-Sandipa Padhi
PGDM, Class of 2015
Vignana Jyoyhi Institute of Management (VJIM), Hyderabad
Industry-Institute interface sessions at Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management (VJIM), Hyderabad are highly anticipated because they offer a brilliant opportunity for students to learn from the best in the business. The session held on 9th Sept was no different as it brought Mr. P. Venkat Kumar, Assistant Unit Head, Operations, Big Bazaar, Ameerpet, Hyderabad to the campus to share his views and insight on the subject of Retail Management. With him he brought his vast experience in the field to help students understand what it is all about and how they can excel in it.
The Retail Industry has always been considered to be one which is versatile, dynamic and filled with different opportunities. Mr. Kumar also reminded the gathering that the Indian Retail Industry is one of the largest in the world and is estimated to be over USD 450 billion. Moreover the industry is in a high growth phase, and is expected to grow continuously for the next two decades. There are many new changes on the anvil, including the much talked about FDI approval. Hence it was a timely session for the students, who stood to gain a lot from it.
Mr. Kumar wasn’t to disappoint as he helped them understand the basics of Retail Management. According to him, “It includes various processes, which help customers procure the desired merchandise from the retail stores for their end use. It has all the steps required to bring customers into the store and fulfill their buying needs. Retail management makes shopping a pleasurable experience for customers who can shop without difficulty and leave the store with a smile on their faces.”
For those who might be interested in Retail industry or even aspire to open a retail outlet of their own, Mr. Kumar had a few pointers to consider. “The location of the store, population of the area, customer convenience, pre-capita income of that area and the mix of community are the factors that you have to remember,” he suggested. He then explained the importance of these factors with an example of Big Bazaar outlet in Hyderabad that couldn’t make profits because the pre-capita income of the population in the area worked out to be a hindrance.
In fact, Mr. Kumar’s lecture was interspersed with several anecdotes from his own professional experiences that made things easier to understand for students. He reminded them that Big Bazaar had 200 different formats of retail outlets all over the country because of the above mentioned factors. He then offered valuable insight into an important element of retail; layout of a store. He stated that it includes manpower, product mix, ambience, parking facility, licensing, visibility of the building, which one should pay attention to.
Mr. Kumar then dug into his experiences with Big Bazaar to talk about critical factors that impact retail stores. “Stocks are important and we try to keep them high. Staff should be well trained and have job satisfaction, which is why we rotate them. But the most important thing is to make sure your customers are happy. That’s the reason we have started Wednesday Bazaar and other offers during festive seasons,” he added. Clearly these strategies have hit their mark, as did his talk with the VJIM students.