Apparel Online India Magazine March 1st Issue 2019 | Page 47

INDIA’S PREMIER SOURCING SHOW growing aspirations, democratization of information, media exposure, young demographics, rising spending power and improving lifestyle standards. CHANGING PROFILE OF FRANCHISEE ENTREPRENEURS An important essence for its success has been our association with like-minded franchisees who have brought alive the immersive Raymond experience through their market knowledge, hands-on operations and adherence to the operating business-framework. In our pursuit of nurturing entrepreneurs, over 50 per cent of new stores have been opened by the first-time entrepreneurs. This has broaden the horizon of our franchise partnership with new flavors of entrepreneurs and professionals coming from different industries and looking at fashion retail in a completely new perspective. With the Agile & Asset-lite model, these entrepreneurs are more receptive to opening a retail outlet, although they have no formal background in retail. FIVE PILLARS FOR FRANCHISEES More than just a transactional relationship, the company strongly believes in an ethic-based relationship with its franchisees. Apart from the financial hygiene, entrepreneurs need to be obsessive about their customers, provide value for money and yet best-in-class product and services, along with relationship-building skills. Additionally, they also need to blend their business values with 5 cultural pillars for Raymond – they need to have the bias for Action, Transparency, Accountability, Collaborations and Meritocracy. NURTURING INNOVATION With the approach of ‘keeping the customer at the heart of every activity’, the franchise model truly encourages the entrepreneurial spirit. Franchisee partners are empowered to recognise and leverage opportunities through well-structured engagement plans. With the idea of empowering franchises and generating sustained buzz at stores, the team worked on a robust framework of Local Store Marketing (LSM). From 621 LSM activations in 2017, the team propelled to over 10,000 LSM store activations in 2018 and momentum continues this year with team setting new milestones. Through LSM, we intended to be the catalyst in bringing about mind-set change and drive exponential growth by challenging status-quo, setting new benchmarks in empowerment and bringing alive immersive customer experience at our stores. GROWTH MANTRA We have a mantra for growth that we internally refer to as 5Gs of growth. These 5 dimensions of growth are competitive growth (grow faster than the competition); profitable growth (positive EBIT); sustainable growth (continuous year-on-year); inclusive growth (company and franchise partners); and experiential growth (enhancing customer experience). www.apparelresources.com | MARCH 1-15, 2019 | Apparel Online India 47