BANGALORE: Fashion and lifestyle large format department store chain Shoppers Stop plans to spend around Rs 500 million towards marketing and communications.

This fiscal the chain has planned spends of Rs 450 million. The thrust will be mainly through online social media, newsprint and some outdoor, revealed Shoppers Stop Ltd customer care associate and marketing director Govid Shirkande to www.indiantelevision.com.

Shirkande was in Bangalore for the launch of the brand’s 50th store in India and its sixth store in Bangalore. Shoppers Stop is also looking at television for mass media communication.

Over the next two years Shoppers Stop plans to increase the store count to around 65 at the rate of about eight stores per year as well as enter tier-2 towns in India. It has planned spends of Rs 2.5 billion towards expansion. At present it is present in 22 cities and towns in the country.

Overall across the various retail formats such as HomeStop, Crossword Book Store, Mothercare & Early Learning Centre and Hpercity, the group has around four million square feet of retail space. Over the next two years this will go up to about five million square feet.

Shoppers Stop also is targeting the woman consumer since the business for women oriented products has been going up.

“Once we enter the smaller towns and cities over the next two years, we plan to use television for mass media communications. At present, we create the awareness across the newsprint in the cities and towns that we are present in for a better connect with our customers,” revealed Shirkande further.

Shoppers Stop has a huge fan following on facebook with the number of fans nearing two million. “Over the next few days, we should cross the two million fan mark on facebook,” said Shirkande. The brand is also present across 200 bill boards in the towns that it has outlets.

Contract Advertising looks after the creative work and Maxus the media buying for Shoppers Stop.