IMAGES Retail launches Retail Panchayat, India’s first industry-led intelligence-with-charity platform

IMAGES Retail, the flagship business magazine from IMAGES Group, is proud to announce the launch of Retail Panchayat, a first-ever, pan-India humanitarian campaign for Trust for Retailers and Retail Associates of India (TRRAIN) to support retail employees and their families impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
The Inaugural Retail Panchayat, on May 24, 2020, will be hosted by B S Nagesh, Founder, TRRAIN, and Amitabh Taneja, CMD, IMAGES Group. Guest speakers will include Darpan Kapoor, Chairman, Kapsons Group, Jitendra Chauhan, Chairman and Managing Director, Jade Blue and Manohar D Chatlani, CEO & MD, Soch Apparels, representing some of India’s most enduring regional fashion retail icons.
“Using retail intelligence as the vehicle, Retail Panchayat will function as as industry-driven, crowd-sourced financial aid programme to support the most vulnerable of the sector’s human resources, retail’s foot soldiers. Attendees will able to experience a series of insightful discussions among India’s retail leaders, while also using the retail Panchayat platform to offer contributions to retail employees negatively impacted by the current economic crisis,” says Amitabh Taneja, CMD, IMAGES Group.
“I have seen many crises in my career, but nothing compared to what’s happening with the COVID-19 pandemic. In a situation like this where stores are closed for two or three months and the future revenue being uncertain, it’ll be difficult for retail businesses to survive. These businesses will be cutting costs and laying off people, and hence we, at TRRAIN, have taken up the initiative to help support retail employees and their families who’ve lost their source of income through this crisis. We’re fortunate to have partners like Images, who believe in our cause, and have conceptualised Retail Panchayat, a first-ever, pan-India humanitarian campaign,” says B S Nagesh, Founder, TRRAIN.
The Panchayat will exchange ideas on possible solutions for the immediate crisis facing regional and national retailers across India, as well as long-term implications of changes in consumer behaviour, digital optimisation and economic climate. Collaborative initiatives to ease human resource woes, rethinking on existing business models, digital transformation routes, supply chain efficiencies, projections on consumer behaviour and long-term innovation ideas will be in focus.
India’s retail sector employs over 46 million of her citizens. A vast majority of them come from middle-income and lower-income salaried classes from across India’s urban, peri-urban and rural heartlands. Their livelihoods and futures are in immediate peril as retail businesses continue to be deeply damaged by the ongoing COVID-19 and economic crisis.
IMAGES Retail is working closely with TRRAIN, which has set up a relief fund to offer and provide sustenance support to deserving retail associates and their families over the next three months until the COVID-19 situation comes back to normalcy. The latter organization will identify retail employees who have no means of income post-April or May 2020 and provide them with an income bridge for three months until they are able to seek alternate employment. TRRAIN will also leverage government schemes by connecting the associates to them for short- & long-term relief.
The beneficiaries (retail employees) will also be on-boarded onto the TRRAIN Circle mobile app (an app to help and enable a better life for the frontline employees employed in retail & another sector) to have access to over the phone counseling services, additional financial services, and E-learning courses to develop skills & disbursement of financial aid.
Through the Relief Grant, TRRAIN will be offering to the beneficiaries:
– Rs 4,000 per beneficiaries over a period of 3 months
– Enrollment to Governments of India Relief schemes for grants starting from Rs 1,000
Retail Panchayat hopes to benefit over 5,000 families with much-needed financial support in these difficult times.
THE HUMAN COST (Source: RAI)
– Small retailers expect to lay off about 30 percent, mid-size retailers 12 percent and large retailers 5 percent of their respective workforce was a result on the COVID-19 crisis.
– Overall, 20 percent of the Indian retail workforce may be laid off.
About IMAGES Retail
The largest read monthly magazine in the Indian retail industry, ‘IMAGES Retail’ is a comprehensive and authoritative one-stop information resource for the top and middle level retail professionals.
A powerful catalyst for the profitable growth of the Indian retail industry, Images Retail covers the entire gamut of retail operations in India addressing key issues such as investments and opportunities in retailing, innovation in formats, store design & VM, merchandising, real estate, IT, supply chain & logistics, CRM and analytical reports backed by in-depth market & consumer research.
About TRRAIN
TRRAIN is a public charitable trust formed in 2011 by B. S. Nagesh, with the vision of Empowering People in Retail and works to achieve immediate and lasting change in the lives of retail associates in India. The trust is solely committed to upgrading the lives of people in retail, both at work and at home by being catalysts and thought leaders.
TRRAIN has undertaken various initiatives to build pride and dignity through the TRRAIN Retail Awards and Retail Employees Day. Pankh – Wings of Destiny & TRRAINHer Ascent their initiatives on building an inclusive & diverse retail workforce by skilling and employing People with Disabilities & women in retail roles respectively, have received tremendous support from the industry.