Retailia Oct-07

R e tailia E-newsletter

Retail E-told

Published by:

e-newsletter Volume-1 Issue-2, October 2007

Retailer of the Month

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Mr. R.C. Agarwal CMD - Vishal Retail LTD.

Integrated CRM in Retail

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* Pop Corn

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Letter from The Editor Mall Mania Dear Readers, The month passed was very happening as far as retail is concerned. We saw protests against organized retail everywhere. Reliance foray in retail ran into trouble in many states forcing them to shut down their operations. The organized retail today is facing huge protest from small retailers and middle men. They are of the opinion that organized retail will take away their business. It reminds us of the era when the Labor Unions opposed the introduction of computers in the Indian working system which, in their opinion, would have increased the level of unemployment but as we all know the truth is an exact opposite of it. Coming back to the current issue which is our second issue, this month our retailer of the month is “Mr. Ram Chandra Agarwal” (CMD), Vishal Retail Limited. An Eminent business man whose success story is a source of inspiration for millions. The way he has turned his small business into a national level business empire is quite remarkable. He is a down to earth, very simple yet very effective person. His understanding of Indian markets and consumers is unparalleled.

Last few years India has witnessed radical changes in the developing of shopping centers leaving behind the traditional high street shops... For more Read Page - 3

Campus Buzz BIMTECH campus has been buzzing with activites in the previous month with Alumni Meet and Convocation back to back, it was a rush hour time... For more Read Page - 5

PopCorn - New Introducing a new feature “PopCorn”, containing all the spicy and steaming retail news, A month long news compiled with a sizzler... For more read page - 6

Our first article “Mall Mania” has been written by an eminent faculty from BIMTECH “Prof S. Suresh”, which talks about the history and development of malls across the globe, Malls in India and the issue of mall overcrowding. The second article has been written by “Mr. Abhinav Chaturvedi” (AGM), TDI Pvt. Ltd, Who has worked with Shopper's Stop and Titan before joining TDI. This article talks about the importance of having an Integrated Customer Relationship Management in retail where people have began debating whether customer is a King or God. BIMTECH turned 20 last month and it was celebrations all the way. Various activities marked the anniversary, A “Mini Marathon” was held in the campus. Other important activities in the campus were the “Alumni Meet” and the “Convocation Ceremony”.

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Retailer Of The Month

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Mall Mania

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As a part of Corporate Social Responsibility “BIMTECHians” formed a human chain in sector-18 market, Noida, To raise awareness against . A Blood donation camp was also organized in association with Rotary Club in the campus.

Integrated CRM in Retail

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Campus Buzz

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That's all from us for now, enjoy the issue. HAPPY READING!!

PopCorn

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Editorial Team [email protected]

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Retailer of the month Mr. R.C. Agarwal CMD Vishal Retail Limited.

Q. From 150 sq. feet in Lal Bazaar Kolkata to

Q. Vishal Mega Mart primarily targets middle class,

13,45,000 sq. feet all over India, How has the

your comments on buying behavior of middle

journey been?

class customers.

RC: It has been very challenging and throughout the

RC: There are three classes of consumers the lower

journey we focused on providing maximum value to

class is restricted only to unorganized retail, upper

the customers through better quality products at

class consumers are limited and scattered, we target middle class as it is the largest consumer base in India

lower prices. We have always considered customers as

and we can sell then in large volumes. With the

the king. Our growth is the outcome of dedication,

increasing purchasing power the middle class is

discipline and vision.

shifting towards organized retail.

Q. Apart from metros you are present in tier-2 and tier-3 cities any specific reason for that.

Q. How Vishal Mega mart differentiates itself from its competitors?

RC: Up till now metros have been at the center of all

RC: In today's liberal economy it is difficult to

the organized retail action. As this market is now

differentiate from competitors. Product, process and

saturating we are moving towards tier-2 and tier-3

manpower management are the key elements of

cities because here the opportunities for growth are

differentiation. Vishal megamart is also focusing on

high.

backward integration

Real

estate

prices

in

these

cities

are

comparatively low and resources are easily available

to have the competitive

advantage.

so the cost of operation is less. Also Tier-2 and tier-3 cities have large base of middle class customers who are educated and have rising disposable Income which we can tap.

Q Your future plans (in terms of format, location, collaboration and acquisition). RC: In future we plan to operate across the spectrum by operating in all retail formats be it convenience stores,

Q. How important is real estate in retail?

highway retailing, cash and carry etc. we aim to grow

RC: Location is very crucial in retail. Our focus is to get

using both organic and inorganic means and if the

real estate at cheaper rates. we have entered into an

conditions are favorable we will go into further mergers

alliance with Omaxe because it is a win win situation

and acquisitions.

for both organization

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Mall Mania Prof. S. Suresh Faculty - BIMTECH

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ast few years India has witnessed radical changes in the developing of shopping centers leaving behind the traditional high street shops. Indian real estate developers picked up models from the west, changed them to suit the Indian context to arrive at a rapidly growing number of home-grown malls. Indigenous factors such as availability of physical space, population densities, and city planning and socio economic parameters have contributed to this mall surge in the Indian market. Although the primary purpose of a mall is to cater to the retail requirements of its clientele, entertainment and food courts are sometimes attached to provide a complete shopping, eating and entertainment experience. By definition a mall is an enclosed shopping centre managed by a single company, housing a variety of retail shops and services, surrounded by a parking area. The earliest usages of mall in English are derived form Pall Mall, a game played in 17th century in England and somewhat earlier in Italy and France. Pall-mall came into England through the French Pallemaille, meaning ball and mallet. Indoor multi-vendor shopping is not a recent idea. Isfahan's Grand Bazaar also has a very old history. The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul was built in 15th century and is still one of the largest covered markets in the world with more than 58 streets and 4000 shops. The Oxford covered market in Oxford, England, was officially opened on 1 November 1774 and is still is going strong. Many large cities in Europe created arcades and shopping centers in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The concept of the fullyenclosed and controlled mall was pioneered by the Austrian – born architect Victor Gruen. He designed Northland, near Detroit, with 110 stores in 1,192,000 sq. ft. on 2 levels, in a cluster arrangement surrounded by parking lot, modeled on the Agora, the town squares of ancient Greece. In 1954 when it opened, the Northland Center was the world's larges shopping mall.

Today if we look at the global scenario, Malls in USA are in the consolidation phase, into the late maturity phase in UK and late growth phase in the middle east. High growth markets are in South East Asia. Some of the world's largest malls are coming up in China, for example, South China Mall in Dongguan with 7,100,000 sq. ft. GLA . In India, the first operational mall was opened in Mumbai in 1999. In the same year, Ansal Plaza was started in New Delhi. Over the past six years, those first malls have grown into 6 million square feet of operational shopping mall space in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Big developers like Unitech, DLF, TDI, Ansals. Omaxe and Parsvanath, Aerens and BPTP have already realized the potential of these malls. From a handful of malls in the mid 90s, India has today more than 170 malls .To offer something new to the customers, developers have been experimenting with different retail formats like specialty stores, hypermarket, convenience stores and supermarket. New malls are coming up in tier II and tier III cities. By 2008, 340 new shopping malls will come into operation. Compared to the large cities, organized retailing in small towns is growing at a staggering rate of 50 to 55 per cent. More than 700 new malls are being planned all over India. However with little differentiation in the malls and only 25 to 30 percent of the top end customers who shop in these malls, the natural question arises as to how many of the malls will actually survive. With the country having a capacity to support 1,000 malls and shopping centres, right now its mall mania all over India.

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Integrated CRM in Retail Mr. Abhinav Chaturvedi AGM - Brand Promotions TDI PVT. LTD.

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ickle customers. Fierce competition. Rising expectations. Declining profit margins.In today's retail industry, the customer is in control like never before. An integrated approach to CRM is what is required. It provides everything you need to increase revenue, improve the quality of sales and service, and make every customer interaction a positive experience – all while controlling costs. The reason why it is important to have knowledge about integrated CRM is because with it any organization can gain state-of-the-art capabilities for managing all interactions with consumers, wholesalers, vendors and other service providers, and also for the following reasons: customer engagement support: Develop accurate segmentation strategies for targeted, personalized marketing programs. Gather market input to support product, pricing, placement, and promotion decisions. Analyze customer data from your point-ofsale devices, loyalty card programs, third party research firms, and other sources. Tailor promotions, assortments, and planograms to current customer trends. Various companies in the retail sector have already started focusing on this area with the help of their Loyalty programs like Shoppers' Stop, Lifestyle, and Reliance fresh. et al. Business transaction support: Empower employees to anticipate and meet customer demands. Provide a consistent view of customer information at every point of contact. Provide preferred customers with preferred treatment. Encourage cross-selling and up-selling activity based on customer histories. Fulfillment support: Execute orders efficiently through direct links to your supply chain management solution. Engage in collaborative forecasting with vendors and distributors. Track inventory levels to reduce out-of-stocks. Ensure timely delivery of all items.

Customer service support: Enhance the efficiency and professionalism of your customer-interaction center. Resolve claims, complaints, and returns quickly and efficiently. Allow for easy escalation of service issues to field service or product manufacturers. Offer convenient customer self-service options over the Web. Track customer history and develop targeted programs to encourage repeat sales. Collaborate with partners: Use online collaboration tools to work more closely with vendors, wholesalers, distributors, consultants, and other partners. Go mobile: Keep track of key customer data wherever you go, using any Web-enabled laptop, personal digital assistant, or cell phone. Build your brand: Protect and increase the value of your brand through stronger awareness, greater market share, and increased customer loyalty. Control costs: Track the many variables of your sales, marketing, and promotional programs, for improved cost control. Reduce service costs through more efficient management and reporting of customer-related data. Increase revenues and profits: Increase sales revenues through multi-channel marketing campaigns. Deliver promotions targeting customer needs and purchase behaviors. Boost profits through more effective management of customer and businesspartner relationships. Manage the customer life cycle: Build an intimate profile of each customer and provide personalized service at every stage in the relationship. Recognize customers whenever they contact you, via any channel they choose. Thus, an in-depth knowledge about how and why of Integrated CRM in Retail will give a new dimension to CRM in the upcoming Retail Sector.

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he month marked the 20th anniversary year of BIMTECH. The institute celebrated The Founder's Day on the 2nd of October. A marathon was organized in the campus as a part of the celebrations. The college authorities encouraged all the students to participate and rewarded the winners with cash prizes. The party just did not end here as Alumni and Convocation meet were held on the 6th & the 7th of October, 2008. Eminent personalities and industrialists felicitated the occasion with their gracious presence. Chief guest “Mr. C. Rajgopalachari” (Ex-Governor RBI) spoke on human talent and the growth of the economy.

n the 17th of October, the institute celebrated the Human Development Day; more than 350 students of BIMTECH joined hands to form a human chain in the busy Atta market of NOIDA, to spread mass awareness about the UN MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS. The idea behind this student-led initiative was to propagate and remind the nations of the eight fold goals set before the 189 countries, including India to achieve a complete sustained development.

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The Eight goals in brief are: Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women Goal 4: Reduce child mortality Goal 5: Improve maternal health Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development. The month also marked the celebrations of Janmashtami in the institute. Overall, the month marked the outset of winters with a plethora of cultural activities.

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PopCorn

News with a crunch

Mahindra, A tractor to real estate group has announced its foray into the “Retail” sector, Looks like the retail figures have been caught by all the deep pocket Indian groups, This announcement was closely followed by the “HERO” group of Munjals. Mahindra has decided to enter the Lifestyle division of retail, A not so visible area in Indian retail. Well, as of now anything with the word “Retail” attached to it is booming in India, So for the moment it's a safe bet, but then we will have to wait and watch whether are we looking at global retail brand generating out of India, or is it just lifestyle - The Indian Style!

Reliance Fires! No, It doesn't means reliance has fired some new idea! it means! it fires back! Reliance is on a spree to FIRE its work force! Looks like the “Diverse” Indian market is taking its toll. After being the most visible target of the small Indian retailers, The firm has shelved its retail plans for the Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal all together! The company has fired almost 150 working staff in the recent times. Looks like the big brother is in for a calculation now! we just have to wait and watch! how much needs to be re calculated!

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There is only one boss, the customer and he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. Sam Walton, Founder - WALMART

That’s all folks! A phrase often heard at the end of the “Looney Tunes”, it doesn’t means the end, but a beginning which leaves you wanting more in the end. We hope we were able to strike a chord with you, to generate the same desire. We would be awaiting your valuable feedback and suggestion, so that this newsletter can take a shape which appeals to all. Till then, That’s all folks. S

BIMTECH CAMPU

Contact Address Center For Retail Birla Institute of Management Technology(BIMTECH) Plot Number-5, Knowledge Park-II, Greater Noida-201306. Homepage: www.bimtech-retail.com Email: [email protected] Phone: 0120-2323001-10

Birla’s Retailing and Innovative Marketing Society Birla Institute of Management Technology(BIMTECH) 2007

www.bimtech-retail.com/retailia | [email protected]