Paribartan! Retail revival in West Bengal?

My initial happiness started worrying me after sometime – after all who wouldn’t want to achieve their Sales targets! When I was told earlier in the day that the store would close by 4pm, I was a bit happy as I could go home early. But that day, I stayed on, for I wanted to see the people’s leader who would be walking down Park Street with her followers. Yet another protest; yet another reason to bunk work, thus grinned Mr. Bannerjee, my senior colleague in his typical Bengali accent- not that he was complaining, but he was more concerned about reaching home which was at suburban north Calcutta since most taxi drivers would take off from work and those plying would demand double charges. Along with Musicworld, where I was the Operations manager 10 years ago, most other retail stores & F&B outlets along the stretch downed their shutters early due to a protest march organized by a relatively lesser known regional party, The Trinamool Congress. “So where is their leader”, I asked my colleague Sandeep Mallick. “There you see, that short lady in hawai slippers, she’s the one” he replied. I was stunned that such a simple looking person could lead a party and a few thousand followers –for her party as well as her protest march that particular day. I was more familiar with an erstwhile woman Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu where I came from, who would adorn more jewelry than that of a model who poses for Jewelry brands would until she vowed never to wear any ornaments after the ruling DMK put her behind the bars citing various scams. After 10 years, she is back in power today and is expected to run the state in a few days, hopefully more efficiently than the decade that passed by.

Just a few months back (in 2001), the Communist Government had assumed power, this time with a new Chief Minister though, Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, after the octeganerian former CM Jyoti Basu relinquished the seat of power. Buddhadeb, over the next 10 years tried his best to bring reform and change the business landscape but the fundamentals of his party would not allow him to take brave steps too often. And the rest, as they say is History. Singur and Nandigram were bitter memories that the industry would like to forget. Prestigious projects moved out of the state due to government apathy and the worker’s lethargy. The overall mood in the Retail Industry which peaked all over the country in mid-2000s didn’t have much impact in the state, thanks to a workforce that quite didn’t enjoy working in the modern retail formats. Though money was good, many felt that the jobs were lowly and probably they deserved better. A typical middle class Bengali who reads atleast two newspapers every day, one in English and one in the local lingua, is quite updated with the latest within the Organized Retail set-up across the country. Recently, I was a speaker at the “East India Retail Forum”, organized by IMAGES Retail, India’s premier retail publication in Jan’11. There were over 100 retail honchos across the spectrum who attended the event and the mood was upbeat about the impending Retail transformation that’s on the anvil. Miracles are certain, they believed and I too did, given the slow but steady change in mindset that I had seen over the past year – on my first visit to Kolkata after 10 years since I moved in 2001, I wrote on my twitter (@shri611) “so much has changed, yet nothing much has actually changed here!” What I meant was while there were new high rises and a strong immigrant workforce that had moved in, the old-timers remain what they were, reluctant in some cases to change and a few even questioning why they should.

All that is about to change thanks to the latest verdict in the state elections where the Trinamool Congress has won a 4/5^th majority, ousting the Communist rule after 34 years. It was a shocker to see the outgoing Chief Minister, the Finance minister and many others losing their seats in their respective bastions. Just goes to show that the average Bengali was fed-up – and probably wants a change urgently. He deserves, that’s my belief too. I started my career in Kolkata, way back in June 2001 when I reached the Howrah station all alone, with four bags and loads of dreams, to build a successful professional career. Wasn’t sure if Retail was my cup of tea (or coffee, as I am responsible these days for increasing the café count for India’s largest coffee retailer) but I stayed on. I had just one friend, Hemanth Subramaniam, a former classmate at college who lived in Calcutta those days with his parents who came to pick me from the railway station. The city was over crowded by my Madrasi standards, I thought. And the city roads were congested and there wasn’t even a supermarket to buy toothpaste and shaving cream, I thought. But my first few days at Musicworld changed all my thoughts – that Retail was indeed where I would remain. My circle of friends and well wishes grew over time, so much so that I was hosted four farewell parties when I departed in just a year! 37 Chowringhee, a building that stands proudly, built during the British era was one of my favorite inspirations that housed the Corporate Office of ITC Ltd. at whose factory near Chennai my father toiled for over 30 years to build a family and careers of my sister and myself. I had a lot to give back to the city of joy, where the loner in me was treated every other weekend by someone or the other at Someplace Else or Flury’s, at Tantra or London Pub! During my recent visits and interactions with so many people including those from Government functions as well as those in private establishments, I see an urge, an immediate intention for embracing modern ideas, Organized Retail included.

I am neither a political analyst such as those who feature in “We the People” or “Breaking at 9” nor a mediocre journalist who screams on Tv or writes sensational headlines in newspapers to grab attention – just a Retailer at heart, by profession and choice. Apart from Musicworld & Spencers from the home grown RPG Group, The Ambuja Group and Forum have built several malls in the state while national retailers including Café Coffee Day, The Future Group (Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Home Town, Brand Factory), Shoppers Stop, Reliance Retail, PVR Cinemas, Pizza Hut, KFC and many others are all expanding rapidly across the state. A Central Mall is expected to open in Kolkata soon! What I look forward is just a better Retail scenario – one that the Bengali deserves and one which can change their lives and lifestyle quite well. Hoping for a “Paribartan” that would put Kolkata on top in the Indian Retail Map in times to come.

A Retailer cannot be everything for everyone!

“I was an eternal optimist, now I am a cautious optimist” thus remarked Kishore Biyani, considered to be the most revered Retail face in India at the concluding day of India Retail Forum 2010 recently held at Mumbai. Not surprising, as he should know better than anyone else, for he leads the Indian Retail Industry with the highest recorded turnover of over USD 2 Billion in Sales from The Future Group that has various formats such as Big Bazaar (Hypermarkets), Central Malls, Home Town, Pantaloon Department stores, Food Bazaar (Supermarkets) and many other formats with over 800 stores across the country. Many other CEOs and leaders from within the Indian Retail Industry echoed the same feeling – things are much better than 2008 / 2009 but we should tread with caution. Consumer confidence is on the high, but that doesn’t mean we can open stores left & right, one needs to move ahead with all the learning over the past 24 months according to the Head of Operations of one of the leading apparel brands in India.

India Retail Forum (IRF) is the annual extravaganza organized by the Images Group that publishes various magazines such as Images Retail, Images Fashion, F, and many other collaborative efforts with leading international publications. Apart from IRF, they also conduct Images Fashion Forum and Images Food Forum every year. These Forums are not mere conferences but a place of congregation where some of the brightest minds participate, share and learn over each other’s experiences. The two day events are busy days, with back-to-back & parallel panel discussions and presentations from eminent speakers and delegates trying to network with their peers across businesses for professional as well as personal purposes. This year saw over 2,000 participants – not bad for an event that charges an entry fee of Rs. 25,000 per person which includes lunch and dinner with cocktails on both days along with an entry invitation to the Images Retail Awards – the most sought after respectable awards that recognize the efforts of Retailers.

The agenda this year too was chock-a-block. Over the years, the event has evolved and now follows international conventions where three things happen in parallel – the main conference hall with its speakers, the retail theatre and the ball rooms with their sessions and workshops and the all day exhibition stalls where various retailers and real estate companies showcase their latest offering. The Forum was chaired this year by Mr. Biju Kurien, Chief Execuitive – Lifestyle, Reliance Retail along with the Chairman of the previous year, Mr. B.S.Nagesh, Vice Chairman of Shoppers Stop Ltd. In his opening remarks, Mr. Kurien said that India is expected to contribute 7.5% of world GDP (PPP) and stressed on the need for increased investments within the sector to foster growth. Mr. Nagesh reiterated that it was important to focus on the product offering rather than showering discounts while also informing that controlling attrition would be one of the key tasks for Retailers. Mr. Vikram Bakshi, CEO – Mc Donalds India (North & East) shared his thoughts on the current trends in food retail during his opening remarks. This was followed by a detailed presentation by Ms. Ireena Vittal, Principal, McKinsey India in which she shared statistics about the current trends and opportunities in Indian Retail with lots of comparison to similar markets such as Brazil and China. This was followed by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) panel discussion on “Permitting FDI in Indian multi-brand Retail” led by its Chairman, Mr. Thomas Verghese, Chief Executive – Aditya Birla Retail which had the most looked up names within the industry – Mr. Kishore Biyani, CEO – The Future Group, Mr. Raj Jain, President – Walmart India & MD & CEO, Bharti Walmart, S. Sivakumar, Chief Executive – ITC Rural Retail, Ireena Vittal, Vikram Bakshi and BS Nagesh. With various thoughts being expressed by speakers, the unanimous view was clear and forthcoming – India needed investments urgently to support the backend and frontend of our Retail businesses and the color of the money (Read FDI or FII or any other) really didn’t matter.

The rest of the day and the second day had various sessions by leaders within the Retail industry and community and delegates were seen sharing an easy camaraderie with one another, be it over coffee or beer. I was part of one of the Panel Discussions on Multi channel Retailing, hosted by vCustomer which has been a support partner to companies across multiple retail channels. With a 4000+ global workforce deployed at its managed centers from multiple locations worldwide, they deliver 24x7 services to more than 75 global clients including 20 Fortune 500 brands and more than 30 retailers. My co-panellists were Mr. Sanjay Gupta, COO – vCustomer, Mr. Ashish Madhav, Director Retail CoE, vCustomer, Mr. Rajiv Prakash, CEO – Future Ecommerce, Mr. Manoj Chandra, VP Marketing - Bata India, Mr. Sundeep Malhotra, CEO – HomeShop18 and Mr. Neeraj Bhalla, Director – Whirlpool. The speakers shared their perspectives on multi-channel use for better reach towards their own consumers. My view was similar too, that Cafe Coffee Day was always at the reach of its consumers be it shopping high streets or malls, transit points or other non-traditional locations such as Hospitals, Colleges, Hotels and Clubs.

The most awaited session happened to be an interview with Mr. Kishore Biyani by none other than Mr. Shivnath Thukral, Group President, Corporate Branding & Strategic Initiatives – Essar Group, more famous in his previous avatar as the former Group Business Editor at NDTV, India’s leading News channel.  The session was indeed candid and Mr. Biyani was at his transparent best, sharing some of the very rarely heard stuff – that the group has made a few mistakes, learned from them and hence moved on, that he shops only at his own group stores and doesn’t shop at fellow retailers such as Shoppers Stop. He also admitted that the group doesn’t anymore continue its approach on being “everything to everyone”. We are no more so, he said while answering a question specifically and advised fellow retailers to think about it. This was followed by an interesting session led by Mr. Vikram Bakshi and Mr. BS Nagesh where selected delegates had an opportunity to grill eminent Retail executives including Mr. Kishore Biyani, Mr. Thomas Verghese, Mr. Ajit Joshi, CEO – Croma Retail and Ms. Vibha Rishi Paul of the Future Group. At the end of the session, each winner won an hour over lunch or dinner or drink with Mr. Biyani, Mr. Nagesh and Mr. Kurien to be mentored about the business.

The Grand finale was the Images Retail Awards – a much looked up event in the business of Indian Retail. The award ceremony, besides honouring the most deserving companies and people in the Retail Industry, had scintillating performances by singer Leslie Lewis and stand-up comedian Ash Chandler. The event was anchored by Mandira Bedi and Anish Trivedi. The IMAGES Retail Awards 2010 followed strict international benchmarks in deciding the top honours, with IRIS Retail Intelligences Knowledge Partner and global consulting firm AT Kearney as the Process Approver. The selection process involved self-nominations as well as a countrywide poll to short-list nominees. Over 11,000 consumers and about 1,000 professionals voted for their most admired retailers across formats and categories. The list of categories, awardees and nominees are as below.

1. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Fashion & Lifestyle - Benetton
Nominees: Bata, Titan, Levi's, Van Heusen, Tanishq, Louis Philippe, Benetton, Reebok
2. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Food & Grocery – Food Bazaar
Nominees: More, Easyday, Food Bazaar, Reliance Fresh, Spencer's
3. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Foodservice – KFC
Nominees: Café Coffee Day, Mainland China, Haldiram's, McDonald's, Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut, KFC
4. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Consumer Electronics  - Croma
Nominees: Croma, Next, Reliance Digital, eZone, Reliance iStore
5. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Leisure - Crossword
Nominees: Crossword, Reliance Timeout, Odyssey, Landmark, Planet M
6. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Multiplex - PVR
Nominees: Big Cinemas, INOX, PVR, Fun Multiplex, Cinemax, Fame Cinemas
7. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Mobile & Telecom  - The Mobile Store
Nominees: Uninor, Spice Hotspot, Reliance Webstore, The Mobile Store
8. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Beauty & Wellness - The Body Shop
Nominees: VLCC, Kaya Skin Clinic, The Body Shop, NewU, M.A.C
9. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Pharmacy & Healthcare - Guardian
Nominees: Apollo Pharmacy, Guardian, Religare Wellness, 98.4
10. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Home & Interiors - Home Centre
Nominees: Home Centre , TTK Prestige, Rosebys, Home Town, @home, Home Stop
11. Most Admired Regional Retailer of the Year – Kapsons, RMKV
Nominees: Kapsons, Ritu Wears, Jade Blue, Sohum Shoppe, Total, Le Marche, RMKV, MK Retail

12. Most Admired Retail Launch of the Year - Cinepolis, Editions by Odyssey
Nominees: Sports XS, Titan GoldPlus, Golfworx, Head Quarters, Cinepolis, Editions  13. Most Admired Innovative Concept of the Year - Cinediner - Big Cinemas
Nominees: Moms Lounge, Spencer's Patisserie, Cinediner - Big Cinemas, Colours, The Collective, William Penn, Presto Wonders

14. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Department Store - Shoppers Stop
Nominees: Lifestyle, Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop, Reliance Trends, Westside, Central
15. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Hypermarket - Big Bazaar
Nominees: Spencer's Hyper, Hypercity, MORE Megastore, SPAR Hypermarket, Big Bazaar, Reliance Mart, Star Bazaar
16. Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Customer Relations - Shoppers Stop
Nominees: Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, Van Heusen, SPAR, Apollo, Guardian, Pantaloons
17. Most Admired Retail Face of the Year - Thomas Varghese
Nominees: Raj Jain, Kabir Lumba, Bijou Kurien, Thomas Varghese, Govind Shrikhande, Rakesh Biyani, Vineet Kapila
18. Most Admired Retail Group of the Year - Future Group
Nominees: Future Group, Landmark Group, Reliance Retail , K Raheja Corp, RPG Group, Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group

19. IMAGES Award for Excellence in Retailing – KISAN SEVA KENDRA, HOME SHOP 18

Overall, the India Retail Forum 2010 came to an end with optimism coupled with caution among participants while hoping for a better times to come. Here's wishing all of us a great festive season ahead.

Creating categories – Way forward for successful Retailing

Looking at the eagerness of a family to see how a Compact Disc works was amazing – this was in the year 2001 at the Musicworld store at Park Street in Kolkata. The middle-class Bengali family was a regular at the then largest MW Store in India, spread all of 8,000 sft and among the first Retail Stores in India to be designed in bright yellow and blue by Fitch PLC. After all, RPG Management had wanted none other than among the best in the world to design their first and the largest music store in the city. Over to the family – they were wondering how a small CD with a diameter of 10 cm could play music with such clarity while the erstwhile vinyl records that used to be played on the gramophones were thicker, heavier and the voice clarity not as clear as this one. I remember chatting with my colleagues about this insight – that it is as much the responsibility of Retailers to create newer categories to grow the pie and what I was referring in this case was that the market needed more CD players, affordable and better quality, so more consumers could buy them and in times to come, would buy or should I say invest on CDs. Who would know that 10 years later not only my words would come true (in terms of cheaper options of CD players) but we would also have alternate forms of listening to music – internet, mobile phones, mp3 players, iPods and most recently I read Apple is planning to launch Watches!

Successful Retailers worldwide have created newer categories and introduced them to their core customers – usually first timers within the spectrum who could spread the good word around. Central Malls, a division of The Future Group that operates over a dozen malls in India has been the pioneer in seamless retailing in the country since their launch of Bangalore Central in 2004 (of which I was lucky to be an integral part of) is doing exactly the same. One of their recent campaigns is the “Kurti Festival”. Keeping the most popular trend, Central has launched a festival that focuses on the theme – Kurtis. As part of this festival, Central will have a mix and match section where customers could experience interesting pairing which would be displayed at the Malls. Kurti is a form of apparel – a mix of western-styled Indian-design tops mainly focussed on women. The basic difference between a Kurti and a Salwar or Churidhar is that the length in the former is shorter and the core audience are the teens and tweens (those in their twenties). While the Kurtis have been made popular thanks to our beautiful heroines in Bollywood and other Indian languages, the more popular ambassadors are the customers themselves. It’s quite common to see the college goers wearing such clothing as it is comfortable for their daily routine – travelling by public transport, self-drive in two-wheelers, attending many other chores during the day such as college sessions and mall-hopping, etc. A versatile garment, kurtis are an essential part of every woman’s wardrobe and they can create the latest fashion statement with funky styles like bohemian, bling, graphic, festive, floral, tribal, jig saw & many more. Women shoppers can create these styles by mixing and matching with different bottoms like leggings, capris, denims, shorts, short skirts and harem pants. Customers can twist their style at Central’s Kurti festival for a brand new fashion statement.

This is expected to attract more footfalls into their Malls and while the incremental conversions are high single-digit, the time spent by the clientele and their word-of mouth is as important. Many a time, these festivals indeed pull in additional footfalls and benefit other retailers within the Mall such as Cafe Coffee Day, McDonalds, Food Courts, etc. While many retailers keep experimenting with such ideas, very few succeed in pulling them off well and needless to say, Central Malls is one of them indeed. So, visit the near Central close to your and enjoy the surprises!