Shoppers Stop pivots to luxury

MD & CEO Kavindra Mishra on reinventing the legacy retailer through premiumisation, personalisation and tech offerings

- Mitrajit Bhattacharya

Established in 1991, Shoppers Stop is India’s leading department store chain that has now embarked on a journey to reposition itself as a premium brand with a strategic focus on weddings. There is an emphasis on curated premium offerings, personalised services, and a tech-driven retail experience. Kavindra Mishra, MD & CEO of Shoppers Stop, shares, “We are fundamentally a fashion and lifestyle retailer. So, our first move was to elevate the product offering—the core of customer value.”

Shoppers Stop has a strong presence in beauty, but under Mishra’s leadership, it has scaled up its premium brand portfolio across categories. “While many players are moving towards value retail, we are focused on building the top end—because that’s where our core customer resides,” he explains. The five ‘power categories’ to drive premiumisation for the brand are beauty, handbags, footwear, sunglasses, and watches. Store metrics reflect this shift. Average bill values now hover around ₹5,800, and the high-profile store in Tapasya One, Gurugram, has an average of ₹9,000.

Personalisation is the key