Profitability tops retailer worries in India, finds PwC

Improving profitability is the key concern area when it comes to retailers, ahead of areas like increasing efficiency, same store sales growth, and new store growth, according to a report.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) ‘Are You Profitability Ready?’ report released at the India Retail Forum, more than 65 per cent retailers are focusing on improving profitability through improvement in revenue throughput.

Sales throughput in India lags behind global benchmarks with sales per square feet of global retailers being recorded at $400-$450 and that of Indian counterparts being recorded at $100.

The report goes on to state that improving the overall value proposition is the most important value lever for around 40 per cent of retailers, followed by managing promotions, customer retention and loyalty, new customer acquisition.

Interestingly, pricing strategy  was the least important value lever for retailers. As far as the key challenges for retailers are concerned, manpower costs topped the list followed by supply chain costs, real estate costs, cost of utilities, and shrinkage and technology.