IRF 2013 kick-starts in Mumbai

The Indian retail industry has undergone dynamic changes with respect to e-commerce, technology, increasing number of opportunities, foreign investments and so on. On the first day of the highly coveted India Retail Forum (IRF), thousands from the world of retail assembled to script a profitable and successful story in the India retail...It’s time now for retailers to shop for success.

During  the session at India Retail Forum on “scripting a profitable and successful story in indian retail session”, Abheek Singhi, Head, Consumer and Retail Practice, Asia Pacific, The Boston Consulting Group spoke on “Weathering out the lean times: learnings from History and Parallel Markets”.

Singhi says, "I really don't believe that India is going through a downturn, infact we have witnessed growth in India. One of the key characteristics of growth is volatility, so one should not be petrified of a few ups and downs. But, if I talk about the bigger picture, according to me retail is growing from strength to strength in India."

“Many people are comparing this period to the great depression period of 1929-33, but if we see things around us today, we will realise that we are in a much comfortable position. At the time of great depression retail was badly hit but even at that time, companies those could strive in that difficult period emerged as pioneers in the next 80 years”, Singhi further added.

He further stressed on the importance of digitalization in the retail business and its direct effect on e-commerce & its influence on consumers.

Stating few of the examples, Singhi said, "Taking example of Woolworths, when their sales declined they decisively curtailed on cost, they cherry picked the location where they wanted to expand and with all these measures they were able to rebound their sales. Another good example is of Mercadona, a Spain based retailer and during the current state of economic downturn, Spain has been badly affected but Mercadona has sustained itself in such difficult time also. They have increased their private labels to 55 percent and their private labels have penetrated in all the possible categories.

To sum it all, he gave one piece of advice to all the marketers. In today's world different family members have different needs and as a successful marketer one need to cater to the demand of the entire family and not of only one person, as was the case initially when everything was targeted at the house maker, now each and every family member have their own discrete choices."

At the inaugural session on ‘india is the world’s second largest emerging market. there is a tomorrow but are we prepared for it?', according to Venkatesh Kini, Dy. President,  South West Asia, The Coca Cola Company, “What struck me is the is the transformation in the small towns  and rural India, metros and small cities.  A lot of load in distribution is coming from emerging India.  To match up with the demands and to penetrate in the rural India, a lot of innovation is required like the solar cooler introduced by us which gives us an opportunity to tap businesses in rural India”.

According to Lord Meghnad Desai, London School of Economics, there has been a retail revolution at the bottom, what about the revolution of the corner shop.  India will not progress unless there is a rebellious attitude towards improving customer satisfaction.

According to William Bissell, CEO, Fabindia, “Our job is to celebrate India and our USP is that our ideas that can connect India.  We have a tie-up in the organic space and we are seeing the future in the past.  Very soon we will be launching a Tulsi Drink from variants of Tulsi  like Ram, Krishna and Vama”.

The Session on the ceo agenda - strategies for indian retail – creating the winning streak with the right model, talent and execution had sharing of experiences and discussions on how every business can take out a leaf from their success strategies and create a winning formula, which will form the backbone of success for any retail operation, be it any category and any scale.

According to Sandeep Ahuja, Chairperson, IRF Execution Stream and MD, VLCC said, “Irrespective of the service and planning that a company puts in, it is the execution that matters”. Speaking about the right people and talent hired, Anoop Prakash, MD, Harley-Davidson India said, “Talent is about the delivery experience”. The managing Director of Levis, Sanjay Purohit mentioned that “Retention follows clarity of the business model. Investment is based on the profitability and success of the model”. Today’s retail industry being completely consumer centric, customer service plays the most vital part. Resource talent and capabilities is the pillar of a company’s culture. “The right people and the right culture will lead to excellence”, said Venu Nair, MD, Marks and Spencer. President of YUM!, Niren Chaudhary said, “Our USP is giving something the customers can’t find in their home and outside. At the same time we are inspired by the Indian culture”.

A session with thought leaders on Indian politics and economic forecasting spoke about knowing the new Indian and how he is changing the political landscape of India.

With social media, we are now being forced to interact and justify our actions to our citizens every nano second instead of every 5 years. States can often turn roguish if they are given too much control of energy, natural resources, says the    session leader and moderator, Suhel Seth, MD, Counselage.

The other session panelists included Elena Febrel (Economic and Commercial Counsellor, Economic and Commercial Office of Spain), Harish Bijoor (CEO and Brand expert, Harish Bijoor Consults), Indrajit Gupta (Senior Journalist and Founding Editor, Forbes India), M K Venu (Executive Editor, The Hindu), Shivnath Thukral (Group President, Corporate Branding & Strategic Initiatives, Essar Group).

The session highlighted how retailers are focussing on outsourcing their secondary functions. We being the new Indian can force better policies in this era of digital media. The trading community which might have issues with the FDI doesn’t understand why the larger interests of the country are accounted for. China and other Asian markets have taken steps to ensure that there isn’t revenue or job losses for its citizens with the entry of FDI. Each state in India is too diverse to have a single model of growth.

Day 2 of IRF will witness the much coveted IMAGES Retail Awards (IRA). IRA will recognize the achievements of India’s most successful retailers and brands which fuelled growth and innovation across multiple categories in retail.