Our Brand will be Targeting Tier-II & III Cities for Expansion: Hemant Agarwal

The Indian retail industry has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast-paced industries due to the entry of several new players. Retailing in India accounts for about 10% of its GDP.

India’s retail market is expected to grow by 60% to reach $1.1 trillion by 2020. The growth is expected on the back of factors such as rising incomes and lifestyle changes by the middle class and increased digital connectivity.

V-Bazaar is one of the fastest growing value Retail chains from Northern India. Currently, it is operating 45 stores across 4 states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh.

In an interaction with Franchise India, Hemant Agarwal, Chairman & Managing Director of V-Bazaar, shares about his company’s growth strategies.

Targeting Tier-II & Tier-III cities

V-Bazaar primarily operates in Tier II and III cities. V-Bazaar is spreading its wings by setting up stores across various small Indian cities like Azamgarh, Lucknow, Mirzapur, Chapra, Khalilabad, Mainpuri, Robertsganj, Gonda, etc.

Hemant explains, “The reason for targeting these cities is that the catchment area is higher in this part of the industry, where the liquidity is more, buying capacity is increasing day by day and the fashion aspiration is increasing by seeing internet & TV programmes.”

Growth strategy

Hemant says, “We operate through geographical regions only. If we have covered one area then we operate the whole geography in that area, which helps us to understand the customer behavior and taste.”

“The main strategy is to understand the customers' fashion sense and the size elements of the region also. For eg: If you go to parts of Punjab, there is a bigger size of that region and if you come down to Bihar, the size decreases,” he adds.

Expansion plans and vision

For expansion, V-Bazaar will be targeting those tier II and III cities where no organized retailer has gone. The average size of V- Bazaar stores are between 8,000 and 10,000 sq ft. the company follows the concept of “value retailing” to target the strata of the population belonging to the expanding aspiring class and middle class. 

Agarwal states, “Next year, we are coming up with 30 more stores. Out of which, we have signed around 25 of them.”

“We are adding to new states like Uttaranchal and thinking to expand to part of North Eastern India such as Assam and West Bengal,” he further says.