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‘Local people need to have the touch & feel experience’

By Retail4Growth Team | January 14, 2020

In an interaction with Retail4Growth, Dinesh Perera, Deputy Director, Abans iStore, shares his thoughts on the retail scenario in Sri Lanka and more.

From a modest corner shop in 1968 to becoming a well-known conglomerate, the Abans Group of Companies has come a long way, with focus on a variety of verticals including retail, real estate development, finance, environmental management, logistics, and other business sectors. The Abans Group has enjoyed more than 50 years as Sri Lanka’s most trusted household name with over 13,000 employees in multiple operations across the country. In an interaction with Retail4Growth, Dinesh Perera, Deputy Director, Abans iStore, shares his thoughts on the retail scenario in Sri Lanka and more. 

Can you tell us more about your brand/store? What is the TG? And what is your market size?

We are currently the top in the Sri Lankan electronics market. Our main brand is LG but we have many other brands as well.

Do you see the spends on retail/stores going up? If so by what percentage roughly? Where do you see most of the spends happening in future? Accordingly, what kind of retail solutions would you be looking at in future?

Yes, definitely the spends on stores are going up year by year. We will be mainly looking at improving the appearance of the showrooms and also at standardizing the showrooms by implementing guidelines.

Any key challenges you face in terms of meeting your in-store requirements? What are the other challenges that retailers face today in Sri Lanka?

We need to improve the current in-store state. Local people mainly need to have a touch and feel the experience.

If you look at the overall Sri Lankan retail market, what kind of trends do you see in see, whether in terms of store formats/design or even shopper behaviour?

Currently, our competitors are improving how their stores look. Also, new technologies are slowly coming into the market.

This interview is a part of Sri Lanka Retail Yatra. Read the full interview in the January 2020 Edition of VM&RD Magazine. Also, do check out the views of other Sri Lankan retailers and industry players.

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