Harshvardhan Neotia, Chairman, Ambuja Realty spoke at length about the role of shopping centers and how their success can define the success of the industry as a whole. Ramesh Sanka, Director, DLF continued this discussion as he stated the importance of co-ordination amongst the mall owners, retailers and consumers and how revenue share rentals can create a win-win scenario in the sector.
Juvencio Maeztu, Country Manager, India, IKEA Group was the voice of the foreign investors and the company’s commitment to long term development in the nation energized the audience and strengthened their belief in the future of the industry. Maeztu spoke of the four pillars that IKEA leans on and which would help them formulate their strategy for India in the long run. Firstly they believe in democratic design that allows them to combine design, price along with quality and function, this is a part of the company’s DNA as they remain obsessed with low price. Secondly, they follow a production oriented holistic approach wherein they cater to the entire value chain from the production to meeting the needs of the consumer. Thirdly, for his store concept he says, “We don’t sell products. We sell solutions and in our stores we inspire people. We love people. We love families and that’s why we think we have come to the right place (India).” The people approach is their fourth pillar where as an organization they try to maintain a parallel between performance and delivery along with learning and development in their business approach.
Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo India Manu Anand called on the retailers to partner with FMCG companies which could reduce supply chain costs, create category captaincy, help in gathering and leveraging insights and promote basis role of the category. Anand claimed this would be a win-win strategy in the long journey of growth the industry has ahead.
From retailers, manufacturers to retail real estate owners the inaugural session covered all aspects of the industry and the present scenario but the present is a product of the past and harbinger of the future. Thus to conclude this optimistic morning session Kishore Biyani, Founder and Group CEO Future Group, the man who has defined modern retail in India spoke of the retail timeline and began by comparing it to a human life cycle. In the early times when retail had just emerged and it witnessed great level of excitement from the masses on the opening of new format stores like Shopper’s Stop the industry was in its infancy. With time retail has penetrated 20 - 30 % in a modern city and after a point the cost of penetration escalates and creates a need for new customer base. “India has 600 billion dollar consumption and every retailer will look at the Indian market. FDI in retail will create a new business environment and help the industry mature,” added Biyani.
