In a bid to turn around its business, Mahindra Retail is adopting a three-pronged strategy — shut down unviable stores under the Beanstalk chain; strengthen ecommerce operations through the recently acquired Babyoye; and expand the Mom & Me retail chain through the franchise route.
While the Mom & Me chain offers pre and post-maternity and kidswear products, Beanstalk is a toy store chain.
In January, Mahindra Retail acquired Babyoye, a portal targeting infants and kids products for an undisclosed amount.
“Our efforts are focused on increasing retail penetration. We will be increasing both brick and mortar and ecommerce play,” CEO Prakash Wakankar told
The company is also in the process of shutting down “unviable and under-performing stores”, he said.
As part of this, Beanstalk stores will be shut or merged with Mom and Me outlets. About 30-35 stores will either be closed or restructured this year. Mahindra Retail has 115 Mom & Me stores and 23 Beanstalk outlets.
In the future, the company said it will expand largely through the franchise route.
Online venture Mahindra Retail is also keeping the average stores sizes at 1,500 sq feet.
The company initially opened stores as large as 7,000-10,000 sq. ft.
Asked about its e-commerce foray, Wakankar said with Babyoye in its portfolio, the company expects the online platform to contribute about 20 per cent to its revenues.
Sanjay Nadkarni, CEO, Mahindra Internet, said the company has merged its own online venture Momandmeshop.in with Babyoye to offer a single website for its customers.
The retailer is also integrating its e-commerce operations with its physical stores to expedite sales of products especially those stock-keeping units and variants, which may not be readily available at stores.
Nadkarni said the company will also be selling its private label products through other online marketplaces such as Flipkart and Amazon.