Retail Spectacle

FI 2010, India’s Biggest Show on Retail Opportunities

Franchise India 2010 show underlined the immense growth prospect in retail services. Retail dissection was carried out by the best minds of the industry, analysing multiple dimensions of retail business.

The eighth edition of Franchise India’s flagship show took place at Hotel Ashok, New Delhi, on December 11-12, supported by the IFA and Remax. This event was comprised of Franchise India 2010 Expo, showcasing over 300 Indian and international brands, 25,000 business buyers and unique business and financial solutions, and a conference on franchise and retail businesses where exponents in these fields share their innovative business ideas to the entrepreneurs and investors. The one word that summed up the show is “opportunities”. The show offered enormous opportunities that encompassed all facets of franchising, retailing and licensing. The show was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Nuaimi of UAE; Special Guests of Honour, Mana Al Suwaidi, Commercial Attache of the UAE to India, Ministry of Foreign Trade, Embassy of UAE, New Delhi; and Dr HP Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, NSIC.

Gaurav Marya, Chairman, Indian Franchise Association and President, Franchise India Group, said, “We, at Franchise India, are pleased with the response from the industry this year. The event has over the years successfully produced fantastic results for exhibitors, potential franchisees, visitors, speakers and the entire franchising industry and that’s what makes this event so valuable. This year, the estimated trade post the show is expected to cross an impressive figure of Rs 130 crore within three months.”

RETAIL ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONFERENCE

The inaugural session at the Retail Entrepreneurship Conference was part of the two-day Franchise India Expo 2010 and witnessed more than 150 speakers from leading brands of the franchise, retail and services industry where they exchanged ideas on the entire entrepreneurship continuum, which ranged from commencing a business to building it to the level of maturity.

Franchising opportunity in F&B retail

The session on Business Opportunities in Food and Beverage, Hospitality and Entertainment took an interesting turn with the enthusiastic interaction between the speakers and the audience. Much information was shared about the segment that has been witnessing success through franchising route. The session was moderated by Ritu Marya in presence with the admirable personalities of the industry comprised of Mark Hilton, VP-International, Sbarro International; Jason Kikot, Director, Vendmax International, Canada; Raj Teja, International Franchise Director, Sarpinos International, USA; Sanjay Coutinho, CEO, Barista; Campbell Cave, GM, New Zealand Naturals; Fazle Naqvi, Founder & CMD, Brand Calculus; GS Bhalla, Director & CEO, Cocoberry; and Manish Tandon, MD, Citymmax.

Fashion brands make beeline

The session started with Natalie M. Hesse, President & CEO, LuckyClover speaking on how an individual should grab a franchise opportunity in niche jewellery retail which was further clarified by Nirav Adalja, President, Gitanjali Lifestyle who said that an individual should initiate fashion retail business by taking franchise route rather than investing time to become an expertise in the same industry and look forward to opening his own business. Naresh Mehta, Director, Raymond; Abhay Gupta, ED, Blues Clothing; and Hemchandra Javeri spoke about the Likelihood of a Fashion Retailing Business.

Specialty retail: the new trend

The era is of specialisation and specialty retail is giving the consumers the scope of browsing wide spectrum merchandise of a particular product category under one roof. The session on specialty retail business stressed on its importance and time relevance, offering an array of business opportunities in the segment. The speakers were Alok Bharadwaj, VP, Canon India; Sunil Bansal, COO, Safal (Mother Dairy Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd); and NP Singh, Director-Retail, Samsonite.

Perfect store design drives sales

The ‘Guide to retail design in retail merchandising’ by Joseph Somma, MD, Otto Design, Australia, emphasised on the importance of store design. The interesting case studies enabled the audience to understand the role of perfect store designing in augmenting sales.

For small and mid-sized retailers

Solutions providers are eying this segment considering its vast presence. The retail industry in India thrives on this particular segment. Anand Mehta, Director, Business Development-Retail, Motorola; Anand Dhand, Head-Sales and Distribution, Nokia Tej; and Shiva Prakash, Lead Product Management, Yahoo Small Business Solutions exchanged words over the applications of technology for the small and mid-sized retailers.

Pradeep Chopra, CEO, Digital Vidya; and Sandeep Lakhani from Star Com Media brought in ideas for promotion of small businesses.

Funding and Leasing

The session on ‘Financing growth entrepreneurship: Bank finance vs venture capital’ witnessed an elaborate discussion on the channels of external funding and the factors that can actually draw such investments. The session on ‘Developing profitable retail destinations’ by Rajneesh Mahajan, VP-Leasing, Inorbit Malls, highlighted how retailers and developers work on mutually beneficial leasing arrangements.

Sumit Sahay, Head-Marketing, Infiniti Retail, made an elaborate presentation on ‘What’s the perfect media mix for brands?’ Puneet Garkhel, Head-Fraud Risk Management & Outsourcing, Mahindra SSG talked on ‘Why the CMO has to become CIO and CFO?’

The workshop received an overwhelming response with practical and innovative insights into the retail industry by market leaders through various sessions and open house discussions.

Power of multi channel retailing, Merchandising and logistics

The session on ‘Building a customer-centric multi-channel business’ by Atrash Aman, Director, Sales & Marketing, Homeshop18, provided insights into how retailers today can transform their single channel retail businesses into multi-channel businesses. Robert C. Armstrong, CEO, RK Global Ventures in his session ‘What’s new in shopper marketing’ talked about promoting business online.

Manjula Tiwari, COO, Esprit India, gave an in-depth view of key aspects of merchandising. Vineet Kanaujia, GM, Safexpress, provided interesting insights into the future of supply chain and logistics.

STAR RETAILER AWARDS 2011

The grandeur event held on December 11-12, 2011 for Franchisors and Retailers came to an end with excellence award function. The Star Retailer Award 2010 was organised to honour the business acumen of the retail sector across numerous verticals. The awards highlighted the growing impact of retail in the Indian landscape. Here is the list of category of award winners in the retail segment.