Guest post by Shri. H Goenka Esq. on the occasion of the anniversary

In the early 90s, when RPG first conceptualized organized retailing for the Indian markets, consumers in India were largely comfortable with the neighbourhood provision store as their mainstay for home supplies. We knew we were early, as with any pioneering effort and we knew we were in for a long haul. However when we launched, we had a very encouraging response to our small format stores scattered all across South India. Besides retailing food and grocery we were also selling music through the MusicWorld channel, which has today grown to become the largest music retail chain in the country. Footfalls were reasonable at the time, but more importantly we built a strong merchandising process and farm sourcing chain. Our biggest break came when we decided to enter the hypermarket segment. It was the first time anyone had attempted this format in India. To our surprise, the response was overwhelming. We even had to extend the operating hours to much later in the night to cater to the flow of customers. The first hypermarket was opened in Hyderabad followed by Chennai and Delhi. The smaller format which was sized midway between a supermarket and a daily store was growing but at a slow pace. We had about 80 stores by late 1990s and about 40 Music World Stores. By 2004 retailing was gaining momentum and the number of players increased. We stepped up our growth plans and in that process decided to go forward on our own under the Spencer's name. Geographically too we spread across to western, eastern and northern India beyond the south where we had a strong foothold. The last 5 years have been a period of high growth. It has been an immense challenge. We have ensured that our standards on quality and customer experience are not compromised as we grow in scale. Today we have come a long way with over 350 stores across 60 cities covering a retail trading area of 1.3 million square feet and over 4.5 million customers a month. India is a unique market for retailing with a complex consumer structure and buying pattern. We are optimistic of the future of retailing in India in its varied forms as it evolves and matures into what will be the largest segment of organized industry.

Regards,

H Goenka

Reminisces by Mr. P K Mohapatra about the launch

Guest Post by Mr. Raghu Pillai regarding the launch

" May 9th 1996". Ultimately History will be the judge; but I genuinely believe that this date marked the formal launch of "organised" retailing in India. The date and the details are etched in my memory as if it happened yesterday rather than almost 13 years ago. ......... The mad dash to the home at 3.30 in the morning from the store to change into a "Dhothi" for the puja starting at 4.30......... The anxious wait for the crowds........ The arrival of Shrimati M S Subbulakshmi and the almost magical two hours she spent at the store..... The sales that day... 3 odd lacs..... The press frenzy and the mad mad crowds in the evening...... The furious cops helplessly watching the worst traffic jam in Alwarpet’s history..... All those make memories, which will remain for a long long time.

I have been involved with over 1200 store openings post that day but the magic of 9th May 1996 will always be the freshest, most endearing and precious in my mind!

Raghu Pillai

Reminisces by Mr. S Raghunandan on his memories of the launch

Pictures of the launch of the 1st RPG Foodworld store

My personal view only!

Thanks to all the visitors who have viewed my posts and made the Hit counter cross 2,500 in a 45 day time span. The flip side to this is when there are questions addressed to me, of whom I favour? Or, do I represent anyone!!!

So, I thought of setting the record right. I represent India and Indian Retail. There is nothing partisan about my blog. Actually, there is nothing official about it!!! :-)

I am sharing memories, learnings and MY insights, while ensuring that nothing confidential or proprietary is in the public domain.

Hope all of you continue to visit “An Indian and A Retailer” as also spread the word amongst all your friends about this blog.

The Wallenda Factor

While chatting with a friend about keeping one’s self alive and well, he mentioned the term “Wallenda Factor”. I had to look it up in Google as it was a new term to me and what I found triggered some interesting thoughts in my mind.

Just in case there are others like me out there who have not heard of this, the Wallenda factor refers to the fear of falling or failing.

The full article can be read on this URL - http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/the-wallenda-factor/

Shrinkage and Shoplifting

I recently read a letter posted on a site by a lady about how she was traumatized when store staff suspected her of shop lifting and gave her a hard time. This set me thinking, especially when I read in another report that India has topped the Asia Pacific region in the Annual Global Retail Theft Barometer-2008 survey. Shrinkage is one of the bigger headaches for a corporate retailer and sometimes is the tipping point in making a store viable or not.

Very simply put shrinkage is the difference between the actual volume & value of the products in the store Vs what is being reported in the system.

There are various reasons why this happens and shoplifting or theft is one of them. There are various other reasons that contribute to this such as, wastage, improper billing, wrong receipt of goods, etc. I would focus on shoplifting in this post.

Most retailers tend to believe that customer theft is the largest contributor to shrinkage followed by employee theft.

How true and valid this is, is anyone’s guess. The reason I am skeptical is that just a few years ago, there have been reports of Employee theft being the single largest reason followed by customers. I find it funny that the trend has reversed, unless these very customers are being hired as staff nowadays!!!

The most common items for shop lifting are the obvious culprits. Expensive and branded products like perfumes, etc. or small impulse items like razors, blades, etc.

Now, the moot point is, Why do people do it? There is a small percentage of people who pursue this as a criminal career and also another group who are compulsive shoplifters or kleptomaniacs. But the majority is simply normal people who have succumbed to a moment of temptation coupled with an inability to pay.

On one hand I have seen our store staff apprehend a large group of women who would wear voluminous dresses and come to the store in Hyderabad as part of a well organized racket to literally cart away products after buying a few small items. On the other hand I have also witnessed an elderly man almost cry after he was intercepted for trying to take away a deodorant. His simple explanation was “I depend on my son and daughter-in-law nowadays and she says I don’t need any fancy products for my use. I sweat a lot and am miserable about it, plus don’t have money. It was just too tempting.”

Self service is here to stay as a retail concept. However in light of such instances, is there a social and human angle to keeping tempting products out of reach and behind a counter? If not, can we train the staff to differentiate and handle shoplifting differently, depending on the context?
Lastly, I also remember a lady who was intercepted with a few expensive cosmetics. Out came her phone and her spouse lands up. Incidentally he was a cop and surprisingly embarrassed by this instead of displaying the usual public servant bluster. No prizes for guessing what happened!