Students of Retail Management a NMIMS, Mumbai organized a seminar called aRetail Renaissancea at a city based hotel on Friday, October 17. Professionals from retail giants such as Future Group, Raymonds and Aditya Birla Retail attended the seminar. They discussed the impact of FMCG, IT, logistics, real estate and HR on the present and future of the retail industry.
Speakers stressed on how the retail industry had evolved with the customer becoming an exceedingly important player. “Stores used to operate in a product centric manner. The model was that of a product being evaluated against another. The focus has shifted to the customer now. The market is rapidly driven by the customer. It is very important to know the customer”, explained Mr Suhas Datta, Retail Industry Lead, Global Delivery Centre Network, Accenture.
The speakers cited real life examples of global customer-centric retail stores, much to the interest of the audience. Mr Suhas Datta said, “An American retail chain like Best Buy has customized its store for its customers. The store items are rearranged according to the customeras needs. Customers have personal attendants and the entire business revolves around the customer.”
Mr Neeraj Joshi, Head Operations, Raymonds added, “Zara, a Spanish retail chain has a customer visiting the store on an average of 17 times in a year. The profit levels are 20-30%. These are phenomenally high numbers! They have a centralized design team which keeps track of trends in fashion and is highly reactive with design of apparel. The store maintains limited stocks of the latest items and thus there is exclusive appeal and reduced risk for sale of stock. Customers who express interest in an item are categorically told that if they postpone the purchase for even later in the day then they run the risk of not getting the item as it could be sold out by that time! People that frequent this store have got used to this approach to retail.”
A member of the audience asked the speakers about the viability of self service malls in a country like India. “In India, people with money have always had everything customized for them. If a prominent person enters a store then attention is showered on him and people would be at his beck and call. It is the white collar guys who are fine with democracy in a retail store. People in the service industry are not so and they will need to be factored in when retail does change in the future” answered Mr Damodar Mall, Group Consumer Director of Future Group.
He further said, aThe Indian customer is used to being pampered. There exists a certain level of social capital intimacy between the buyer and the retailer. The modern form of retail cannot beat its traditional form. A lot would depend on how modern retail uses automation. Technology which is complex and intimidating will fail. The modern day customer has grown up on technology. In this country, people are not even ready to take tea from a vending machine so expecting them to shop online is a bit difficult.a
The moderator of a panel discussion asked the panelists about the possibility of a retailer hiring an FMCGas manufacturers and releasing the same product under its own banner. Mr Shammi Dua, National Manager – Logistics and Customer Operations, Cadbury answered, “A brand and a commodity are two separate things. A brand comes with the promise of quality. When a person eats something or applies it on his body then he wants to be assured of quality. A retailer would have to create a brand and nurture it for it to be successful.”
The seminar concluded with a discussion on workforce management. Mr Sanjay Muthal, MD – Nugrid Consulting, NHRD put forth an interesting point when he said, “People join organizations and leave bosses. Companies conduct exit interviews which serve no real use as a person would have decided two-three months before the interview that he wishes to leave. In exit interviews, people usually talk about general issues such as money and job opportunities. Instead, companies should conduct aStay Backa interviews in which they speak with employees who have been with the company for some time, ask them for their views about the company and make sure that the positive things that they mention are continued in the company.”