Some dynamics have shifted in the Indian retail space haven’t they in the last two-three years? What are your observations?

Yes, they certainly have. For one, retail brands have realized that going closer to the customer is the way forward and becoming more cost-friendly and accessible. Consumers have become more conscious about getting value for their spends. Accordingly, retailers too began to feel the need to change retail formats in a manner that justifies their costs and helps them get closer to their customers. Essentially, the bounce-back from Covid happened much faster than we thought, but only for those who course-corrected. For example, inour case, we did some price corrections in the private label range of Lifestyle, as per consumer needs. So, overall, in the fashion retailing space, I’d say affordability and accessibility have become the key.  

What about offline-online integration?

Yes, that too. Online usage certainly increased during the pandemic and people were getting used to having everything delivered on their doorstep.  While earlier, online was only used as a support channel for brick and mortar retail, it gained much more importance in the last 2-3 years, and there was even a general prediction that online was the future. But then today, the reverse is also true - every online retailer wants to have a brick-and-mortar store. In fact, if you are not physically present, then you are not considered a serious retailer. So both online and offline have to coexist. Also, because of the growth in e-commerce,  every brick and mortar retailer wants to strengthen their back-end process for easier availability and speedy delivery. And that is also a big change. 

Online visibility has also led to private labels expanding to tier two cities. For example,  in our case too, we are moving into tier two markets for our brand Lifestyle. We realised that the brand was visible online to consumers in those markets anyway. So we might as well have a store presence there and leverage the brand recall. 

What do these changes entail for the store experience itself? Have there been noteworthy changes on that front too? 

Not really, these changes are part of a natural progression - whether it’s the online-offline integration or any other. The really noteworthy change would be for in-store communication to be immediately converted into a sale. That has not yet happened, at least not in fashion retailing.  In other segments, like furniture and household goods, it happens to some extent. For example, if you go to a small-format Home Centre store, there are kiosks for furniture shopping online. A customer, after shopping for the small household stuff at the store, can browse for related categories like furniture and order something online. So the sale of related products happens through digital catalogs in the store. The shopper doesn’t have to go to a different/bigger store to shop for furniture. This is an example of in store communication becoming selling points too, and there is still a long way to go in this area, especially in the case of  apparels retailing in India. In the US,online is a real game changer in terms of the overall customer experience. If a customer walks into a store and does not find the right size, he or she  can order it online from the store and have it delivered at home or get a price similar to an online offer.  Now that, according to me, is true offline-online integration. 

Given these emerging new retail dynamics, is there any new approach to your in-store elements like signage?  

Yes, signage is the face of the brand and the first recall in the customer’s mind, while the main brand signage cannot change frequently, we do update the in-store communication and private label with more relevant product, fitment and technology based information.

Moving on, any key focus areas for retail investments for the group?

Expansion is definitely one key area for the group as a whole . And we will be investing more in digital integration in the store and on improving the overall experience. We will be increasing the store budget by about 10-15% from last year. We certainly won’t be compromising on the store experience offered even in tier 2 or 3 cities and will ensure a consistent brand ethos.  This year we will also be getting into the high-street model, especially in the Metros.  

We will also be investing more in a robust back-end system for better front-end experience and enhancing aspects like logistics, warehousing and delivery.  Finally, we will continue investing in people and training. The training modules are also being customized as per the markets we are expanding into. 

Finally, what do you think will be the game changers for Indian retail?

The one big game changer that I see is that every brand’s presence will become more vibrant than it was in the past. Most retailers would like to have a store in every pin code, so their proximity to the customer will become better than ever before, and prices will also become sharper. Expansion is the key this year and the next. Also, store experiences will definitely get better and online integration from a convenience perspective will improve. Overall, I expect to see big growth in Indian retail.