K Raheja Group-owned Shoppers Stop plans to open 24 stores by FY14.”We plan to open 24 new stores in the next three years. To start with, we would be opening eight-nine Shoppers Stop stores in the current fiscal,” Group Chief Financial Officer, C B Navalkar said.

Presently, the company has 38 stores across the country, with a total retail space of about 2.3-million square feet. Apart from the Shoppers Stop departmental stores, the company has five specialty retail formats like Home Stop (home furnishing), Mothercare (baby care), Crosswords (books & music), Estee Lauder (cosmetics) and Mac (cosmetics). The company is also present in the hypermarket space at 9 locations across the country through its 51% subsidiary-—Hypercity (food, grocery and general merchandise).

Arvind Ltd eyes 100 exclusive stores this year

Mumbai/Vadodara: With the launch of its first ‘Arvind Experience Store’ in Gujarat at Vadodara, denim major Arvind Ltd. is eyeing 100 stores by the end of the financial year 2011-12. The store in Vadodara is the company’s eighth in the country after seven stores in Andhra Pradesh.

Talking about the future plans, Sanjay Lalbhai, chairman and managing director, Arvind Ltd. said, “We have already launched these stores in Andhra Pradesh. With the first store in Gujarat being launched, we are planning to add 92 more stores this year to hit the 100 stores mark.” ‘Arvind Experience Store’ is a first of its kind for the fabric retail channel. The Arvind store is a modern and futuristic layout to house all of Arvind’s products. By offering customised tailoring and the best of Arvind’s ready-made brands, the store is a complete lifestyle destination. Efforts have been taken to ensure that the store not only lives up to today’s retailing standards but also creates its own unique positioning in the market.

The ‘Arvind Experience Store’ is built up on massive area of 2000 sq ft in Vadodara and will house world-class brands like US POLO Association, Flying Machine and Arrow.

Talking further about the store, Lalbhai said, “Arvind Denim Labs, a concept exclusive to the Arvind store, will, for the very first time, customize washed jeans for their customers. Every denim order will be made in Arvind’s factory exact to the customer’s specifications, with each and every detail customized to their preferences.” With this offering, the company also presented for the first time in India, hand crafted bespoke denim. The denim section of ‘Arvind Experience Store’ will cater to a segment ideal for the youth and for work wear.

Studio Arvind, the customized tailoring offering of the Arvind store, is expected to bring to the fore all of Arvind’s knowledge in creating world-class garments. Not only do they provide customized garments but will also offer different styles and fits for each category.

Source: Business Standard

A sales person is the key player in the retail sector. He/she is the one who sells all the merchandise that is brought in the retail store. He is the link between the buyer and the producer. He/she the whole sole responsible for the retail selling of merchandises that comprise of apparel, furniture, home-appliances, motor cycle and groceries, etc. His/her effective selling skills contribute significantly towards the growth of the business.

Some of the frequently asked questions that are essential to crack the Retail Sales Interview are enlisted as under:

1. Describe yourself?

This is the first ice breaking question through which your interviewer wants to initiate a formal discussion. You need to be cautious before answering this question and try to give a crisp reply to impress your prospective employer. Specify your academics, professional qualifications and working experience only. Advisably, do not talk about your family until you are asked for it.

2. How do you learn about the product knowledge?

Try to start answering this question with the importance of product knowledge. Now you can say that there are a number of ways to learn about a product. Informational material, training, experience, talking to other employees and internet are some of the prominent sources to gather product knowledge.

3. What special skills that you think you have related to sales?

Excellent interpersonal skills, flexibility, consistency, diligence and customer service orientation are some of the key skills that you can add in your answer.

4. How do you find yourself fit for the retail sales?

You can talk about the special trainings and experience that you have received throughout your career. Give a thrust upon the consultative selling skills and your ability to please the customers with your excellent analytical bend of mind.

The above listed questions with your confidence and the optimistic approach can help you in surpassing the interview process with ease.

Planet Sports, one of India’s largest multi-brand sports and lifestyle specialty retail chains, has launched its first store in Amritsar. Spread over 2400 sq.ft, the outlet is situated at Mall Road.

At the launch, Ravdeep Singh, CEO, Sports Division – Pantaloon Retail India Ltd said, “It’s been some time that we have been wanting to bring Planet Sports to Amritsar where consumers every day are seeking to renew and redefine their lifestyle. There is no doubt that the lifestyle segment is burgeoning in Amritsar where, we feel, top Planet Sports brands would bring a welcome change in the way sports lifestyle is seen and consumed. And this is the right time to do so for us.”

The store will be a one-stop shop for all sports related needs and will offer the consumers a never-before opportunity for shopping sports and lifestyle products sensitive to consumer needs across different categories like Team Sport, Individual Sport, Outdoor, Lifestyle and Casuals. The brand offers an extensive range of international sports & lifestyle brands such as Converse, Skechers, Wilson, Speedo, Reebok, Nike, Adidas, Spalding, Lotto and Puma to name a few.

With this launch, Planet Sports has 54 exclusive stores across the country.

Source:indiaretailing.com

Aditya Birla Retail Limited (ABRL) launched its fourth hypermarket — More Megastore in Indore. Speaking at the launch, Thomas Varghese, CEO, ABRL said, “Our vision is to consistently provide the Indian consumer a complete and differentiated shopping experience. This hypermarket is a step in this direction.” There are large aisles and 23 cash counters to facilitate quick billing and free parking space for over 300 cars for hassle free traffic, informed Varghese.

The store has more than 35,000 variants of products, spread over an area of 60,000 square feet, across a wide range of categories including Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Large range of Personal Care products, Youth Fashion, Footwear, Luggage, Steel Utensils and other Home needs, Kids toys, Sports, Local foods, Latest electronics, mobiles and computers, Clothing and Footwear for ladies, men and children. ABRL has already 640 supermarkets and three other Hypermarkets across country.

The store has a wide choice of private labels, which will give a minimum 10 per cent saving over similar brands. Besides private label all products at the store are priced low and with many deals and special discounts, guaranteeing more savings, clarified Varghese.

Source: www.indiaretailing.com

Arrival of big retailers has had an impact on small grocers, but neighbourhood stores are still growing their sales, although at a much lower rate than modern trade, according to data from market research firm The Nielsen Company .

Since 2006, when most big retailers either entered the retail space or began expanding their network, sales in local kiranas have grown in the low single digits even less than the GDP growth rate, while modern trade has grown in strong double digits, though at a much lower base.

For instance, sales at modern stores grew 34 per cent in 2006 and 29.3 per cent in 2010. Traditional stores could increase sales only 1.5 per cent in 2006, but improved the growth rate to 6.2 per cent last year.

The data comes at a time the government finally moves closer to allowing multinational retailers such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour open shops in the country after several years of debates, protests and lobbying. Critics, including the Left and the BJP, say such a move will impact the livelihood of small shopkeepers and traders, but the thinking in government circles is that this will help check rising food prices by removing several layers of middlemen between farmers and consumers.

Organised retail accounts for less than 10 per cent of India’s retail market estimated at close to $400 million. The Boston Consulting Group estimates the size of organised retail market at $28 billion and expects it to grow nine times to $260 billion in 10 years.

Nielsen says Indians have embraced modern retail.

“The Indian Shopper has discovered modern retail and is increasingly shopping there,” says Nielsen’s Executive Director for Retail and Shopper Practice Dipita Chakraborty. This trend is fueled by the growth in number of modern stores, she adds.

The study shows that the frequency of consumers going to large stores has increased. More than 37 per cent consumers visited modern trade stores every month this year, up from 30 per cent last year.

Reliance Retail President Bijou Kurien attributes this to more options that big retailers offer to consumers. “In mom-and-pop stores, customer has to be very specific with what they want, but they can get more options in a modern store, and that’s where we are gaining,” he says.

Source: Economic Times

Next Retail, promoted by the Videocon group, is planning to run a pilot project in the southern States to set up stores in districts. These stores will serve as hubs reaching out to towns and cities in each State. Marking an investment of Rs 100 crore towards its next level of expansion in the interiors, the Rs 1,300-crore Next Retail believes the traditional hub-and-spoke model will work for it.

K.S. Raman, Director, Next Retail, said, “We have started a pilot project, where we would be having stores in every district. These stores would measure 3,000 sq. ft and would serve as a hub, and we would cover all districts of a particular state, completing one state at a time, beginning with the three southern states.”

With a combination of company-owned and franchise stores, Next Retail says it has turned profitable and would be funding its next round of expansions through internal accruals. “We would first like to create the Next brand of stores with a solid business model, and then go to the back-end and look at the wholesale business of cash-and-carry. We still have patience to wait for an IPO (initial public offering),” said Raman.

The company says it is only after making Next a strong brand in durable retailing that the Videocon Group would look at formally entering the cash-and-carry business under the Bolld brand. It will also use to its advantage a slew of known consumer-durable brands as its forays into the cash-and-carry business. The Videocon Group already deals in brands such as Philips Electrolux, Sansui, Kenstar and Hyundai. “We would have an advantage in the cash-and-carry retail business as well, since these brands would get billed directly from their respective factories and there would be no middlemen involved,” claims Raman.

Besides, Next Retail also intends to strengthen its institutional business, which comprises nearly 6 per cent of its sales currently. The retail company has been selling money-denominated coupons to big companies, such as Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Asian Paints and Nokia, for its employees who want to buy durables from its stores.

“As we expand our network, we expect the employees to get flexibility in buying from stores across the country. We expect institutional sales to grow in sync with the 30 per cent growth in our retail business,” added Raman.

Source: indiaretailing.com