Leadership is an influence. One doesn’t lead by pointing at a place and asking people to go there. One leads by going to that place and making a case. Similarly, leaders from different brands had to lead from the front in this fight for survival.
The last one year was time for some serious strategic planning, decision making, investing in new areas, resuming business, implementing digitization, technology, innovations and also ensuring safety to the employees and consumers.
One such leader, who helped lead his brand out of the crisis and direct it on to the path to normalcy was Himanshu Khunteta, Founder, Tvisha Jewlz. In an exclusive chat with IMAGES Retail Bureau, he talked about how his brand faqred during the pandemic and how they worked to bring back consumers and increase sales.
From your brand’s perspective, how did you fare during the lockdown and what was the consumer response in the initial Unlock phase?
The lockdown helped us in creating future plans, along with analyzing and organising the business better. We received a good response from consumers, as they were looking for deals and fulfillment of other pending demands.
What steps did you take to bring the brand firmly on the road to recovery?
We did firm planning and initiated them during lockdown. We focused on 360 degree marketing and it helped the brand to recover.
Did you emphasize more on a digital presence in this time period or did you opt for the traditional retail model with minor adjustments?
We initiated a mixture of both traditional and digital presence across all possible platforms. The approach was done only on the appointment basis. We made video calls to consumers and it helped in short listing and initiating further conversion as per their requirement.
Which are the new technologies – both in-store & online – that you have introduced in an effort to go contactless?
We introduced in-store shortlisting on the iPad and provided information to the customer by showing the inventory of the range and the pattern.
How has been the consumer response been like in the festival season? Were you able to match the level of business and profit last year?
The response was good in comparison to the festival season last year, but the expectation was low. The demand level increased and customers did come out of their homes for shopping and the conversion rate was good. However, the business and revenue couldn’t reach to the level of last year.
Has the brand reached pre-COVID levels in terms of sales? If no, how much more time will be required to reach the same?
To reach same levels every industry needs to recover. In our case, we are a luxury product and people need to have enough savings to spend on this category in the current pandemic situation. The end of the new year (2021) should see good returns, of this we are confident.
How much has the company grown under your leadership during COVID? What are your future plans?
It is more about standing strong than being adventurous in this period. We have waited patiently and have prepared our store and technology and are now ready to meet all consumer demands in the coming months.
