A two-day assembly of top national and regional retailers that began in Kolkata today reaffirmed the East India growth story and urged players from all over India to benefit from the region’s demographic dividend and the largely untapped customer base.
The East India Retail Summit (EIRS) 2012 at ITC Sonar, Kolkata, organized by the Images Group, began on a note of high optimism. In his welcome address, Images Group Director and CEO Jayant Kochar highlighted the enormous potential that East India, with its high population density and the rising aspirations of its customers, offers to national and global retailers.
The attitude of customers in East India is changing drastically from traditional to more contemporary and fashion-oriented, asserted Bata India MD Rajeev Gopalakrishnan. He said that sensing this transformation, Bata is increasing its store sizes and looks, and has decided that all its new outlets in the region will be a minimum of 3,000 sq.ft.
“We are experiencing an impressive growth of 30 to 40 percent in some areas of the East, such as Patna, Ranchi, and Jamshedpur, and have lined up a major expansion plan in the region,” he said. “Out of the 100 stores that we plan to open India-wide, 25 will be opened in the Eastern region alone. We currently have 200 Bata stores in the East, and not a single one is losing money.”
Addressing the audiences, Sushil Mohta, MD, Merlin Projects, talked about the immense contribution of modern retail to the region’s economy. “For example, South City, one of the biggest retail developments in East India, does sales of about Rs 600 crore annually and contributes Rs 100 crore to the exchequer every year. It directly employs 2,500 people. The purchasing power of Indians will grow four times by 2030 and the country will need about 700 to 900 million sq.ft. of built-up space – equal to two Mumbais — every year by then. To make this growth possible, we need to urgently change the urban development regulations and archaic laws.”
Vineet Kapila, President and CEO, Spencer’s Retail, said that it is very important for the retailers in the increasingly competitive world to become customer-centric. “The biggest challenge for retailers in the region is how to effectively measure the customer centricity and service quality of their stores. At Spencer’s we have put a monthly scoring system to measure customer centricity and the difference it has made on the shop floor is very encouraging. Mall and high-street developers should work with retailers to co-create models for mutual benefit.”
Kapila said that East India has 30 percent of India’s total population and the population density it offers to retailers is fantastic, which directly translates into higher volumes. “This natural demographic advantage of the region is not recognized by many retailers,” he added.
The East India Retail Summit (EIRS) 2012 brings together the biggest national and regional retailers under one roof. After receiving an overwhelming response to the first edition if EIRS 2011, the EIRS 2012 has already emerged as a powerful information platform where retailers discuss and share their experiences and growth opportunities for the East India region.
The day-long even had sessions on topics such as scaling up nationally, franchising and the dynamics of renting out spaces from national developers by regional retailers. The day will conclude by a colorful and lively brand show, followed by the much-coveted Images East India retail awards.
-Shubhra Saini
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