Spencer’s Retail, the retail arm of the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, will continue to operate in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, even as it continues to shut down its stores nationwide, said Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of RPSG Group.
“By March, the idea is to get to break even. So you cut down, you operate, we'll continue to operate in just two regions, which will be UP and East, that's Bengal, both of which are profitable for us. And we will close down the rest. So, it's no more about vanity of revenues and being a national player. It's about bottomlines. So with this, we expect to get to breakeven by March,” Goenka told Moneycontrol.
When asked if Goenka was looking at pivoting towards quick commerce – the quick delivery space. He added that the company is looking at getting into the 30 minute delivery space.
“It's happening. Quick commerce is also happening, but we're conscious that we don't do quick commerce purely for the sake of revenues or vanity, where we lose big sums of money. So, it's a calibration between losses of that sector with revenues,” he added.
Questioning the whole rationale behind models that offer ten minute deliveries, he added: “Is the 10 minute space really a relevant space? We don't necessarily think so, but 30 minutes? Yes.”
The company is not scouting for acquisitions in the space and has already piloted in West Bengal region. “The idea is to break even by March.. so we will use it in geographies we operate in.”
India’s quick commerce industry is growing rapidly and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 27.9% from 2022-2027. According to estimates, the number of quick commerce users are expected to reach 60.6 million by 2029.
Recently, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised the need to protect small traders and retailers from the negative impacts of predatory pricing by large e-commerce platforms.
You can watch the full interview with Sanjiv Goenka here
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