Hit by infra troubles Miniso cuts offline expansion in India, forays online

Low-cost retail chain Miniso cited infrastructure troubles in India while it cut down offline expansion plans. The company said it will rather take an online route, a first of its kind move by the global retailer which ironically has always stressed about the strength of offline vs online.

Post its entry in the India market, the global chain generated waves after it posted impressive revenue numbers and caught up with other leading retail outlets in the country.

The company, which will be sitting on 110 stores by June-end, is targeting just another 60 stores to end the year with. Earlier it had announced an expansion plan of 800 outlets by 2020 end. It did not share an immediate number for 2020.

"Right now, online is a big plus. India retail market is not easy...800 stores not possible," Young Liu, chief business development officer, Miniso told Moneycontrol in an interaction.

"Before last year, we had a target in India market for 800 stores. But once we entered the market (we realised), that's not possible. We are facing a lot of problems in the retail market in India," he added.

On June 13, Miniso partnered with Indian-origin B2B e-commerce firm Achhacart to sell its product online. Achhacart will procure the products from Miniso and sell it to e-tailers such as Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and Paytm Mall in India.

"Paytm Mall is already live with 300-400 SKUs (stock keeping unit), Meesho is also live, Snapdeal would be live next week, Paytm has already started PR and marketing for Miniso online and we expect Amazon and Flipkart to close by the month end," Siddharth Venkataraman, chief executive officer, Achhacart told Moneycontrol in an interaction.

Miniso is targeting 10 percent of its revenue to come from the online segment by December. It will sell its entire range of around 4000 SKUs online in a phased manner. Right now categories such as beauty, home and kitchen have already gone live, the rest will be added soon.