UNIQLO To Launch Online Store, Aims 15% Sales Contribution From E-Commerce

Japanese apparel retailer UNIQLO will launch its official online store for the Indian market to strengthen its presence in the country and is looking at cornering 15 per cent of overall sales from e-commerce, a top company official has said.

Besides, the company, which is presently operating six stores in Delhi NCR, is also looking to expand its network of offline stores and exploring some other cities here as well, UNIQLO India Chief Executive Officer Tomohiko Sei said.

'Customers are developing an affinity towards our high quality and functional LifeWear essentials and we are confident that with customer support from all over the country, our e-commerce sales ratio would easily surpass the average sales of each store in the coming times,' Tomohiko told PTI.

He further said that the first goal is to achieve 15 per cent sales volume from e-commerce. UNIQLO.com, the official online store, which will go live from July 30, 2021, will be a brand new website, coupled with a mobile application.

According to Tomohiko, the launch of its official online store is a major step towards the expansion of business in India.

'Launching our e-commerce operations is also a part of our expansion that will provide customers access to the brand at their doorstep swiftly in these times of cautious mobility,' he added.

Last year in October, UNIQLO had entered into online space through its special website in response to customer needs during the COVID-19 surge. 'Our e-commerce launch time is earlier than our original plan since we received a large number of customer requests. Basis the current COVID situation, we accelerated our plan to launch the official online store, and we are now serving customers all over the country at the comfort of their homes,' he added.

While over the expansion of the brick and mortar stores, UNIQLO, which has entered the Indian market in October 2019, said it would assess the situation and then make an informed decision over it.

'We never stopped our offline stores expansion plans. We are always looking for new locations for stores because consumer touchpoint is also very important,” Tomohiko said.

When asked about the number of new stores in the pipeline, he said: 'It is difficult to answer as after the pandemic started... situation changed. We want to expand in Delhi (NCR) and other cities also.' While talking about its official online store, Tomohiko said it would cover almost pan-India delivering to nearly 17,000 pin codes.

UNIQLO has also plans to set up warehouses in different parts of India for quick delivery of products.

'This is one of the options of the future plan,' he said adding' it would depend on the future business.' Over the impact of the second wave of Covid on the business, he said: 'This fiscal year is much better than the last year and better as we have now fully functional e-commerce. I have the confidence to do better this year.' He said the comapny is hoping to recover the sales loss in the first quarter.

UNIQLO is also confident that it will achieve the 30 per cent local sourcing norms as mandated under the FDI policy for single-brand retailers in India.

However, he did not disclose the present local sourcing and said it was started in 2016 before the launching of retail operations in India.

'This is one of our big responsibilities and commitments to increase the local sourcing for business in India. This is our one of the first priorities,' he said. UNIQLO is a brand of Fast Retailing, a leading Japanese retail holding company with global headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

(PTI)