Licious targets offline growth with 25 new stores by FY25

Licious, a D2C unicorn specialising in meat and seafood, is expanding into the offline market after its success online. The company plans to open 25 offline stores by FY25, primarily in Bengaluru, with the goal of eventually opening 70 to 100 stores annually. Currently, Licious operates one store and will soon open a second in Bengaluru. While experimenting with experience stores, the company will focus on traditional meat stores due to a stronger consumer response.

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Licious, the meat and seafood direct-to-consumer (D2C) unicorn, is now focussing on offline expansion after successfully breaking into the online market. The company intends to open 25 offline stores by the end of FY25, primarily in Bengaluru.

Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, co-founders of Licious said, “Once this model settles well and we figure out profitability, we will dial up roughly 70 to 100 stores every year.”

The firm presently has one offline store and plans to launch a second by the end of the month, both in Bangalore. Aside from these meat stores, where customers may personalise their meat and seafood, the business has also experimented with food-selling experience stores or zones throughout Bengaluru. However, given the present response, the company will continue to choose the meat shop format over experience stores.

As of present, approximately 80% of Licious’ sales are made through its company-owned D2C channel, with the remainder coming from marketplaces and fast commerce platforms. It also boasts that 90% of its business comes from repeat clients.

The business believes that while internet will continue to be the dominant and largest channel for the next several years, offline will become a meaningful play in about five years. “For us, offline is a chance to be multichannel. Omnichannel is the future of this category. For example, certain categories and ethnicities continue to seek out the final place of purchase. However, after confidence has been established, they may proceed online. I believe that online and offline will eventually be pretty amicable,” Hanjura stated.

For offline, the company hopes to establish a strong presence in Bengaluru before expanding to Chennai or Mumbai. “The goal of doing offline is not to do it quickly. “We want to do it slowly and steadily, relying on consumer experience,” Gupta said.