value. My sense is we will see a far better number as a percentage. To tell you the exact number, I don't think I would be able to tell you the exact number, how we are going to end up this year in FY 2027 or, but it should be a good number.
Understood. Understood. Thank you. Thank you for that answer. My next question is on this supply chain disruption. Like, I got your point on the inflation, inflationary pressure, which can be expected because of this. Just wanted to understand, like in any way, these supply chain disruptions put Shoppers Stop in a better position when compared to regional or value players, in terms of sourcing the merchandise or anything? Like, do you have any edge because of this?
I agree to that. See, now look at Shoppers Stop, right? One, obviously we work with closely with lot of big brands. You know, as a part of strategy, we are going deeper with brands. Even if I have to increase the space, I We are working as a team with our brand partners and giving to performing brands. I think what's happening is, in this whole thing where the fabric is going to be a little bit of a challenge, at least for 2 or 3 months, the bigger brands will be able to get the merchandise. Because we have a deeper partnership with them, we will be able to get merchandise. I think that's one.
The second, because we are very strong on the non-apparel part of the business versus any other format which is primarily apparel, the impact on us is going to be lesser. Third, for our private brand business, which is around 12%-13% of our overall business, there we have already tied up our supply chain for the next 3-6 months. I think you will see little bit of a consolidation happening. That's not only for Shoppers Stop. My sense is that across the, across the businesses, bigger players in the market would be able to command a better or they will have a lesser supply chain disruption versus others.
Okay, understood. Sir, one last question. Just wanted to understand what is the rationale for, you know, launching the SKU at INR 1,299 for Intune, like when most value retailers usually have it below INR 1,000. I understand that it could be like to drive realization, but any other point to that?
No, I think, at the end of the day, India is aspirational across categories. Okay? If you have to give a product, good product, you have to give a good product, which is, maybe little bit more natural fabric, less polyester in India's heat, better wash, sustains after 10 washes and doesn't go away. I think there is a value to the product which you need to give. What we are giving in INR 1,299 may be at INR 2,999 in brands or even more. Our idea is to give a better product. I think this whole INR 999 and lower, and all this is mentally in our head, that customer for the right product and occasion would be able to buy this.
Actually what we was And you know, this is something internally we have been debating for the last 3 to 4 quarters. Finally we said, "Okay, let's test this out." The INR 1,299 product actually has delivered higher sell-through and the Which is, you know, so we are doing close to 8% to 9% of sell-through of this product, which versus a 3 and a, 3 and a half or 4. It's like a 2 to a 2.5x throughput. Price is not the only concern. I think it's a product price value which you derive. I'm a great believer in that if these models have to sustain, we have to address to all the consumers, especially the aspirational consumers.
I think that's where we want to do this. Also, if you understand, our repeats are very strong, and that is because Intune provides a great quality. I think that's something very important for us. That's why we tried INR 1,299. This was done in Indian wear because that was a category which actually lend it naturally, and the response has been very good.
Okay. Okay. Understood, sir. Thank you, sir, and all the best for FY 2027.
Thank you, Ashutosh.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jignesh Kamani from Nippon Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, Kavin, entire team. Hope I am audible.
Yes, sir. Please proceed.
Yeah. Just happy to see that you have, for time being, you are putting a brake on the Intune expansion. What are the cash flow you are generating from the business now larger proportion will be utilized for the department store, which is the core of your peer and where the competition is virtually non-existent. In that context, when you are at aiming to add only 9 stores next year, any reason for a lower store or weak store addition? Because we are at just 113 stores. Opportunity is very large. We are generating almost INR 300 crore kind of operating cash flow now. What limit you from expanding?
If I give the context like Westside is adding 35 stores, per quarter, and 50 stores in the year, which require also 25,000-30,000 largest sq ft. Just want to understand on that part.
Yeah. Hi, Jignesh. Thanks for the query. You know, see, every format is different, right? It's not only about MySense's or about the size, but if we have to be premium, there are certain markets where we believe we should be there, and certain markets we will not be there, or in terms of expansion and the availability of store. That's one. For us, when we have said guided for 9 stores, A, these are all marquee stores. B, these are like very good locations are number one. Number two, we are also renovating 5 of our largest and the largest stores. I think that's one. The third thing is, this guidance which we give is primarily based on the signed properties and the visibility of opening during the year.
We have, you know, we have few more stores which we have signed, if they are able to come between this, because a lot of cases it's also a function of building it to your requirement or with the mall opening in and on. We have seen in the past that typically these things get delayed here and there. I mean, like Westside is opening 35 stores, but I think for us, if we are able to open 9 stores, which we'll do on an average INR 45 crores-INR 50 crores, I think that's a, that's a, that's a super addition for us. I think that's where we are focusing on. We are not versus saying that, "Okay, we'll only open 9 stores." If we get the right properties, we'll open more stores. I think it's a function of that.
As you rightly mentioned, till the time we are fixing the operational and we are seeing the uptick in Intune, we will continue and build on Shoppers Stop because I think that's something where we are seeing very good traction as on date.
Sure. Second thing on the conversion. If you take about for the full year or a like-to-like growth is pretty healthy at around 5% even in current dynamic. At the same time, customer entry is almost 4%. Conversion still we need to improve. What are the challenging we are facing where we are not able to increase the customer conversion? The footfall entry we have already taken care of, right as of now.
Conversion we did, I think if I look at the overall this thing, conversion we did actually faced a higher or a greater problem in Q3. Q4 it became little better than where we are, and we have started seeing an improvement in April onwards. We also, we also see that, you know, as you change the mix, you will have certain kind of customers coming in, certain coming in and going out. I think it's a settling down period for us. Just to give you a sense, our ABVs actually have gone through the roof, right. Right now, 8%-10% is where what we're experiencing and what we experienced in April as well. You have multiple things coming in the play.
I think it's a process which will settle down, Jignesh, right? Because we are changing the brands, we are changing the mixes, so there would be some settling down for this. But as long as we are able to get higher customer entry and the repeats keep on going, I think that's an important thing. For our retail teams which are driving the whole business, I think there is a lot of focus on them to increase the high conversions. I mean, if you talk to my head of business, he will talk about some 50 root cause analysis and, you know, there are a lot of things which is happening as we speak.
We're also working through some amount of activation through loyalty to ensure couple of programs on loyalty to ensure that the conversions go up. As we speak, lot of things are happening, Jignesh. Maybe once we meet, we can take you through in detail.
Sure.
Yeah.
Last on the working capital cycle, you already witnessed almost INR 150 crore plus kind of improvement. All the low-hanging fruit is over, or there's still juice?
No, no.
to improve the working capital for next year?
I think there is still some juice, in the working capital and, I mean, we think that another INR 100 crores should definitely, is there what we are looking at in the coming year.
Sure. Okay. Thanks a lot, and all the best.
Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may please press star 1 to ask questions. The next question is from the line of Sukrit Dip Patel from Eyesight FinTrade Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon to the team. I have two questions. My first question to Mr. Mishra is, in your point of view, how is Shoppers Stop preparing to capture evolving demands in premium retail and omni-channel formats while carefully addressing challenges such as competition from online players and changing consumer demands? What strategic levers do you see important for differentiating the brand amongst the peers in the coming quarters? That's my first question. I'll ask my second question after this. Thank you.
Thanks, Sukrit. You know, okay, let me address. What is our promise to the consumer? If you go to our investor deck, the promise is we aim to be the most loved premium shopping destination for aspirational young Indian families. I think it starts always with the TG. What is the TG you look at and what you want to drive? Once the TG is defined, we as an organization and as a team take steps. There are things which we will do, things which we will not do. In our minds, getting that customer search online and then come to the store is very important. The ability to show them the inventory of the store is very important. The ability to create these spaces in the store where you are actually cutting down on retail areas.
You know, all our stores right now, or 80% of our stores right now have a kids play area. We've actually given away retail spaces and created a safe zone for families to come and leave their kids. We are quite okay even if they're shopping in the mall, but the kids are there, because I think that is the kind of thing that no one can offer you, right? Our focus is to create premium merchandise, to create great service. Our personal shopper program where actually people come, engage with us. We provide them, I mean, our personal shopper business last year was INR 1,250 crore, which is maybe higher than most of the brands, right? That is there. Shoppers is known for product authenticity.
A lot of times in online, what you get is not something very authentic, but whether it's the fragrances or the watches, what you get from us is very different. I think that's something very important. Having said that, we understand that we need to cater to the online customer, so that's why the investments in online have happened over the last year. We are very happy with where we are, and we have started seeing the results of that. With conversions this month onwards is very good in online. I think the other thing is there's also a demographic change because obviously there are younger consumers coming in.
We just tied up with HYBE, which is the group which actually created amazing bands like BTS, which is a South Korean band. They are creating India's first girl band, and we are the retailers for them. In fact, we will start selling from our stores the BTS albums also, and we'll be the only retailer selling it. I think there are multiple levels of marketing strategy and execution which we are doing as we speak to create differentiation. If I talk about our peers, I think there are a couple of things we're very different. A, we are very, very premium vis-à-vis the merchandise offered by our peers. Second, the heavy pivoting which we have on non-apparel, whether it's beauty or watches, I think we stand very, very differently.
We have positioned ourselves as India's only premium retailer, and we are building on it every single day.
Thank you. My second question to Mr. Pankaj is, as Shoppers Stop continues to benefit from growth in fashion and lifestyle consumption, how are you prioritizing capital allocation between store expansion, digital investments and shareholder returns? What long-term cost efficiencies are being pursued to safeguard margins amid rising rental and operating costs? Thank you.
See, the large part of, you know, our resources will go towards our core business, which is department stores. Having said that, we understand the potential of our new businesses as well, which is the Intune and, you know, Kavindra Mishra spoke about it. We brought Intune up to a level, and right now, you know, our priority remains that we get the unit economics right. We correct the profitability and efficiency, and then we look at expansion. You know, our distribution business, that also continues to grow very well. It's a very profitable business if you see our results. That will continue to expand as well. You know, our capital allocation will follow the profitability path at the moment. Let me, you know, be very clear on that.
Once the profitability path is established, resources are definitely not a constraint, you know, for Shoppers. The expansion will then continue. A combination of all these, you know, you just asked about shareholder returns. I think a combination of all this definitely leads to, you know, a profitability turnaround, which is then, you know, the ultimate return for the shareholder as well. I hope I was able to address you. If you have any follow-ups, I can take those.
No, thank you. Back to Rishit.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Devanshu Bansal from Emkay Global. Please go ahead.
Yes, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, I wanted to understand premium. Obviously, it's a incremental focus for us. Is it like the existing consumers that wanted premium products, but we were lagging behind on this space? Is it like we are changing the consumer profile of our business and trying to bring in a new set of premium consumers?
I think it's a great I think one of the best questions asked today, Devanshu. You know, I will give you a data point. I think it's very interesting. We launched a brand, say X in handbags. Handbags is one category which we have chosen as a premiumization, like one of the top five categories for premiumizing.
Right.
We launched a brand called, say, X. I don't want to name brands specifically, so I'm just using X as a nomenclature. When we launched that brand, it became the number one brand for us in its first year of launch. When we looked at the data, we realized that 65% of people who bought that brand used to be a Shoppers Stop customer, but they never used to buy handbags from us. What we realized was that, and that for us was an aha moment that actually if you are able to get the right merchandise, the customers that the customer whom we have is.
Whether it's a silver or a gold, they are all top-level customers. Maybe we were not keeping merchandise of the brand which they were consuming. For example, they might be coming to us to buy certain apparel categories, but especially, they were not buying the handbags from us. I think what we are trying to do is to actually come closer to the customer in terms of what he or she needs. We have got this very beautiful concept called Voice of Customer. We actually, in all our stores, we have something called a QR code.
You scan it, Now what we are doing is if we have to launch any brand in any store, we actually ask the customer: "Do you think this brand should be launched?" Basis that we have a word cloud, and we decide whether we need to launch a brand or not. We also ask our consumers, "Whether you want a certain brand, please name it." What has happened now is that obviously we'll attract newer customers, but the customers who are shopping with us, the INR 13.5 million, to whom we owe everything.
Right
giving them a voice to tell what they want, and we are getting those brands. What's happening is it's, you know, it's like aisi energy once you start doing it and the brand starts seeing that we are respecting them.
display them well, it's a multiplier effect. I think that's the journey in which we are in. I mean, it has taken us some time to execute the strategy. I guess what you are seeing now would be a multiplier effect of this going forward.
Fair enough. Is it a fair assumption that you're gaining new consumers as well?
Yes.
On the premium end?
No, 100%. What we see is that 41% of the bills which we are making now is through new customers, right? I think that for me is very, very important. The fact that our enrollments, whether in the Black Card or the silver card, the highest ever, I think that's very, very strong. Repeats coming at 69% is very strong. You can see that the KPIs on recruiting newer customers as your Black customers or the customers coming for the first time, I think we are seeing an uptick across all the KPIs.
Very well. Sir, small follow-up here is from a watches category perspective, we are seeing very, I would say exponential kind of growth trends for watches specific players. I am taking examples of Just In Time, Ethos, which play in these premium to best to luxury watch segment. As in what is our differentiated proposition that we are bringing to the consumer for this particular category?
You know, I think, you actually, you're answering the question in the question. You're answering your own question. Everybody whom you have mentioned are actually watches customer only.
Right.
What we are able to get is a customer who can transcend across categories, right? That's one big differentiator.
Okay.
Second, we are right now very strong in fashion watches.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay.
When we talk about fashion watches, I mean, Armani, Cerruti, right? They are at a different ASP. When we talk about especially Ethos, I think it's a, it works at a different scale.
Right.
Our focus is around the fashion and now building on the bish to luxury segment. I think the biggest differentiator is the walk-ins which we have. Like if 5.7 or 5.2, I think, what was the exact number? If those many number of crore people are walking into the stores and watches.
is on my ground floor along with beauty, we give the customers that choice to experience the product. I think that's a very different experience. Which is the power of a departmental store. If you get your act right, you will get multiple customers traversing across categories.
Last question from my end. A large store, it's been some time since we renovated. Can you comment on trends in some of these renovated stores versus the rest of the network or versus the earlier trends in these particular stores? On key retail metrics, what is the kind of improvement that we've seen post the renovation?
We are seeing that once we renovate our marquee stores productivity goes up by 35%-40%.
35%-40%? Wow. Okay.
Yeah, the sales productivity. Yeah.
Okay. That translates into, better margins also, right?
Of course, because [Foreign language].
Oh, yeah. Right. Right.
That's why we are very excited about renovating our five big stores this year.
After these five stores, will our network be largely in shape which we sort of envisage or there are plans.
No, no.
Okay.
Renovation is going to be a continuous thing.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay. Great, sir. Thanks for taking my questions. Yeah.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. You may please press star and one to ask questions. We'll take the next question from the line of Abhijeet Kundu from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. In terms of your premiumization initiative, as per my understanding, for the last 20 years, Shoppers Stop has been at the forefront of providing premium apparel and fashion. When we look at departmental stores, there were always limited options in departmental stores. Commendably, you have done that very well. You are going to the next level of having the luxury apples and fashion accessories. My point is that when I look at your departmental store growth, it's in the region of 4%, 5%.
Your other businesses are, I mean, the core business, the departmental store that is growing at a 4%, 5%, and within that there is an element of, you know, the non-apparel business, which is obviously growing at a higher rate. The cosmetics and the watches business. The apparels business, though, you know, there has been a good amount of evolution seen particularly in the last 7, 8 years in terms of premium apparels. That is quite differentiating when we compare it with any other departmental store. Other departmental stores anyways are, you know, not much, not much of options.
When we compare those brands to the exclusive brand outlets, those brands are seeing a higher growth. You rightly said that you have a bigger size of that. Why are we not able to see more growth than the EBUs? EBUs have done better in the last two years when we compare to the departmental store business or maybe the estimated apparel store business of yours. Is it that under value proposition within your departmental stores have not done well, only the premium apparels have done well? What has it, what has been the scenario there?
You know, when we look at the, there have been companies who are grappling, but they are seeing high single-digit to, you know, 9%-10%, 10%-15% kind of growth now. And we need that, you know, 15% growth in departmental stores, backed by some 7%-8%, I mean, same-store sales growth and 7%-8% store addition. Where are we in that, I mean, in that overall circumstance, so scenario that I wanted to understand.
Okay. Thanks, Abhijeet. Broadly, the question is, as I understand is, you're questioning the growth which we have in our apparel business versus that of apparel, of the brands in their EBUs, right? That's what the question is.
Right.
That's the fundamental part of the first question. I don't think so we have to look at the data in the way you have just mentioned. All the brands which you speak about, who have done a double-digit growth. Actually, if you ask them how is the departmental store retail, growth for them, you will find that maybe we are same or more. When you see our profile, you will have a set of brands. For example, we have got 40 brands of apparel. Few will grow better, few will not grow better, right? You look at a weighted average. Brand to brand, if you compare the performance, I think we are very much there.
That I know for sure because as partners we've got deep relationships over the last 30 years or so. We share data very, very openly, right? I think that's one thing. Obviously, I can't name the brands here because it's a brand's right to mention. Just to tell you one, that's one. Second, for brands itself, the departmental stores are, and they continue to be one of the most profitable channels. Before I joined Shoppers, I was running brands only. The kind of spaces which people get, the kind of walk-ins which brands get, it's very difficult for them to get in their own EBOs. The, obviously the rental cost which we have and the margin versus what the brands pay. I don't see that as an issue.
I think we are comparing subset of data of high-performing apparel brands, and I'm very sure that our performances in those would be equal or better. That's for sure. At least for the last two years, I'm very sure. The third thing is, I think you are rightly saying that we should look at a double-digit growth in departmental store, which is a mixture of the like-for-like plus new store. I think for our business, we are aiming for that kind of growth this year. Just to answer that, yeah.
My other question or rather the main question was, where are we seeing that, you know, lower growth? I mean,
We are seeing higher growth in premium brands.
Right.
We see lower growth in the low price brands, and that's what I think we said that we are churning out brands. The other thing which we need to also understand is that most of the brand contracts and brand stores are, the age is 5 years.
Mm-hmm. Right.
You are comparing a three to five years or four years like-for-like growth versus somebody like our marquee stores are 30 years old or 25 years store.
You know, It's not a comparable thing at all if I look at it. There are 2 or 3 variables. We have to look at it more granularly to create a hypothesis around it.
Your newer stores would be having a higher growth rate. Is that conclusion right then, I mean, a 3-5-year store?
Obviously, yeah.
Okay. Has there been any underlying recovery in discretionary spend seen during the quarter? Because across the board, generally, discretionary spend, I mean, the fashion spend has been relatively better than what it was in the previous quarters. Have you seen something like that?
Yes, yes. I think, in my commentary also, I mentioned that the fashion, or the overall business has seen an improvement since February.
Right
continued in April as well. May also has started off fine. My worries are more for the Q2 and Q3 because of supply chain disruptions, if any.
Understood. Thanks, thanks.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
That's it. Bye-bye.
The next question is from the line of Tejas Shah from Avendus Spark Institutional Equities. Please go ahead. Mr. Shah, please proceed with the question.
Yeah, hi. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yes, Tejas. Hi.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for the follow-up opportunity. 2 questions, partly academic in nature. Did I hear you correctly, you said that, once a store gets refurbishment, sales productivity increases by 35%-40%?
Yes. The new, I think there are two very good examples. One is Malad, another is Juhu. The moment we have done it, we have seen that kind of thing. In case of Malad though, we also reduced the space, and that also helped us to grow that much of productivity. For Juhu, it's the same store size, and we are growing around 35%-40%. Yeah.
Sir, if we double-click on this, what leads to this? Is it that customer gets excited with the new store? Because I'm assuming the catchment area, the customer profile remains the same, the location remains the same, and I'm assuming inventory also remains the same, the merchandise.
I think, Tejas, the biggest change happens in merchandise. If the store obviously looks fresher and more appealing, I think we have changed the ways, and may I invite you to visit our Juhu store because I think that would give the best answer to this question. If you see the kind of brands we have seen, for example, in Juhu, the number one brand is what we never kept in our store. That brand has become the number one brand, and it's a very big global brand. What I'm trying to say is the nature of the merchandise itself changes. The way the pricing at which we have kept. See, these stores always had good, you know, consumer entry.
Maybe because we were not renovating or whatever time it took, the stores became jaded. What we are seeing and experiencing is as we are renovating the stores, in case of Malad, even if I take out that one floor, we would have SPS would have gone up by 15%-20%. In case of Juhu, completely 35% SPS have increased is only because the newer brands which we've introduced. I think that's a journey. We realized that the customer has always been there with us. We were just not giving them the merchandise which they deserved. I think Juhu is a big testimony for all of us and learning, which we have accepted and we are working on now.
What is the typical refurbishment cycle?
Typical, as in how many years we do?
Yes, yes.
I think 8, 7 to 8 years is where, is what we take. After seeing the Juhu successes, that's where we are now focusing on the big stores, Tejas. We see a formula which is a winning formula. We now need to execute it. That's why I'm saying we have taken 5 of our larger stores. The newer stores which we are opening, the ones which are the premium ones, we are opening in the new format only so that we don't, You know, we just want to take the whole experience to the next level.
Isn't this the secret sauce there? Because if I do the math, over seven years or so, if it takes 40% jump, it's actually productivity is 5% SSG on CAGR basis. Is it seems like that it is like every six, seven years if we do this, then certainly on CAGR basis we actually achieve what we are trying to achieve by with so many means.
Agree, agree. I think you are right that we can, we should renovate. I think it's not only about renovation, it's also about what brands you're getting in, right? If we are able to get the right brands and renovate, then is that number what I'm mentioning. 15% to 20% in case of Malad or 35% in case of Juhu, we have seen that growth happening. I think that's a safe assumption, and that's why the focus this year and the coming years is on renovation of our marquee properties as well.
Perfect. Which is second and last, again, partly academic. You said that it was kind of discovery which we made that our customers who are coming already are buying premium brands. Now, among the offline retailers, you have the most detailed, most vintage data on your customers which you are collecting for last many years. Now, ideally, with the data and with all the computing tools that we have, shouldn't it be like much more proactive rather than reactive? Why I'm saying this, like when we are competing with digital channels who are using even null searches to figure out that what customers are looking for and not getting. With that kind of competition to beat, and the data that we have, shouldn't it be much more proactive to understand our customer?
No, Tejas, I think you misunderstood what I said. What I said was that we introduced a new brand and we saw that we are able to attract newer customers, right? Now, whether that customer in the handbag category was buying a brand X or a Y, no data will tell you because we are not an online site which is offering all these brands. Please understand. We have the data for shopping within the ecosystem, right? We don't have his shopping behavior outside the ecosystem because even on our dot-com, we only sell brands which are a part of our profile. That's one.
Once we figured that out, that's why we are now using VoC, which is the voice of customer, and it is actually done through AI, where customer can speak in 22 languages, that gets converted into word cloud, tells the name of the brand which they want in the store, and we launch it. I think we have been very proactive in this.
Okay. You have tools to kind of engage with customers to understand beforehand?
Just to give you a sense, Tejas, our loyalty program has been rated the best loyalty program, and personalization program has been rated as the best program across all the departmental stores in the world, which includes Selfridges and Macy's and everybody. I think it's a very detailed. There's lot of information, as you rightly said, sitting with us, and we continuously keep on churning on it. We are building the personalization layer. For example, if you come to our personal shopper, he actually has an app which will have all your history, what you have shopped last time, what is likelihood of your buying, which brands you want to buy, which, what you have shopped before. If you're shopping this brand, what are the other category brands. I think that's all within the ecosystem.
No data allows you to check the ecosystem from outside, right? I think we need to be very clear on that piece.
Perfect. Thanks. Thanks. That's all from my side.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. Thank you, members of the management. On behalf of Shoppers Stop Limited, that concludes this conference. We thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.