At the office of apparel firm Arvind Brands & Retail, the mood is clear. Danglers, posters, coffee cups and even screen savers are screaming only three figures: sales of Rs 460 crore, EBITA of Rs 46 crore, in four months. “We are motivating all the 2,800-plus frontline staff of the company to work towards achieving this goal during the July-Oct months,” says Mr Nagaraj V., HR Head, Arvind Brands.
Traditionally, Q3 is crucial for retailers. For some, the period yields sales revenues almost equal to the total sales of the other three quarters, thus requiring additional incentivising of sales staff. At Indus League, for this festival, there is a 30 per cent growth in targets over last year. As for incentives, the company has weekly incentives, contests and challenges for highest sales per square foot. “This motivates employees to win awards like a camera or a smart phone,” says Ms Rachna Aggarwal, CEO and Director, Indus League.
Croma, the electronics retail chain of the Tata Group, will reap the benefit of an HR decision it took some months ago. “In April we decided to employ only Croma staff across all our stores. This is to help consumers compare products and also push all products equally well,” says Mr Ajit Joshi, CEO and MD, Infiniti Retail that runs Croma. The company is already realising the benefit of this move (in terms of sales) which will enhance during the festive season, he adds.
Mr Govind Shrikhande, Managing Director, Shoppers Stop, says incentives during Q3 are always higher by at least 10 per cent for frontline staff, compared to other quarters.
Talent hiring
From the talent hiring side, too, for the first time, Indian retail chains have started planning for festival sales at least three months before the period sets in, says Mr Hari Menon, CEO, IndiaSkills, a vocational training company from the Manipal Group. The number of batches for training in all major cities across the country has been doubled in the last three months. “There is a big surge in demand for training from retail companies now.”