Big Bazaar
Big BazaarReuters

The Future Group will open 15 to 20 new stores in the next three months, even as it faces stiff competition from e-commerce firms in the country.

Currently, the group runs 200 stores in 102 cities across the country.

"We will keep adding 15 to 30 stores every year in the next five years. Our goal is to be present in about 300 towns and 6,500 pin codes across the country," the Business Standard quoted Rakesh Biyani, the joint managing director of Future Group, as saying.

Biyani said that nearly 330 million customers visit the group's stores annually, while only 80 million do online shopping.

The group will launch its omni-channel retail strategy, he added.

"With this consumers can order online, and collect the products at the store or get it delivered. Consumers can run an online cart. They can even place an order and choose to get it delivered at home," he said.

Offline retailers are currently facing intense competition from online retailers, as more and more customers switch to online shopping. 

The top three players in India's e-commerce sector recorded higher gross merchandise value (GMV) last year, compared to that of the top 10 offline retailers, according to global brokerage firm Morgan Stanley.

The combined GMV of Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon stood at $13.8 billion (about Rs 94,400 crore) in 2015, while that of the top 10 offline retailers was $12.6 billion (nearly Rs 86,200 crore).

A 50 percent rise in investments in domestic e-commerce companies by venture capitals and private equity firms last year, as against the investment made in 2014, was "probably" responsible for the huge growth in the GMV posted by those companies, Morgan Stanley said in a report.