Arvind Brands will implement Oracle’ s enterprise resource planning (ERP) software across all its Megamart outlets, Arvind’s value retail chain, in the country.
“Upon evaluating the retail software market, we identified that the best practices embedded in Oracle Retail applications will help us in many ways, including creating a product mix based on our customers’ buying patterns and forecasting customer behaviour based on historical data. Oracle Retail will give us a headstart as we plan our stores network,” said J Suresh, CEO, Arvind Brands & Retail.
The software will be implemented in Megamart stores over a period of 24 months in three phases. KE Venkatachalpathy, COO, Megamart & Retail, said, “ERP’s merchandise management module will assist Arvind in having better supply chain management with right product on shelf, in tune with customers’ needs. Also, it will be a great help to track productivity, stock visibility and warehouse management. We have bought 80 per cent of Oracle’s modules.”
Arvind Mills has two retail formats, Megamart Outlet Centre (large discount stores), and the smaller Megamart stores. The new software will be executed first at the large stores, followed by a target to cover 250 stores of large and small formats by 2010.
Arvind opened its first large-format value store, Megamart Outlet Centre, in Chennai and the second one recently in Pune. These stores have an area of 30,000 to 60,000 square feet, and have been designed by an international design consultancy firm, JHP London.
Arvind Brands & Retail plans to have about 25 to 30 Megamart Outlet Centre in top 20 cities in the next four years. The company also plans to establish more than 250 large- and small-format stores over the next three to four years, at an investment of over Rs 420 crore. Presently, the company has 93 Megamart outlets in 42 cities with retail space varying between 2,000 and 4,000 square feet.
