Apparel Online India Magazine March 1st Issue 2019 | Page 44

H O W T O S U C C E E D I N T H E I N D I A N R E TA I L I N D U S T RY
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is a huge element that has already made its
inroad to the global retail industry and now India too is
following similar path. The need to take an active stance on
social issues, satisfy consumer demands keeping sustainability
intact and provide transparency on sourcing of garments
are becoming more important than ever. Millennials, in
particular, are interested in more sustainable solutions, and
are willing to spend more on brands that are sustainable.
Besides, the consumers are paying attention and 93 per cent
of global consumers expect their brands to support social and
environmental issues; so the retailers and manufacturers are
complying with the same.
Many brands are trying to act more responsibly, signing up for
industry initiatives that support workers’ rights etc. and are
re-engineering their manufacturing processes, but still there is
a long way to go.
An important force behind the growing sustainability movement
is the realisation that sustainability leadership can serve as
a real source of differentiation. As an organisation, we firmly
believe in this and have worked on re-engineering some of the
processes to get better revenue benefits. Taking a step ahead,
we have also taken the route of providing longevity to products
through high quality merchandise.
Satyen Momaya
CEO, Celio, Future Fashion
T
he Indian retail industry has emerged as one of the most
dynamic and fast-paced industries due to the entry of several
new players. The country is the fifth-largest destination in the
global retail space, making the Indian apparel industry the
second largest contributor to the retail industry.
On the back of factors like lifestyle changes by middle class,
rising income, increasing manufacturing sector coupled
with strong economic fundamentals and growing tech-savvy
consumers, India is becoming an important market which no
international brand can ignore. Still for many global companies,
it has not been an easy run to enter; hence for many brands, it
has remained a market for future always. India is a complex
market that presents challenges as well as opportunities at the
same time.
But to crack the code, companies definitely need to get their
business model right to succeed in this country. Simultaneously,
they should also address the consumer diversity in the Indian
market, work on building scale and get their pricing strategy
right. Along with fulfilling these basic conditions to succeed,
the ones which continue to succeed will have to come to terms
with the fact that in the new paradigm taking shape around
them, some of the old rules simply don’t work. These players
now need to be nimble to achieve even faster speed to market,
,provide genuine heel to sustainability, use some of the digital
solutions to win the consumers across all the bricks-and-mortar
and e-commerce channels apart from building talent first
organisation.
44 Apparel Online India | MARCH 1-15, 2019 | www.apparelresources.com
In fact as a support and appreciation to some of our
sustainability initiatives, we have received a big score which has
provided further boost to these initiatives.
DIGITAL
The growth in the apparel sector is also being driven by
increasing tech awareness among consumers. Over 10 years ago,
technology was for the few, with just five million smartphones
in a country of 1.2 billion people and only 45 million
Internet users. Since then, these figures have increased to 355
million and 460 million, respectively in 2018. The millennial
consumers seek to purchase exactly the products they discover
immediately. And to live up to these expectations, brands like
us decided to increase the retail footprint across channels in the
country. We, as a brand, understand the consumer preferences
and behaviour. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are
today helping brands to predict and forecast assortments better.
Some of these technology solutions are helping our brand to
achieve a stronger product assortment, which is more relevant
in the market.
INVESTMENT IN BUILDING TALENT-FIRST
ORGANISATION
While the retail landscape is changing and digital is
transforming the way consumers are making their decision,
there has hardly been any big progress on building people
competencies on the retail floor or in some other functions at the
back-end. For an organisation to continue to succeed and deliver
an elevated experience to the digital savvy consumers, it calls
for prioritising competency building and capital investments
to build a talent first organisation and digital first mindset.
This for me has to be the CEO or senior management team’s
important priority.