Speaking to BusinessLine, Mahesh Shah, MD, HomeTown said
that post the Covid-19-induced downturn last year, the company is now seeing an
upward trend in its revenues. Hence, the company has now been focusing on its
expansion plans.
Speaking about HomeTown’s overall turnover aims, Shah said
that prior to Covid, it had a turnover of approximately ₹800 crore, “We’re now
aiming at ₹1,100 turnover by next year,” he explained.
The company’s revenue from operations was over ₹48 crore in
Q1 FY22, compared to ₹23 crore in Q1 of FY21 and ₹162 crore in Q1 of FY20. Its
losses too have reduced. To funnel its short-term woes, Shah said that HomeTown
might raise up to 50 crore in the next few months.
“If the pandemic hadn’t hit us, we would have expanded
faster. Anyway, now our expansion plan is on track. We’re planning to add at
least seven to eight stores this year if the third wave doesn’t hit us,” he
said, adding that the company’s aim is to add 100 stores over the next three
years. At present, HomeTown has 44 stores spread across 26 cities.
Digital segment
A chunk of its revenues comes from its digital front.
HomeTown had partnered with marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon to sell its
products. Prior to the pandemic, at least 10-12 per cent of its overall sales
came from its digital segment. Now, at least 17 per cent of its sales come from
online selling. “Just before the pandemic hit us, we had started promoting our
own website too. Now, a large piece of our online sales also come from our own
website. In fact, our overall digital sales are increasing by 50 per cent each
quarter,” he added.
HomeTown currently caters to over 1,000 pin codes across
India and it plans to add another 300 pin codes in the next three months. For
this, the company is strengthening its backend distribution system and tying up
with multiple warehousing partners to reach this goal.
Currently, HomeTown has home decor, bath and bedroom linen,
and furniture segments. “We are in the process of focussing on categories like
kids’ furniture, balcony furniture, and customised designing and space
renovation,” he added.
Another player that currently caters to all these segments
is IKEA. The Swedish furniture company has been rapidly expanding in India.
When asked about its impact on the Indian furniture industry, he said, “Despite
IKEA’s entry in Hyderabad, we’ve grown there. What IKEA does is it brings
credibility to the organized furniture and home segment. Secondly, IKEA caters
to the value buyers and first home buyers segment, we cater to a different
segment. All in all, it hasn’t harmed us.”
Post Covid, the Swedish furniture giant had faced huge
supply chain issues. When asked how have HomeTown’s supply chain been impacted,
Shah said: “Supply chain has been scuppered. Covid has impacted the Chinese
supply chain, followed by Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Hence, we have to
develop manufacturer bases in India. Luckily for us, we were working on it even
prior to Covid. We are looking for more investments in that segment.”
Before the pandemic struck, HomeTown imported
65-70 per cent of its products, currently it is at 60 per cent and in the
future, it aims to bring imports down to 35 per cent and manufacture 65 per
cent of its products in India. Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com
