Conventional wisdom says buying a 100-store retail company when quick commerce is reigning supreme is a huge risk, specially when the acquirer itself is just five years in the retailing business. But Aastha Almast, co-founder of New Shop, which is awaiting regulatory approvals for the acquisition of 24Seven, argues otherwise.
New Shop’s physical format, she says, offers advantages that online players cannot replicate. “Quick commerce solves unidimensional needs-last-minute deliveries-but doesn’t address all consumer demands. Physical stores thrive on community engagement and serve as hyperlocal hubs for services,” she says.
Besides, New Shop, which started in 2019, is into convenience retail, which is about products consumed within the first hour of purchase. “You don’t need extremely large assortments for that,” Almast said. New Shop focuses on a curated range of 1,800 products tailored to immediate needs, unlike quick-commerce players like Swiggy and Blinkit which have huge inventories.
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The acquisition of 24Seven fits in nicely to New Shop’s future game plan, Almast explains. First, for nearly a decade, 24Seven belonging to Godfrey Phillips India (GPI) has been a prominent name in India’s organised convenience retail sector, catering to urban consumers in Delhi-NCR, Punjab, and Hyderabad. “The stores were operationally profitable but didn’t align with GPI’s core focus. For us, this is an opportunity to integrate these assets into our model.”
She has a point. While 24Seven reported revenues of Rs 403 crore in FY24, the business contributed only 7.6% to GPI’s total turnover and carried accumulated losses, prompting the board to exit the segment. “This isn’t about saving a failing business,” Almast said in an interaction with FE.
The closure of all 24Seven stores earlier this year was part of a planned rebranding process, according to Almast, ensuring the stores could be remodeled under New Shop’s branding and operational framework. “This step was necessary to create uniformity across all locations,” she added.
Currently, New Shop operates over 200 stores across 35 cities.
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