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That retailers have certainly taken the first few steps in understanding customer needs and desires is reflected in the product width and depth on offer. A lot of work has gone into offering consumers an international retail ambience and shopping experience.
Store design is today in sync with the feel of the brand; large destination stores are the norm rather than an exception. With retailers realising plain vanilla offerings won't work anymore, the accent today is on the fashionable and trendy.
Says J. Suresh, Managing Director, Arvind Brands and Lifestyle, which has strengthened its portfolio to include more than just the formalwear brand Arrow, “We launched sportswear through US Polo and Izod. We also relaunched the denim brand Flying Machine with a stronger youth orientation.”
The customer is also being accorded more importance than before. Liberal exchange policies, customised services and loyalty benefits are some of the key changes we have seen in recent years.
Max Retail, for instance, has even stationed stylists from NIFT to help people put together the right ensemble. Madura Garments is going the extra mile to ensure that if a garment in a particular fit or colour is not readily available in a store, it would be sourced from other stores and home-delivered at no extra cost.
Says Sharad Mehra, Senior Vice-President and Head of textile division, Technopak Advisors, “There is more attention on understanding who the customer is and what he wants so there is much less trial and error. Retailers have understood regional differences in India — what sells in Delhi may not necessarily sell in Kolkata. This invaluable domain knowledge will be an incredible base to build growth strategies on.”
Madura, for instance, is moving from ‘I like blue, let me make a blue collection next' thinking to a research-based approach.
It has institutionalised a measure called ‘Brand Track' which tracks how its group brands and brands from competition are faring on benchmarks such as top-of-mind recall, advertising, retail ambience, quality, fashionability, fit and perception, every quarter.
It also does ‘Coffee and Conversations' where the company processes feedback from 50-60 critical CRM members.
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