Marks and Spencer Reliance India (M&S India), a joint venture between Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Retail and UK-based retailer Marks and Spencer, plans to source 70% of the merchandise from within the country over the next two years. This will be up from 40% at present, according to Martin Jones, chief executive officer, M&S India. The merchandise largely comprises apparels, lingerie and accessories for men, women and children. M&S has also added kitchen products to their portfolio this year.
M&S entered India around 10 years ago as a super-premium brand in a franchisee agreement with Planet Retail Holdings. At that time, the product range on offer was high-end since all the products were imported and the company had to pay 45% import duty on these products. However, over a period of time, the firm reduced its dependence on imports and began to source from the domestic market in order to save on import costs. With this, it has also been able to bring down the average prices of its merchandise. Currently, the price points available in M&S stores are in the range of Rs 300? 4,000.
M&S India currently operates 18 stores in India across Delhi , Amritsar, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. It plans to increase its store count to 50 by March 2013. However, details on the investment for these stores were not divulged.
With an average size of 15,000-20,000 square feet, the new stores will mainly be set up in metros and 15 other cities, including the tier-I and -II towns. The rollout will be a mix of malls and high streets for the company. Jones said that in comparison to the UK , where the stores are an average of 1,60,000 square feet, maintaining small-sized stores would be more viable in Indian context.
Planet Retail, which is also the Indian partner for premium international brands such as Debenhams, Guess, Next and The Body Shop, is a joint venture between VP Sharma and Future Group, which runs India?s largest listed retailer, Pantaloon Retail India Ltd.