A 720º Vision of Retail: Ankur Kohli's Strategic Footprint in Indian Retail Expansion

At the helm of Real Estate & BD Projects at Bata India, Kohli leads with a clear mandate: to align footprint growth with business value. His strategic RRR framework—Reach, Rejuvenate and Rationalise—reflects a data-driven, customercentric approach to scaling retail sustainably.

- Surabhi Khosla

In the ever-evolving landscape of Indian retail, few professionals bring the depth and dual-domain expertise that Ankur Kohli does. With a unique 720-degree career trajectory— spanning 360 degrees in retail operations and another 360 in real estate—Kohli has carved a niche as one of the most multidimensional leaders in the industry, spearheading the opening of 1,000+ stores thus far.

Starting his career at ground zero, amidst the daily hustle of COCO and franchise-run stores, Kohli didn't choose retail—it chose him. His early days, spent deeply entrenched in store-level operations during India's retail awakening, laid a strong foundation in understanding what truly drives performance: customer experience and operational excellence.

As his career progressed, Kohli took on national leadership roles at Tata International, M&B Footwear, and Crocs, where he was not only responsible for scaling store networks but also managing profitability at a pan-India level. This blend of strategic oversight and P&L accountability sharpened his focus on expansion planning and market penetration.

His transition into retail real estate brought a powerful new dimension to his capabilities. With an operator's lens and a strategist's foresight, Kohli began evaluating locations not just by demographics or cost—but by how they aligned with store performance and operational feasibility. This dual perspective became his hallmark— bridging the often-siloed worlds of front-end execution and back-end development.