Vodafone Idea plans to open more retail outlets: Executive
Vodafone Idea (Vi), boosted by a recent equity funding, plans to open more retail outlets across this fiscal in a bid to grow sales and improve customer stickiness, crucial for the cash-strapped telco to intensify its competition against stronger and bigger rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.
«Our objective is to get as close to the customer as possible. We want to ensure our presence in all key markets and towns. In FY25, you will see us launching more Vi shops and Vi mini stores,» Abhijit Kishore, chief operating officer, Vi, told ET over email.
Vi, promoted by the Aditya Birla Group and UK's Vodafone Group, has three formats of retail outlets — Vi stores, Vi shops, and Vi mini stores. The telco is also focusing on extensive automation and digitisation to connect with consumers across touch points.
The company has more than 2,700 Vi shops in remote rural markets, and over 2,000 Vi mini stores in semi-urban markets. Vi stores are large-format stores mainly located in major metropolitan areas.
The company is also enhancing its digital presence by launching initiatives to allow consumers address their needs via the Vi app.
About half of the value of transactions between Vi's retailers and distributors is done through digital payment modes, reducing the need for manual servicing of retail outlets, leading to lower costs and assured collections for distributors, the telco said.
«The strategic expansion of Vi's retail and digital presence appears to be paying off,» Vi said in a statement. It added that
