The Hindu Business Line : `Great future for hypermarkets'

It's barely three months since the K. Raheja Group kicked off its hypermarket venture, HyperCity, and already the group is claiming it has one million customers visiting its maiden store in Mumbai. Andrew Levermore, CEO, HyperCity Retail, says the company's focus on offering quality products in a comfortable environment and at excellent prices has paid off.

As the company embarks on its journey into new markets (which include not only the major metros but also cities such as Lucknow, Jaipur and Aurangabad by the year 2008), Levermore, in an interview with Brandline, talks about the company's road ahead and also about the Indian retail industry which is on a growth path.

Excerpts:

What kind of growth is organised retail in India poised for?

Indian retail is a big story the world over. With a penetration of just 2-3 per cent, organised retail here is already a $200-billion market. If this penetration were to grow by another 13 per cent in the next couple of years, there's scope for a turnover of another $22 billion. Hence, there is a substantial opportunity.

How different is the Indian retail scene from the international markets?

THE HYPERCITY MALL in Mumbai

The profile of the Indian shopper itself is quite different. Unlike the West, where shopping is more of a chore, here customers want to spend more time at the stores. Almost 40 per cent of the buy basket here is impulse, which is not the case in the West.

Therefore, retailers in India must make sure they offer a suitable environment to encourage leisure shopping.

At HyperCity also, we have spacious aisles so that one can see products clearly and the merchandise is not on top of you.

When it comes to seeking value, the Indian shoppers are very much like those in the West. While value is a necessity for the poor, even the rich like value. We have adopted this in our pricing strategy.