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'Retail forms the crux of service provision'

By Nabamita Chatterjee | April 25, 2014

Anand Sahai, Business Head, Kolkata and Bengal, Vodafone India, tells Point Of Purchase why and how the brand counts on retail to connect with its over 160-million customer base.

Vodafone India, which serves over 160 million customers across the country, has developed a robust retail network in India. The 'Retail of Tomorrow Format' of Vodafone Store & Mini Stores is a unique initiative of the organisation to reach out to their customer base in a more compatible manner for providing a great experience.

Over the years, how have you explored retail touch point formats to connect with your customers? Could you elaborate?
 
For a country with a demographic spread and mobile tele density as wide and concentrated as India, retail forms the crux of the service provision and access process. Over the years Vodafone India has developed a retail footprint that is not only the largest in the telecom industry, but is also amongst the best in the country. The robust network has been developed basis Vodafone India's continuous efforts to understand India's socio-cultural ethos, dynamics of the telecom industry and listening to our customers and other stakeholders. For instance, in making services available to the masses and with a focus on market penetration, Vodafone not only has urban set-ups in the form of Vodafone Stores, but also have a presence in remote districts across India in the form of Associated Distributor Vodafone Mini Stores (ADVMS). ADVMS, commonly known as Laal Dukaans in rural India also work as a relationship hub in the remote areas of 23 Circles that Vodafone operates in. This widespread reach has meant more confident connect with customers, the ability to consistently provide competitive value and more importantly being equipped with the essentials to facilitate an'unmatched' customer experience.
 
You have been exploring some new formats such as the Angel store... how do you arrive at these formats? How does a specific format help you in reaching out to your customers?
 
As mentioned earlier, Vodafone's retail network has evolved on the basis of understanding the Indian market, socio-cultural factors and the consumers. Vodafone is the first telecom company to introduce retail stores managed and run completely by women employees. With the launch of Angel Stores, Vodafone India has demonstrated thought leadership in the telecom retail segment.   Vodafone India encourages diversity and inclusion at workplace by constantly improving and reinventing itself by offering its employees with best in industry workplace conditions. Vodafone India has always laid great emphasis on equal rights and opportunities for our employees and our policies encourage women employees to aspire for and achieve their career ambitions. Initiatives like Angel Stores encourage women employees to assume greater responsibilities at work.
 
How have these customer interactions touch points helped you carve out a niche and get an edge competition? Today a lot of customer interactions happen on the e/mobile platforms. How do you think a physical retail space actually helps?
 
In 2012 Vodafone India undertook a series of initiatives to develop a'Future Ready' retail vision with an objective to leverage Vodafone's exclusive retail network and provide the signature'Vodafone Delights' customer experience. Today, Vodafone retail stores have undergone a metamorphosis of sorts from simply being service centres to  being a key source of  channel acquisition, sales generation. Besides, being self-sustaining through keeping costs constant and improving top-line.
 
Vodafone's stores provide a platform for customers to understand technology, solve their queries and create awareness about mobile internet.  For instance, Vodafone has introduced a Vodafone Red Box service at retail stores that facilitates easy and secure transfer of key data and media files, including internal memory and SIM card contacts. The service is compatible with all branded handsets and is available for all customers.
 
What is the approach towards the look and feel of these outlets? How do you approach innovation within the available space as far as your new retail formats are concerned? For eg, would you be looking at dynamic and interactive digital displays/interfaces at the stores?
 
Vodafone RoTo Stores were created with an intention of owning the post-paid space in Indian telecom, which is reflected in the design and customer's in-store experience. Vodafone stores have three distinct areas - Walk at work (Engaged Waiting), Product Sales and Service. Customers can walk-in to check and compare features at the Live Smartphone Station. As customers walk in, a Tech Geek in the Walk at Work section is happy to help customers to solve their cell phone related problems.  Besides, on the choice is an array of Smart Phones on offer, a Plug In area features various accessories like dongles, and customers can buy Vodafone ZooZoo merchandise from the Take Me Home section. 3G Zone offers customers an interactive experience to explore and discover a world of data services on the mobile phone.
 
 
How do you budget for retail and your in store communication? Roughly what percentage of your marketing budget goes towards retail?
 
It is roughly, 15 % - 20% of our Marketing spends
 
Going further what are your plans in terms of expansion of retail outlets? Any other new format you would be exploring?
 
On an all-India basis, Vodafone has a robust network of approximately 8000 retail stores, comprising over 450 Vodafone Stores, approximately 1900 Vodafone Mini Stores and about 5600 ADVMS. With a footfall of 100 pp/sq.ft/month, Vodafone serves an average 5.5 million customers each month, across 23 circles in the country.  Vodafone has introduced innovative concepts in Indian telecom retail and will continue to find opportunities to provide unmatched experience and services to our customers.
   
Could you share the growth plans and journey in Bengal specifically, as you have come up with number of retail outlets within a very short span of time here? How many Angel Stores you are planning to open in this circle?
 
As a company policy, we do not comment on any forward looking statements but currently Vodafone's robust network in West Bengal is backed by 604 retail touch points and 1.38 lakhs distribution touch points. Keeping the usage pattern of the consumers of Kolkata in mind, we also have launched 14 ROTO stores to encourage internet adoption.
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