In an elaborate discussion with IndiaRetailing.com, Vasanth Kumar, Executive Director, Max Fashions talks about their pragmatic step of associating with Flipkart.com and how and why omni-channel retailing will become market reality for the retail sector.
Talking about the organised retail, Vasanth Kumar, says, “Organised Retail is growing well at over 20 per cent CAGR. This growth is owing to mall expansion as well as aggressive expansion plans by Indian and international retail players.
Max has 110 stores across 45 cities and it is opening one new store every 12 days. Typically, a new Max store is spread around 12,000 sq.ft. area, with investment of Rs. 4–5 crore (for both stock as well as fit-outs) funded primarily out of internal accruals.
Further talking about the penetration of online retailing in Indian market, Kumar, opines, “Online is fast emerging as a critical channel for both browsing as well as shopping by Internet users. This also enables web rooming (research online, shop offline) as well as show rooming (research offline, shop online). Essentially, this gives customers the flexibility and choice of shopping opportunities to suit their convenience. All these trends help in category penetration and increased consumption.”
Talking about their collaboration with Flipkart.com, Kumar says, “Flipkart provides us a good platform to connect with millennial customers as well as other internet users to browse and buy goods and services across categories.”
He further adds, “Omni-channel retailing is an effective route to enhance customer experience and brand loyalty to the respective omni-channel players. It also helps in integrating offline and online into a seamless brand experience. Hence, it is bound to become a market reality.”
Giving his opinion on the ‘Make in India’ campaign launched by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Kumar, states, “Make in India’ campaign gives an excellent opportunity for Indian manufacturers to achieve high growth, through large-scale manufacturing, leveraging, manpower and technology, which are relatively easier to access.
He further adds, “‘Make in India’ campaign will benefit e-tailing, since it opens up opportunities for small and medium size vendors to directly participate in e-commerce, thereby increasing overall consumption in the Indian market.”
