Good Bye 2022, Hello ‘23

 

Here’s wishing you all a Happy Calendar Year 2023. May this new year bring a lot of happiness and cheer to everyone. On this day last year, I was working for Specsmakers, leading Sales & Marketing for the 10 year-old brand, the largest optical retail network in South India and the third largest in the country with 250+ stores back then. Around the same time, the scare for a third wave of the dreaded Covid-19 infection was all over the place. It had a new code-name: Omicron! Government of India as well as various State Governments advised several measures, including shutting down of retail stores, malls and commercial establishments over the weekends. Andhra Pradesh took no measure and maintained status quo; Tamil Nadu advised shutting down only on Sundays; Karnataka, however advised a closure for the entire weekend. Most Indians remained in a huge sense of anxiety over their careers, professions, businesses, kids’ education and so on. However, all these worries were put in the backburner as Omicron had limited or very marginal impact on most of us.

This is when the government pushed us to take the second vaccine, which ensured a quick and safe turnaround for the ailing Retail sector, which had taken the worst beating for the previous 18 months, ever since the first lockdown began in Mar. ’20. 

My career too, zoomed along with the fledgling economy. I managed to get back to the apparel industry, jumping ship to Indian Terrain, a 2-decade old brand, most famous for its shirts, especially the Madras Checks. The company operates over 210+ stores across India and I was responsible for the entire retail business, managing a turnover upwards of Rs. 250 Cr pa. Sales, Marketing & Branding, Merchandising, New stores expansion, Project Management, Visual Merchandising and Staff training, all rolled into me. In a span of less than 6 months, I managed to visit 96 stores across India, from Guwahati to Ahmedabad, Chandigarh to Nagercoil and many in between. The month of September was among the busiest in my career, according to Google Trips, which maintains a record of where I went, what I did and so on. 

Onam was the first big campaign that I undertook, visiting the state of Kerala 45 days before the festival and screening the markets. We sensed a huge opportunity with the return of NRI Malayalees to their home towns after a gap of 2 years, due to Covid-19 led travel restrictions. Interestingly and unfortunately, the sales uptick that was envisaged didn’t happen. One, there was a severe rain around the festival week; second and most importantly, sales (for most other brands as well) remained flat before and during the peak shopping weak. This was a learning of sorts. It is not necessary that Sales would surge only before the peak season, for the graph has been on the upward trend since Feb-Mar. ’22. We witnessed somewhat the same across North & West India, just around Diwali as well. No surprises here. 

However, sales for the entire retail industry surrounding fashion, apparel, accessories and lifestyle had reached pre-2019 levels or at par. On the contrary, many brands saw a volume decline (in Sales), but these were due to the making of the brands themselves. Wrong choice of (new) locations, unavailability of merchandise at the right moment and most importantly, staff demotivation due to reasons such as salaries remaining flat, lower than expected & delayed disbursement of incentives for the previous FY and overall lack of interest in the working environment are some of the key reasons why many brands faltered. 

I moved out from the company in November due to differences with the Management. No regrets though, every tenure and every day is a learning after all. Over the past 2 months, I have been introspecting on some of the measures I had taken (or rather not) which led to two quick exists in less than 2 financial years. I am hoping (and working towards) that 2023 and beyond is going to be a more stable period ahead. Everything is in my hands, of course! Happy New Year 2023 once again to everyone and may this year be joyful to all of us! Cheers. 

RED letter day

As the calendar year 2022 ends, I complete the distinction of my “silver Jubilee” year in Retail. I started my career scooping ice-cream in 1997 at India’s second and Chennai’s first outlet of 

Baskin Robbins. Last weekend when I walked passed by that location, I took a photo of that store where another respectable global brand exists now. But it may soon be gone as Chennai Metro Rail works are on nearby. The impact of such civil infrastructure on retailers is immense but that’s for another article, another day. 

Just last week, I had shared a note on World Civil Aviation Day and the image I used for that tweet was that of Air India. Little did I realise that the first aero-trip I took was exactly 20 years ago and it was on an Air India flight too. And the best part was, that the trip was for an interview to Mumbai, with Shoppers Stop. I convinced the HR manager then to get me an air ticket instead of the standard rail fare, a rarity those days. I didn’t choose that position and life moved on. But then, when I look back, there has been so much that has been showered on my by this retail ecosystem for the past 2.5 decades. I cannot thank everyone who have been involved in “My Retail Journey” all these years to make me who I am today.

12.12 is a very important day of the year in the Indian Retail ecosystem even as most large retailers as well as small retail businesses including regional retail chains celebrate the day with much fanfare. Retail Employees Day was first celebrated a decade back and has since  garnered momentum with most CXOs of large retail organisations pitching in with their support. On this day, employees are celebrated for their unstinted efforts, thanked with small and large goodies and gifts and most of all, made to feel special for the sometime-thankless efforts they offer to their customers and their masters. In many cases, employees are recognised for their non-work related  From back then when I stared my retail career to now, so much has changed in the way consumers shop. And the staff members of retail establishments across the pyramid have always kept themselves in tune with their customers.

Let me share an anecdote of how my first employer made me and my colleagues “feel good” everyday – at Baskin Robbins. 

Though it was a neighbourhood ice-cream parlour, it was an American brand and certainly carried an “international tag” when compared to the domestic ones around. Therefore, the clientele was also more discerning and demanding. We were a team of 5 – 2 in the morning shift and 3 for the second shift. All of us were college students or had just finished. Given our age, our modest familial backgrounds and our tendency (perhaps) to have a bite of the beloved ice-creams, I guess he came up with an interesting idea. The Franchisee said that every day, each of us were allowed to sample one scoop of ice-cream on the house after making a note in the register. It was a learning exercise for us, so we know the taste of each of the flavours as well as to ensure we were not sampling it ourselves “off the book”. After a fortnight, we had tasted almost all the flavours amongst ourselves and requested if we could instead take the scoops home. He agreed but after a fortnight, even the folks at home were bored of eating them. 

The franchisee had successfully accomplished two things – ensured the staff wouldn’t steal the ice-cream and instead, take it officially whenever they wished to. More than a view to police us, I saw it as a great way to keep the flock engaged. It was his way to thank us everyday for our wor k, especially since it was the first self-service outlet where the customer was expected to remove their leftover cups and drop them off in the bin – much to their chagrin. So, when some of them sulked, we had to go the extra mile, but the Boss was already rewarding us. It was always a quid pro-quo, after all. There is an age old saying in retailing – take care of your employees and they will take care of the customers (and the business). Very few business owners are walking the talk. And it shows in the business outcomes, after all.

Vande Bharath - Train experience

Travelled to Bangalore earlier this week. Having travelled innumerable times on Shatabdi earlier, the journey was more or less similar. The ceiling looks sleek and refreshing, so are the interiors. At the look of it, seems the makers have used high-quality materials which gives a (relatively) premium feel of travel.

Because of it’s build quality, the ride quality was far superior. The usual jerk that we face in normal trains was missing in this one, especially while crossing tracks, picking up speed or slowing down, etc. In a crude language, the ride was as different as an automatic vs. manual gear shift in a Car.  Food (and it’s quality) is almost the same as in Shatabdi. Except that morning b/f had a Kesari ( a typical south indian sweet). in the plate. The presentation in aluminium containers spoils the otherwise premium feel of the train, but I guess there are fewer options otherwise.

Assuming that these pax have the wherewithal to spend on discretionary spends, what if one can preorder food at an additional yet nominal cost? As a diabetic, I may want to skip the Kesari and order something else. A low-sugar tea pack instead of a normal one. This could be done while booking the tickets, or a reminder SMS could be sent 48 hours before the date of travel. Of course, various other products like mobile Chargers, earphones, etc. could be sold inside the train through a catalogue, with an e-brochure being sent along with the ticket by email.

The seats are quite thinner (like in an Indigo flight) yet comfortable. What was very un-Indian was the water bottle holder was placed near the footrest. In Shatabdi trains, it is placed near the food train which is indeed cumbersome But to place it near the feet - poor design.

The plugs for charging devices are now placed in each seat unlike one per row in Shatabdi. Except that is is located right below the seat! I mean, who even designs all this? For older people, especially senior citizens, this is going to be super difficult. Of course, the design team has made up for this with a slick tray for keeping a laptop, table or even a mobile phone for viewing / watching media. 

The train’s speed and other details are displayed on a digital screen. At many times during the trip, the train’s speed crossed 100 kmph. I am sure, that over time this will improve drastically, making the “Vande Bharath” a super fast and safe train to travel. The rest room has been designed well and looks classy, similar to an airplane. There is a handrail for passengers to hold, while seated or standing (as the case may be) and the entire cabin is more spacious than ever.

The automatic doors which are within the coach are now for ingress and egress to the main coach. Quite an international feel (though Metro rails already have it). I hope they integrate the doors with a QR code, so one can scan the same with their Aadhar biometrics and enter. We can get rid of the role of a TTE. Though humans will find ways to fool the system, I am sure this is just a matter of time.

To punish the haters, there is a video of the train’s inauguration done by Hon’ble Prime Minister at Bangalore on 11 Nov. ‘22, which runs in loop. 

The only negative - if at all, is that the train departs and reaches almost at the same time as the Shatabdi Express. Not sure if they would curtail any of them in the near term or would retain both. Also, to reach the station earlier than the Shatabdi - Vande Bharath departs at 5.50am from Chennai and the Shatabdi at 6am is a pain, especially to get a taxi / public transportation. This could be well overcome by aligning the Metro Rail which comes to the Chennai Central Railway Station.

Overall, very well done ICF and Indian Railways.

Vande Bharath.

Vande Maatharam.

Jai Hind.