Cover
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Printech Ad
Printech Ad
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Editor’s Note Volume : 8
Time to Act T
oday we see many brands getting increasingly innovative in the way they approach retail and strike a chord with shoppers. And more and more brands are looking at merchandising to connect with the shoppers at an emotional level. But not many such retail level initiatives have really set a new benchmark or redefined the whole collective approach to instore strategies. Well, Samsung is an exception. This consumer durables and smart phones market leader has ushered in a new way of planning vendor partnerships with the objective of raising the overall standards at retail visibility. What the company has done is to arrive at some smart strategies involving vendor partnerships, retail organizational structure, in- store staff training and of course merchandising. And there is a lesson here for all of us. To begin with, the way the brand has gone about inviting vendors to partner with them is quite unique. And, partnership with them entails many significant things for the vendors with most important one being investment in quality, time and scale. So it really is up to the vendors to take a call on whether to take up the challenge or play it safe. Read on all about the Samsung approach in our cover story.
Issue : 4
November 2012
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
:
Vasant Jante
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
:
N Jayalakshmi
SR. REPORTER (MUMBAI)
:
Fairy Dharawat
CORRESPONDENT (KOLKATA)
:
Nabamita Chatterjee
REPORTER (BANGALORE)
:
Nameeta Renchi
REPORTER (DELHI)
:
Nikita Bothra
ASST. MANAGER PRODUCTION & OPERATION
:
Vinod Kumar. V
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In fact , the questions that Samsung throws open is particularly relevant given the implication of the new FDI policy. After all, as I said last month too, the new policy implies greater international competition and therefore greater challenges. So it just may be now or never for the industry if they have to reevaluate themselves and gear up. And this is exactly what we present along with other perspectives on the new FDI policy from professionals across the retail and associated segments. Read also the related column by Dwari Uniyal and Swagato Sarkar from OP Jindal Global University.
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And don’t miss our regular fare either, of brand stands, retail formats, interviews and others , as we update you on the latest in shopper marketing.
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Chetan Sachdev, COO, Tag: Worldwide India D.J. Bangara, Managing Director, Autographics Digital Pvt Ltd Dr. P.K. Sinha, Faculty, IIM Ahmedabad Harish Bijoor, Harish Bijoor Consults
Vasant Jante
Lloyd Mathias Manish Shukla, Retail Head, Cheil Worldwide Rahul Saigal, Vice President - Retail, OgilvyAction R. Kannan, President, RAMMS
Corrigendum In the Mattel campaign article in the October issue of Point of Purchase, the name of Infiniti Mall was erroneously printed as Infinity. Also, Mr. Rahul Bhowmik, who was quoted in the article, was wrongly attributed to Infiniti. He is Marketing Head, Mattel India. Point of Purchase would like to apologize for the inadvertent delay.
November 2012
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Contents
Volume: 8
12
Issue: 4
November 2012
POP Parade
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Brand Stand Oreo Listerines Scotch-Brite Dettol AMD
12 14 16 18 20
Cover Story Samsung
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News Retail News Product News Industry News Brand News
26 27 27 28
Retail Format
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Century Plyboards (I) Ltd.
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Interview - Retail Organic Haus
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Face to Face HyperCity
36
Special Feature FDI in retail: Reading between the lines 38
Technology Capillary Technologies Raymond
54
42 44
Interview - Industry D J Bangara Kiron Loy
46 50
Profile Kshobha
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Column
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Dr Dwarika Prasad Uniyal
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International
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November 2012
POP Parade
Stickiness factor An initiative of the Vaseline brand team, the objective of this FSU was to increase shelf space and offer multiple products through a single display unit. With a corner placement, it increases the likelihood of shoppers seeing it. The display showcases the multiple flavors of the product such as ‘total moisture’, ‘cocoa glow’, ‘healthy white’ and ‘aloe fresh’. Spotted at Big Bazaar and Mega Store in Delhi, the display aims to improve visibility and recall of the brand at the pointof- purchase n
Baby pink presence! This Baby Lips tabletop cum parasite unit was designed by DMS to display the range of Baby Lips products recently launched by Maybelline. According to Sumit Chaplot, Manager, Maybelline, the core communication was to attract the targeted shopper and fuel impulse purchase. The unit was made of board with offset printed paper to give the look the brand wanted to achieve - an attractive unit that results in immediate attraction and thereby impulse purchase. These were manufactured centrally and shipped to all cosmetic stores pan-India. The Maybelline units were made in two variants - single sided and double sided with a string to hang and a Velcro at the back to stick if required at certain places. The unit was highly appreciated by the Maybelline team and shoppers alike n
November 2012
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POP Parade
The blue stop Oreo has come up with a blue unit made of sunboard with metal rod and the brand message, ‘New Oreo Choco Creme’. With the communication of ‘Take home the bundle of togetherness’ which is the theme of the brand’s overall campaign, and the compact size of the unit, the unit was successful in gathering attention from passersby. The ample stocking space also helped as the units were stocked in a mountain-like manner. The unit was found in Spencer’s Mumbai n
Escaping the clutter Mattel brand’s Hotwheelz Toy Car Track unit was conceptualized by Planet Dezign, wherein kids can access it from all four sides. It includes a four sided dump bin in which each side is dedicated to different Tracks like Escape Velocity, Fossil Fury etc. The unit being completely modular was easily transported to stores and made installation too quick and easy. Fabricated with 1000gsm Sunpack and digital prints, the Hotwheelz Dumpbin has received commendable feedback from the dealers for effectively enhancing sales at each location. The unit was deployed across Modern Trade n
November 2012
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POP Parade
The yellow signal Targeted at Kids and young adults, this Godrej Nutrine parasite is made up of wire mesh, and vinyl branding that hangs around in canary yellow colour. This Gravity Dispenser has ample shelving space and can hold more than 24 units at one go. With their communication meant to highlight the chocolaty crispiness, Planet Dezign was successful in gathering attention from shoppers of all age groups and triggering a second look. The parasite was found across all modern trade n
Dark delight Nestle’s Kitkat was launched with a new variant, the Dark Kitkat and to showcase this, the brand came up with a parasite which stacked the product units in a zigzag fashion. With the branding conveying the mesage ‘Enjoy the new Dark’, the new Kitkat parasite was easy on the eyes especially with the play of colours red and chocolate splashed all over the parasite. The unit is made up of wood with lamination finish and the three level shelving which can accommodate nearly 20-25 units is made up of plastic. The parasite unit was found at Spencer’s Mumbai n
November 2012
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POP Parade
Gamers’ delight ! Sony targeted game lovers with their brand PS3 Essential as they appointed Planet Dezine to create a table top with a sleek look to enthral the gamers who enjoy gaming with passion. The symbols of Playstation were effectively highlighted by an attractive cut out. Also Planet Dezign ensured that the unconventional shape of the Counter Top Display was an eyeball-grabber by itself. With sunboard on print punched to shape, this red and black table top was quite an eye candy. 300 such table top units were created and deployed across modern trade n
Vivid visibility This Maybelline New York counter display unit was created by DMS in black acrylic. According to Sumit Chaplot , Manager, Maybelline,the idea was to keep it simple and highlight all the colour variants of this vivid range. The horizontal placement of the lipsticks and the simple yet classy and sharp design was loved by the Maybelline New York team. The mass produced Maybelline New York counter display unit was shipped to stores Pan India n
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November 2012
Brand Stand
Oreo: Creating the taste of togetherness To create an image of being the number one internationally known biscuit brand that is associated with togetherness, Saatchi & Saatchi X along with Sab Creations, created a retail campaign that made Oreo a striking presence in the store.
Fairy Dharawat
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reo, one of the key brands of Kraft Foods, launched its chocolate variant in stores and the company decided to do it in a grand style. With the aim of connecting to the shopper, the campaign built on the theme of togetherness while enjoying Oreo. Thus it was all about the Oreo moment and eating together with a lot of fun element thrown in while relishing Oreo with friends and families. For the brand, the need thus was to add the emotional quotient in the whole retail campaign. Saatchi and Saatchi X, the shopper marketing company that conceptualised the whole campaign also worked with Oreo during their previous launch in the Indian retail market and while Oreo was communicated as the number one brand in the world at retail in the first phase, the next step for Saatchi and Saatchi X was to look at positioning the brand in the right way in the stores and therein lay the challenge. This is because a Saatchi and Saatchi X study revealed that the shopper buys 6-7 biscuits which
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Brand Stand
Nidhi Seghal Head of Account Management Saatchi & Saatchi X they consume at home every day. These are varied brands since women shoppers have to keep in mind the various choices of the family members. And this causes high flirtation rate. According to Nidhi Seghal – Head of Account Management, Saatchi & Saatchi X, “The problem we faced while conceptualising was how to enter the consideration basket at a point where the shopper is not loyal to one brand. Shoppers keep on picking up 2-3 brands at one go, as their families’ wants are diverse. So the important factor was to create an occasion for eating Oreo. Usually all the biscuit and cookie variants have their times slotted out, mornings and evenings. So the need was to create an occasion for Oreo. So based on insights we communicated to
Balaji Murugesan Creative Director, SAB Creations shoppers about the need to create an occasions for eating biscuits, so that they have a stronger attachment to the brand. Rather than just telling them to eat Oreo, we are saying that it is about creating a moment, and the Oreo moment is a happy moment.” For Sab Creations Pvt Ltd, the team that fabricated the 20 feet Oreo fixtures, there were indeed many challenges while fabricating and creating the life like replica of the Oreo biscuits. According to Balaji Murugesan, Creative Director, Sab Creations, “One of the main challenges was the size and shape of the Oreo which is cylindrical; there was always the fear of it falling down. That’s when we decided to flatten the base and attach stoppers not visible to the naked eye.”
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Adding on the same lines, he adds, “The other challenge was getting the detailing of the life size biscuits, which were 40 inches in diameter. So we actually engraved the Oreo detailing and finally made the product from fibre glass. To get the exact colour of blackish brown in dull finish was another challenge which we cracked with the client’s approval. Another challenge was to get the cream visible. Here again we did some research and development and used thermocol painted in cream. But the biggest challenge was giving the effect of the cream splash oozing out of the biscuit.” But the team did crack all these challenges successfully and all the hard work has obviously paid off. One had to only observe the shoppers who visited during the morning hours for their daily quota of shopping and who were greeted by two huge blocks of Oreo welcoming them. “The bigger joy for us was after a tiring journey and all the hard work we put in through the night, seeing the shopper who entered taking photographs and being really appreciative. They were obviously very excited by the display. That gave us the energy to recoup from all that night long work. It gave us a lot of satisfaction,” says Balaji. Well here is another example of concerted team efforts from the client side, the creative agency’s side and the fabricator’s side successfully implanting the brand values in the shopper’s mind n
November 2012
Brand Stand
Listerine’s message in a bottle Listerine mouthwash has added some innovative touches to its retail visibility and communication elements making sure the shoppers connect with the brand and understand the benefits of simple oral care rituals. Point of Purchase brings you the details. Nikita Bothra
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rushing is not enough to maintain a healthy mouth. A simple and additional exercise can work wonders leading to a billion dollar healthy smile. This was the message that Johnson and Johnson sought to communicate at retail during its oral care month highlighting Listerine as one of the key oral health products. The company collaborated with Ramms, a Bangalore based shopper marketing agency, briefing the latter to develop and extend the retail communication for the campaign. “The recall for the brand Listerine was quite high due to its hard hitting ATL communication. It was therefore decided to develop an equally hard hitting connect at retail. To extend familiarity with the brand, the FSU was designed in the shape of the Listerine bottle. The larger than life bottle of Listerine and the prominent blue colour stood out in the cluttered MT environment and efficiently communicated the message,” says Rajas, Manager, Retail Services, Ramms. To build shopper connectivity at retail, the overall look of the FSU was made to resemble Listerine Cool Mint. To give it a premium look and feel and to highlight its superiority at modern trade was the principal objective behind the fabrication of the display. This was a challenge that was eventually fulfilled with the right thought process and planning by the Ramms team. Highlighting the physical attributes says Rajas, “The FSU was made of MDF base with acrylic shelves and edge strips. The communication was played out on the FSU itself using pictures and creating a play between the acrylic and MDF layers. The key feature of the display was the border in acrylic sheet which gave it more depth; intensifying its overall look to replicate a real bottle. On the other hand, the parasites were made of MS wire mesh with white colour powder coating and branding mounted on foam board.” The visibility of the brand followed installation of the FSU in Easyday, Spencers, Star Bazaar and ABRL markets spread across the cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Pune. The visibility efforts seem to have borne fruit as they helped in building shopper connectivity: the sole objective of the campaign n
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Brand Stand
Scotch Brite’s sparkling new drive The festive season ushers in an abundance of joy and celebrations. But along with the cheer and celebration comes the task of ensuring that your home shines and sparkles and is impressive enough for the impending guests’ and relatives’ visit, which can easily take its toll on a home-maker. In a bid to lighten the burden on the homemaker, Scotch-Brite now comes up with a new home cleaning solution. Point Of Purchase gives you the retail story around this. Brite as the true ‘helping hand’ to housewives across the county. Well, the new range of products obviously includes something for almost every cleaning requirement. For instance Scotch-Brite Scrub Pad (with Alox Shakti) is ideal for cleaning regular kitchen utensils while ScotchBrite heavy duty is ideal for removing tough stains from tavas and kadhais. Likewise, products such as Scotch-Brite scrub sponge can clean more utensils per wash by holding dish wash liquid longer, thereby saving liquid dish wash. On the other hand, products like ScotchBrite non-scratch sponge is an ideal companion for delicate and non-stick cookware. Thus, the fundamental objective was to communicate and educate the customers about these products through a touch, feel and experience route rather than using an ordinary stocking unit in order to build an association at the shop floor.
Nikita Bothra
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rmed with a good understanding of the Indian home-maker’s needs, Scotch-Brite has developed an arsenal of revolutionary cleaning products to help a homemaker make her home sparkle, both effectively and economically. For over 50 years, Scotch-Brite has been pushing the bar of innovation to help home-makers across the globe with products that assure spotless cleaning and minimal effort. This has always been the guiding principle behind the development of their products ranging from utensil care, floor care, wipes, brushes and various other products for the Indian household. But today, in the words of Mr Sanjit Satapath, GM- Home Care Division-3M India, “The challenge lies in communicating all that the brand stands for, in a way that is as innovative as the products. This certainly involves
November 2012
targeting home-makers at the right time and right place. So what better place to begin with than a Modern Trade Outlet? With the festive season around the corner, cleaning has become a major task at hand, hence the birth of the Scotch-Brite Sparkling Homes Contest.” The idea behind the contest was to share tips and tricks to make cleaning an effortless job with the range of smart cleaning tools from ScotchBrite. This was accompanied by on ground activations at major retail chains in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore for an entire month. The aim was to conduct on-ground product demonstrations at major Modern Trade Outlets that would lead consumers to the digitally led contest. The grand prize included a complete makeover of a particular area of the house and a host of other gifts from Scotch-Brite, thus, reinforcing Scotch-
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It is here that the brief was given to Planet Dezign; a Mumbai based strategic dezign and retail solutions company, to create and connect all the dots together. It only made sense to use a house to represent the ‘Sparkling Home’. Therefore, bearing in mind
Brand Stand
the USP of the product, Planet Dezign came up with the Virtual House FSU concept which was a demonstration of an ideal house with visuals depicting the kitchen, washroom and living rooms with products integrated as per usage and requirements. The attempt was to build in elements of recognition around the home and thus subtle depictions like a sink and a chimney in the kitchen; a tap, actual tiles, a mini WC in the bathroom, flower vase in the living room, all of which added to the elements of a virtual house to the entire unit. The roof of the house was a tiled one to achieve an additional outcome of a house depiction. The products too were ingeniously integrated with the visuals of the rooms and had small snippets proposing their USP’s. Here a customer could touch, feel, use and interact with the products and in this process, learn about Scotch-Brite’ superiority. Since the Sparkling Home was a nationwide contest, this FSU was fabricated and installed at Big Bazaar, Reliance, Star India Bazaar, Hypercity,
Spar and Spencer’s. There were more than 65 displays installed covering the entire geography of the country without restricting it only to metros. The herculean task of fabricating and installing the structure was efficiently managed by Planet Dezign. Says Sukanya Bose, Director, Planet Dezign, “We came up with the Sparkling Home display unit, where all the products were fluidly integrated into the unit. We had to plan the design elements meticulously which required multiple cues to draw attention, elements to hold that attention, besides engagement cues planned to ensure sale and awareness alike.” It was also critical to manage logistics, since the unit was a heavy one and needed perfection in installation and transportation. The other challenge was that each unit occupied a floor space of 4’x4’. They were manufactured out of MDF and a few elements like sun board (for the roof and house collaterals) and boasting of three builtin room sections, could have easily become an installation nightmare, had it not been for the modular structural 17
fabrication, according to Sukanya. With a backend team ably handling despatch and transportation coordination, the installers could easily put the structure, up at the sites. She adds further, “Lastly, I appreciate the efforts and cooperation of the client for being in absolute sync with us, from designing to execution which led us to a kind of a fairytale ending for this prestigious project.” The efforts have obviously borne fruit for Scotch-Brite. Sanjit Satapathy, GM, Home Care Division 3M India comments, “The display has been highly appreciated by the customers and the retail chains because of its value for quality, customer interaction and overall thought conception. The fact that as a brand we are interested in building the categories and not just blocking the space with stocking units has strengthened our position as a leader in the cleaning tool category. The Sparkling Home as a program was an initiative to reach out sharing their festivity cleaning tasks and make it engaging, effective, economical and rewarding.” n
November 2012
Brand Stand
Fighting germs, Dettol shows how A trustworthy brand evokes positive feelings in the consumers. For more than 60 years now, Dettol from the stables of Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd, has been associated with safety and protection. Point of Purchase brings you a report on how the brand has stepped up its connect with its consumers at retail.
Nameeta Renchi
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n a majority of Indian households, a First Aid box is incomplete without a Dettol antiseptic liquid or at least a Dettol medical plaster. Its packaging has a unique identity. The Green and white coloured Dettol packs are associated with the safety of hospitals and the sword image is a symbol for fighting germs and infection. Consumers see Dettol as an expert. Today through multiple product offerings of the brand, Dettol touch the consumers in many more aspects of personal and home care in their daily lives. And now, as part of their constant efforts to instill good hygiene among people, especially children, the brand has come up with innovative yet thought provoking Dettol Hand wash kiosks that have been installed in various retail outlets all over India. Candid Marketing has executed and designed these attractive activity kiosks.
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Brand Stand The attention seeking kiosk was set up to give an opportunity to mothers and children to try the effectiveness of Dettol Liquid Handwash. The kiosk platform has a washbasin and a water pump process which is manual without a motor which is indeed very unique. Children are given clay and mould to play with. Later on they are asked to wash hands with Dettol liquid Handwash in the presence of their mothers. Mothers are then told how Dettol Liquid Handwash gives 10x germ protection to their kids. This activity kiosk is coloured green and white and a large cutout of Dettol Handwash bottle is attached to it making it a standalone unit demanding attention from any corner of a store. Duco paint finish gives it a neat and clean look. A sun-board display with the words ‘Dettol Handwash, Healthy Handwash’ written on it has been fabricated reinstating its overall objective. The major challenge faced by the brand in launching this kiosk was to find the right space at the right location where mothers often visited for purchase and Big Bazaar was a good choice for the brand. Candid Marketing concentrated on creating the kiosk with a manual water pump without any leakage and they seem to have succeeded in this challenging task. The brand for its part seems to have met its objective of communicating the efficacy of its product. After all, this is a brand which has supported the Global Hygiene Council recommendation of the adoption of good hand hygiene practices. The studies conducted by this council reveal that 70% of Indian’s don’t wash their hands for recommended duration. The council also recommends: “Hand Hygiene, the first line of defence against flu and viral infections”. Well, what better way to convey this than at the place where a brand interacts with its customer best—retail! n
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November 2012
Brand Stand
High tech kiosks for gaming enthusiasts Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. globally known as AMD, is a well known gaming brand that seeks to connect with its customers through experiential zones. Their latest offering is the avant-garde Eyefinity Gaming Kiosk at retail for which the brand engaged their advertising agency Leroc Media Services Pvt. Ltd to create an interactive gaming experience to demonstrate their superiority in processors and graphics. Here is a report.
to demonstrate their technological edge. Professional gaming PC’s are normally assembled based on the gamers recommendation. Most users buy a gaming PC without experiencing it which might have disappointing results. The Eyefinity Gaming Kiosk is designed in a way that AMD Radeon Graphics Card and the CPU are visible to the users from outside though they are well protected.
Nameeta Renchi
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MD entrusted Leroc with the task of creating gaming experience zones in select retail outlets where the user can experience the power and see the products in action. AMD provides gaming enthusiasts an opportunity to have hands-on experience before deciding on their choice for the right machine. These gaming zones are configured for the gaming environment which gives them the opportunity
November 2012
The brief given to the designers at Leroc was to create a gaming kiosk that would attract and encourage the consumers to experience gaming. AMD wanted a design which was able to educate users, offer them a glimpse into the entire functioning of the PC machine and ultimately influence them to get the right mix of assembled PC’s powered by a superior AMD processor combined with AMD Radeon Graphics Card. Achieving this was certainly a challenge for the Leroc team. For AMD the challenge also lay in finding adequate space to place these kiosks besides the cost involved in such a setup. To counter this, the brand is looking to partner with various component brands specializing
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in professional monitors, speakers, keyboards etc and strike a mutually beneficial alliance with them. Leroc has so far created more than 50 kiosks for AMD that grabs the attention of the techno freaks at different PC shops all over the country. AMD was well aware of the lack of enough modern retail format space in the assembled PC business. Thus the Points of Sales for these machines have been placed in cluster markets such as Nehru Place in Delhi, S.P. Road in Bangalore or Lamington Road in Mumbai. The objective was to enhance visibility through permanent branding space within the cluttered PC shops. Going further, the AMD Eyefinity Gaming Kiosk will be installed in many more retail outlets as the existing retail partners have got an overwhelming response from the gaming community n
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Cover Story
Cheil Worldwide: Redefining Retail Identity Standards Samsung as a brand has carved out a niche for itself in the last few years with its market share taking a gigantic leap. But what is particularly interesting is the way this market leader in the handheld phones business, has managed its retail visibility programme, driven by some smart retail execution strategies, charted out by Cheil Worldwide, a Samsung group company. Ushering in a new working model and redefining the way brands and vendors can partner to produce outstanding results at retail, the brand has come forward throwing its pitch to anyone in the retail solutions industry willing to take on the challenges and convert them into opportunities. But, are retail solution providers/vendors equipped enough to handle the challenges posed by these opportunities? And, what exactly does partnership with Samsung entail for them? With insights shared by John Koo, Managing Director -- Cheil Communication and from a detailed conversation with Manish Shukla, Retail Head, Cheil Worldwide (South West Asia Regional Headquarters), Point Of Purchase, tries to get the answers to these and other relevant questions and in the process gleans insights into the way Samsung & Cheil have managed to consolidate their position. Read on.
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John Koo Managing Director Cheil Communication
Cover Story Nikita Bothra Cheil in Korean means ‘No.1’ and true to its name, this enabler of creative ideas for Samsung has managed to catapult the brand to the number one position, driven in large part by a smart approach to retail level communication, consumer connect initiatives and most importantly strategic vendor partnerships. As John Koo, Managing Director -- Cheil Communication, whose association with Cheil spans almost 23 years, says, “In my experience, 90% of Cheil’s capability is dependant heavily on the capability of the Indian vendors.” This obviously points to the brand’s thrust on retail level initiatives supported strongly by skilled vendors.
Manish Shukla Retail Head Cheil Worldwide (South West Asia Regional Headquarters) Adding to this says Manish Shukla, Retail Head, Cheil Worldwide (South West Asia Regional Headquarters). “We are a creative company and as the name reads, it is about “Passion for Ideas”; we look for new thoughts & ideas in a strategic direction that can pave a way for changing attitudes, lives and culture.” Below: Inviting partners: The Cheil India (Retail) Partners’ meet
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Cover Story
For the brand, paving the way for change obviously begins with the way it approaches its own visibility at retail. “Every challenge is an opportunity and every opportunity is a challenge,” says Manish. Well, the way the brand has converted many of these challenges into opportunities is reflected in the way the brand’s visibility and market share has grown in the last couple of years! Further, the company’s investment on retail fixture and visibility has grown manifold and it is projected to grow exponentially in 2013. What’s more, the Samsung & Cheil teams together adds 30 new retail touch points every day and has created over 1,000 exclusive new stores in 2012 alone. Taking on challenges, correcting issues So what has driven this remarkable growth? Well, it all basically boils down to a keen understanding of retail challenges and taking them head on. As Manish says, the need of the hour in the Indian retail segment is indisputably value for time and quality of work. It also means proactive actions to correct existing issues. For example, one of the observations made by the company was the fast changing environment which has significant implications onusHuge Retail Rollout Targets -Stringent Timelines. On account of the fast pace of change in technology, shopper behaviour and the shoppers exposure to a global environment, it is imperative to understand how to address the target
November 2012
shopper in the retail environment. This meant adapting to the dynamics of consumer understanding, of the retail trade and managing the retail environment effectively, to contribute to a great shopper experience. These understandings have led Cheil to believe that brands are truly built in retail. The need of the hour is to help retailers build their retail environment & infrastructure, to meet the demands of the smart global shopper. Through all this, the company zeroed in on the priority of building long-term stable partnerships with retail POP business partners and not just vendors. Business partners, with whom they share their long term plans and priority goals, and who in return meet their delivery commitments to timelines, quality and implement the agreed transparent processes & protocols.
empowerment & project ownership lying with all its team members. At the head office, Cheil has established a team of talented architects, product & retail designers, graphic artists and visual merchandising specialists, retail planners who provide it the expertise & bandwidth to carry out seamless retail strategy planning, design and execution, across formats. In the near future, Cheil is taking up the challenge of building in-house expertise in retail store operations and store maintenance, retail performance measurement etc to manage the network of thousands of multi-format stores across India. Similarly, its online MIS system (Shop Identity Programme) eases work flow bringing in greater transparency in project tracking.
Setting the retail blueprint
An essential part of the company’s strategic focus is on building partnership with POP & retail vendors. Driven by the philosophy of active partner participation and John Koo’s belief in the need for capable vendor partners, Cheil actively seeks enthusiastic business partners with a passion for new ideas, a commitment to quality & timelines and those with the requisite production infrastructure, to grow with the Samsung group.
All of these challenges, needs and issues led to the company putting in place a very strong and robust retail blueprint comprising a “strong organizational structure, systematic processes and protocols, a fair, fast & transparent procurement & payment processes, and an online technology platform connecting all stakeholders to track the progress of hundreds of simultaneous rollout projects.” As part of the retail organization of over 70 professionals, Cheil Worldwide has set in place Project Management Teams, for different format of stores, with a clearly defined roles and responsibilities, in the head office and regional offices with complete
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Vendor selection parameters
strategy
and
But this partnership demands some key criteria. These include: n
Good infrastructure: to meet current & future business needs, to stay a head in business
Cover Story business, a long-term transparent business relationship, prompt time bound payments, clear directions and organized documentation which can help vendors plan investments in larger and modern facilities. But the question is, are there enough vendors who can meet these demands or who can afford to take on the scale of project that partnership with the Samsung group inevitably requires. Says Manish, “In the current scenario, there is not a single vendor in the market who can absorb even 10 % of the volume of business that we have to offer.” Consequently, this has resulted in a huge gap between the scale of businesses needs of the brand, and the partner’s ability to cater to them. Well, this according to Manish, can only be solved by pushing the bar of working standards by way of higher investments in manufacturing capabilities & infrastructure, technology and people, to deliver value in terms of time and money. This also means a clear list of what the brand does NOT want on its partners list, namely: 1) Low levels of transparency, low levels of commitments to quality and timelines 2) Poor infrastructure & absence of standard business practices and 3) Lack of control in managing various processes. On the other hand, these strict nono’s and criteria, while posing a huge challenge to vendors, also assure high speed growth and opportunities for those willing to take the step forward.
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Facilities: to meet global social audit standards of Hygiene, Health & Safety Standards
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Organized processes: to enable systematic work schedules
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Dynamic & Modern systems: To adapt & keep up with changing technology & times
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Commitments: To stay true to committed timeframes & prescribed quality parameters and adaptable to new business needs
Redefining partnership model and standards
Manish Shukla points out, “Cheil is setting a novel retail model, which will revolutionize the way brands and business partners work together in the future. We hope to jointly raise the bar, and create a win-win situation, with those who understand & subscribe to high level of professional work ethics. ”
While partnering with the vendors, Cheil follows a stringent policy of competence evaluation, which is complete only after detailed inspection of infrastructure & facilities. In addition, it also seeks to help it’s vendors grow, by helping them plan & upgrade their infrastructure to meet its future business needs. The Samsung group, with its volume of business, provides POP & retail furniture & fixture manufacturers, a backbone of large, stable & ongoing volume of
Meanwhile, for potential retail solution partners looking to team up, it just could be now or never, if they are hoping to leverage the brand’s success story at retail. Perhaps now is the time for the industry to take stock and review their existing approach and systems. Cheil’s perspective and approach to retail visibility and vendor partnership may just be the much needed cue for them to act and be ready for the future n
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November 2012
Retail News
Choco eye candy at Spencer’s Spencer’s Retail Ltd. has come up with an innovative ‘Chocolate Hut’ to connect better with kids and adults alike during this festive season. Point of Purchase brings you the details. Nabamita Chatterjee
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his festive season Spencer’s Chocolate Delights are ready to grab your attention at every outlet of the retail brand with their Chocolate Hut, which will take you down a memory lane full of fairy tales. Made from real chocolates, wafers, biscuits, candies and all other sweet meats it will surely remind you of the chocolate hut of Hansel and Gretel. Sanjay Gupta-Executive Director, Marketing and Business Development, Spencer’s Retail Ltd of the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group, says talking about the innovation, “The objective of this innovation is to promote impulse purchase in the entire confectionery category by making it a top-of-mind recall for shoppers visiting us this festive season. It is a good time to do this to ride the “seasonal gifting” period.”
Vishal Mehrotra, General ManagerMarketing – Spencer’s Retail Ltd, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, further shares, “At Spencer’s, we actively engage with kids and try to create attractive activation points within the store that appeal to both children and their parents. The chocolate hut for our ‘Chocolate Delights’ is inspired from the fantasy world of kids and we tried to draw elements from popular fairy tales. We find that brands are very much interested in partnering with us for these activities and we had leading brands in the chocolates space associating with the activation points.”
November 2012
Prominent brands who are partnering in this activation include Cadbury’s and Snickers. While speaking on the challenging fabrication part of the whole project, Sanjay says, “All this has been done inhouse by our own Visual Merchandising team. The brief really was to bring to life the category in the store by creating fun and excitement around the visual merchandising. The complete cost for each hut is about Rs 25,000.” The activation has obviously been a successful one both in terms of sales conversion and in terms of creating a lot of emotional attachment with the kids and their parents. Adds Sanjay,
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“During this festive season we are already seeing a 10 to 15% jump in sales though the celebrations has just begun with Durga Puja, Diwali will be the real big occasion throughout the country to understand the total impact on the figures. But we have observed that the shoppers were really delighted to see this chocolate hut innovation. While expectedly children were fascinated and excited on seeing this, even adults paused to look at the same with great interest. We have also had shoppers taking images of the same with their kids near the hut.” Well, this surely is one example of innovative initiative at the retail front to connect well with the shoppers n
Product News
HP’s new series for anywhere, anytime printing A
n accessible and affordable solution for large- format printing is now a reality, thanks to the new Designjet ePrinter series that makes possible simple and affordable large-format printing from virtually anywhere. HP, one of the world’s largest technology company launched the HP Designjet T120 and T520 ePrinter series ideal for Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) students and professionals.
The industry’s first web-connected, entry-level printing solutions deliver large-format printing through the cloud and provide on-the-go professionals with simple and affordable printing solutions. The compact, 24-inch HP Designjet T120 ePrinter series is ideal for students and freelancers, while the 24- and 36inch HP Designjet T520 ePrinter series is designed for small AEC teams in need of fast, professional printing. “The compounding complexity in the work environment with the growth of mobile devices and the use of cloud services is surging. Today information workers must be equipped with smarter solutions that would result in sharing and creating information anywhere and anytime on any device,” said Mahesh Soni, Country Manager, and DesignHP India. “They need a solution that enables them to collaborate and interact with their peers beyond the internal and external peripheries.”
Automatic and secure online print history, convenient file sharing and access to multiple FTP sites in one interface with one login are its incomparable features. The most benefitting from this innovative printer would be AEC workgroups who have been waiting for a large format Mahesh Soni, Country Manager, and Design- HP India printing solution at their own comfort zones and at affordable prices. . Using Large Format Printing Design , HP Asia e- print and share, one can access Pacific and Japan. and print projects from any place. The intuitive, full colour, 4.3 –inch The best print results are produced when touchscreen simplifies navigation original HP inks which use solvents that are environment friendly . and printing. Besides, 36 inches wide prints on any paper type is achievable HP Designjet T120 ePrinter will using the Designjet ePrinter. Unrivalled be available in Asia Pacific for an speciality of processing complex files at estimated retail price of INR 79,999 and high speeds and D print in 35 seconds the T520 series will be available for Rs can be attributed to its 1 GB RAM and 1, 59,999 for 24-inch and Rs 2, 19,999 HP –GL/2 technology. for 36 – inch printers respectively. This user friendly large – format “The expanded HP Designjet portfolio printers will be soon available in Indian helps our customers stay connected market providing AEC students and where the job takes them and allows professionals a web- connected high first-time, large format buyers to easily quality printing assistance n and affordably bring their printing needs in house,” saids Javier Larraz, Director and GM, Graphic Solutions Business –
POPAI News
ITC joins POPAI India P
OPAI India is proud to welcome their newest Member – ITC Ltd who is also the first brand member of the association. ITC Ltd is a market leader with brands that are household names across India. Their diversified presence in the FMCG, Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Packaging, Agri-Business, and Information Technology sectors has made the company connect with more than 100 million households’ across the country. The company’s joining the organization is thus a significant move.
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Says Kaushik Mukherjee, Manager of Merchandising, ITC Ltd talking about the company’s entry into POPAI India, “It feels great to be part of the Prestigious International Community like POPAI. We look forward to work closely with the Indian Merchandising Industry in its journey towards international standard.”n
November 2012
Brand News
Spring Air India’s 1st exclusive outlet in Gujarat S
pring Air, USA’s number 1 manufacturer, marketer and distributor of premium mattresses and pillows worldwide expanded its footprint in the Gujarat retail space for the first time, setting up its first exclusive “specialty mattress store - a space where style, beauty and harmony are blended together to create an authentic US atmosphere” according to the company at the Sagrampura Area in Surat. The move comes as a part of company’s recently announced Rs 500 crore investment plan in the country. With a plan to reach out to the target audience, Spring Air has planned to open 100 retail outlets till 2015 across India. The new outlet offers wide range of mattress and bedding products including Europedic, Orthopedic, Comfort Rest, Nature Rest, Spine Support, Protect-A-Bed and other accessories including premium pillows. As of this festive season, Spring Air is also providing exciting free gifts on each mattress purchase through its “Celebration of Global Comfort” Consumer Scheme. Delighted at foraying into the Gujarat market, Ashok Sharma, CEO, Spring Air- Middle-East & Indian Sub Continent said, “Spring Air is one of the worldwide leaders in the spring mattress, premium mattress and pillow category. We’re one of the leaders in a $20 billion global mattress and pillow market. And indeed, we are already one of the largest brands of mattress in the world.” The company also plans to set up two manufacturing units at Mumbai and Kolkata. Credited with a unique line up in the orthopedic mattress series and backed with the most celebrated NASA technology in Europedic range of mattress; the multi-crore investments & expansion in India, is intended to reach out to the niche customer base of the fast pacing Indian society n
November 2012
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Retail Format
Combining style with affordability Nesta, the authentic, stylish and exclusive furniture brand from the house of Century Ply, unveiled its first flagship store in the East zone at Kolkata. Point Of Purchase gives you a report.
Nabamita Chatterjee
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esta, from the house of Century Ply, is one of the most reputed names in the plywood and decorative veneer market in India. Standing for affordable luxury, the brand has carved a niche for itself through integrated brand presence at retail. As Abhra Banerjee, Executive Business Head, Century Plyboards (I) Ltd says on the occasion of the launch of its first flagship store in Kolkata, “Live a Nesta
Abhra Banerjee Executive Business Head Century Plyboards (I) Ltd.
November 2012
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Retail
Life’-- this is what the brand stands for which is targeted towards catering to the working population of our country at various affordable ranges. Strategic advertising campaign involving all sorts of media in the catchment areas of the brand focussing on their respective TG has helped positioning Nesta. The unveiling of the Nesta mobile furniture store where an exclusive range of highend designer furniture is made available makes our customers more aware of what a Nesta life is.� For the brand, the focus has been on being visible at strategic locations close to the TG. Thus, the sprawling
7500 sq ft store in Kolkata with plush interiors and comforting ambience is strategically positioned near the Parama island on the EM Bypass, Topsia, which is a gateway to the city. As for the store offering itself, it includes varied home decorating options, helping shoppers visualize the furniture in a room. As Abhra says, “Customers can choose colours, different options for each room to get the perfect look, furnish the room dimensions and visualize how the furniture will look in their home on a giant LED wall in an exclusive zone ensconced to give privacy. Each piece of furniture or accessory placed in the
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Retail store has undergone stringent quality checks and has passed a wide array of style filters and is stamped with the proprietary ‘Authenticity of wood, Guaranteed’ seal.” Thus the USP was defined in terms of the product designs, which are space saving, and the pricing which is competitive; as Abhra says, “Our price is a surprise”. A combination of affordable designer range with collections from famous international designers such as Patricia Urquiola, leading Indian Architects like Architect Karan Grover & leading young design talent from Chile such as Sebastian Rozas and Matias Bravos, offers a judicious mix. This year the company has also started working with young talented designers from NID, Ahmedabad, for creating a range of boutique exclusive top-end furniture. The store also showcases mock apartment with approximately the same dimensions as a typical 1BHK flat to help customers visualize how Nesta can transform their house into a dream home. The idea, as Abhra says, is to become partners in designing home, suggesting styling options to suit customers temperament and to ensure “that we are always there for you after the sale is concluded through our prompt after sales maintenance as well. Thus providing affordable luxury under the brand is our ultimate aim”. Speaking about their shopper/customer profile and how the brand connects with them, Abhra adds, “In today’s busy life our customers are really hard pressed for time and thus it is a challenge to convince them to visit our store and educate them on the design of the products which are contemporary, reflecting their lifestyle needs.” According to him, the efforts though pay off as they result in good sales off-take. Besides, to further connect with the customers and with the Kolkata store being launched during the festive season, all the promotional initiatives are directed towards attracting the shoppers especially through communication on offers like the Limited Sale offered in the outlets. The creatives of in-store promos and displays also focus on the uniqueness of the product that combines luxury with affordability. Says Abhra, “The point-of-purchase materials & visual merchandise are laid in such a manner that they are likely to attract the
November 2012
buyers for buying at least one exclusive piece of accessory, even if they take time in deciding during their first visit.” Sharing his observations on shopper behavior, he adds, “We have noticed that during the weekends the footfall is really high. Another interesting aspect is that during the first visit to the store, it is usually only the husband or the wife who comes in and notes down important information. The actual buying in most cases takes place later when they come together again.” Well, the Kolkata store is the second in a series of furniture retail stores to be launched across the country with Bangalore being the first. Going further, Nesta envisages creation of 3.5 million square feet of retail space with 111 outlets in the next 5 years with a projected turnover of Rs 500 crore and an initial investment of Rs. 100 crore. Centuryply plans to open almost 35 Nesta Furniture stores in the eastern region alone with the next destination being Durgapur followed by Guwahati. It also plans to have flagship stores in all key markets and adopt the franchise model to tap other markets. The company also has plans to set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing capability in furniture at Andhra Pradesh in the near future. Says Abhra talking about the vision of the company, “With the sharp increase in the popularity of genuine designer
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furniture over the last few years Nesta will serve as a retail hub for those interested in good quality designer furniture and home accessories. The company also plans to build Nesta as the foremost brand in the Indian Readymade Furniture industry through steady investments.” n
Point of Purchase Online Network
TM
Interview - Retail
Aiming at organic growth Having its foothold in Ahmedabad and then Mumbai, Organic Haus, the organic products store, is now making its presence in the North with the opening up of its flagship store in Gurgaon at Fortis Memorial Research Institute. Swapan Bharma, Chief Operating Officer, Organic Haus shares her insights in an exclusive chat with Point of Purchase. Nikita Bothra Could you share with us the observations that led to the setting up of Organic Haus in India? How do you see the market for Organic products in India growing? At Organic Haus, we believe healthy living is a choice and not a luxury. Organic Haus is the brain child of Dilip Doshi, a former Indian cricketer, to provide Indian consumers with a wide range of EU certified organic products ranging from food, home-care items to personal-care products, for a better, healthy and wholesome living, devoid of harmful preservatives and additives. Doshi, a hard-core vegetarian, has handpicked each one of the labels and its products that are retailed under the Organic Haus umbrella, after having personally been a loyal consumer of these products. At the heart of the brand is the simple principle that healthy living is a personal choice and through Organic Haus the endeavor is to make this choice available to as many people as possible. According to International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA) Indian domestic market is said to be growing at 15-20% per annum and
Swapan Bharma,COO Organic Haus
November 2012
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Indian organic industry is aiming to up its total turnover including exports from Rs 675 crore to Rs 4,000 crore by 2012. These figures and reports validate the potential of the Indian market for a unique concept store such as Organic Haus.
about us, through word of mouth, or looking at some of our advertisements. Once they are abreast of our offerings, the number of walkins gradually rises.
Who is your typical shopper? How do you see the store as a brand that offers a value proposition to this profile of shoppers?
Our extensive range of organic products which includes vegan and gluten free products which isn’t offered by anyone else, along with the superior quality is undeniably the USP for Organic Haus.
Our customer profile is divided into two groups. The ones who are aware about organic food and are on the lookout for quality products, fall under the category of loyal customers who buy their supplies from us. The second category comprises the consumers who are looking for healthy lifestyle. Our stores house an extensive range of goods also covering personal & home care products, besides organic stuff. With over 1000 products through 18 different product lines, our store offers an array of products like organic snacks, condiments, pastas, fruit juices, nutritional supplements, coffee, tea, chocolates, organic cosmetics, liquid cleaners to name a few. We also encourage sampling at the store. Therefore our consumers, both old and new, are well informed of the products aiding them filter their needs prior to any purchase. All our products are sourced from pioneering brands from Germany, Austria and Northern Europe and certified to be 100% vegetarian and organic at par with stringent EU standards. What kind of walkins do you get in the store? What are your projected walkins? People often visit our store by reading
How would you define the USP of your store brand? Could you elaborate?
Our stores have a European look and feel, from the wood used for the shelves and décor to the lighting and display. We also lay emphasis on breathing space since we would not like our consumers to feel cramped. Could you share with us the retail strategies you follow in terms of promos activations, displays and other activities in store to connect with the shoppers? For a brand like Organic Haus, traditional advertising mediums are too expensive. Therefore exploring innovative and new-age mediums like social media, online blogs, customer outreach programmes, and in-store activities produce substantial results. The products are sourced from the best EU suppliers, and therefore the visual merchandising reflects this. Our stores have a European look and feel, from the wood used for the shelves and décor
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to the lighting and display. We also lay emphasis on breathing space since we would not like our consumers to feel cramped. At Organic Haus everything is an experience, right from shopping for the products to the products themselves. The design of the store therefore has also been planned keeping these aspects in mind. What exactly are the challenges you face in terms of carving a positioning in this market? There’s a spurt in the organic products in the recent years with farmer’s markets, and growth of retailers. We have an expanding consumer movement when it comes to awareness and picking organic alternatives. However, there are myths when it comes to organic food. This is so, for the people assume that if the term reads “natural” it implies organic, which is utterly false. Communicating the exceptional value of our products is where we’ve faced problems in the past, but we have found advocates and champions in our loyal shoppers, who fortunately help us reach our goal. Are there any new plans in the pipeline? We are opening stores in Pune and Bangalore Hyper City markets in a few weeks n
November 2012
Face to Face
Consistent standards, the key to success The Indian Retail Forum awarded the coveted title of ‘Most Admired Hypermarket of the Year’ to HyperCity in the two day Modern Retail Forum held at Renaissance, Mumbai on the 10th & 11th of October . The criteria for judging were: Technology Innovation, Vendor Management, Human Resource Initiatives, Merchandising, Marketing, Customer Service, and Landmark Achievement. Mark Ashman, CEO, HyperCity, shares with Point of Purchase some insights into what drives this retail brand and their future plans. As told to Fairy Dharawat The contributing factors for success The first factor which helped in our success was looking at how international retails operate and then making our processes and team work modelled on the international best practises. And it is a continuous journey. I think one of the reasons HyperCity has been able to maintain standards and a differentiated edge is that we work very hard to not let people take the shortcut. We are quite rigid with our processes and discipline. So it is really about maintaining consistency. So if we have a certain point of sale material at a certain location, it will be of the same height through all counters across outlets. A lot of brands come in and bring in their own style of branding and put up their own material. But we are quite strict about what we allow to come in. We are also very strict on the types of fixtures that come in and we share our guidelines. This has worked because together all these give an international feel. What this award means to HyperCity We were very happy to enter the competition but we were not expecting to win, so we were pleasantly surprised. In some ways, we could have got it earlier, but we are very happy with our win and wish to win more awards. Future plans and strategies In the last nine months, we have become more promotional in terms of our pricing and we have become sharper and more aggressive in terms of shelving our price. When we did our consumer research this year, we found that they liked our standards, the range, hygiene and the service but they found us a little expensive. So we are battling quite hard on this ‘little expensive’ front. We are trying to change this perception while at the same time trying to build our credentials on trust. So we are making some bold promises because customers do feel that perhaps our
November 2012
Mark Ashman, CEO, HyperCity competition is better priced compared to us, which is a perception and not reality and we are trying to change that. And, we work hard on quality and if we can actually say “you get all of this at this price” it’s quite a winning goal. We also want to do more of Analytics and try to understand our customers better so we can be more focused in the type of promotions we can send them. Further, we are planning to expand our network with smaller and more compact stores which will be more food dominated. And this will have a new look for the brand. In India, infrastructure is not great and proximity is important for the customer who will play the convenience card quite a lot. So we have to recognise that competition might leverage their proximity to the customer even though we have better offerings. So we are planning to open small format stores, about 28000 sq ft, so that we can expand. It’s also easier to find 28000 sq ft of space than 50000 sq ft of space and our expansion plans are centered around this n
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It is really about maintaining consistency. So if we have a certain point of sale material at a certain location, it will be of the same height through all counters across outlets. A lot of brands come in and bring in their own style of branding and put up their own material. But we are quite strict about what we allow to come in
Special Feature
FDI in retail: Reading between the lines Much has been discussed and debated over the new government policy related to FDI in retail. Point Of Purchase spoke to a cross section of professionals associated with the retail business, retail solutions and shopper marketing to get a clearer picture on how exactly the new policy will impact different aspects of the industry. Do keep watching this space for more as we bring newer perspectives over time. N Jayalakshmi with inputs from Fairy Dharwat in Mumbai, Nabamita Chatterjee in Kolkata, Nikita Bothra in Delhi and Nameeta Renchi in Bangalore
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ight from, “It is a case of too little too late” to, “Finally, the much needed change”, the reactions to the government’s new policy of allowing 51% FDI in multi branded outlets have ranged across sentiments among industry professionals. Here is a look at the various aspects of how this will impact the industry. After all, the retail segment is the second biggest employer in India with 44 million jobs. Overall impact
positive response is a reflection of the initial response of in fact most others in the industry. As Vineet Kapila, President - Spencer’s Retail Limited – RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, says, “Any kind of capital whether it comes in the form of debt or equity is welcomed for the expansion of business. In retail particularly in food and grocery or the kind of business we are in, the margins do not really allow us to move with debt and thus equity becomes the key piece. Any business has got gestation but takes certain time to reach its inflection point until then we need stationed capital, in fact huge capital and thus FDI is very much welcomed.”
experience. As Kodandaraman says, “The multinationals will also come with their own technology, experience and knowledge which will help educate the farmers too. It will also lead to greater
“As a citizen of India I am happy for the consumers of the country who will be the most benefitted from the new FDI policy. It is a very much welcome move. Customers will have more choices
Riyaz Marol GM, Namdhari’s Fresh
B.A. Kodandaraman Chairman & Managing Director Vivek Ltd
efficiencies in cold storage, supply chain and logistics resulting in lesser wastes and better cost rationalization. We will also see the entry of global practices and competition will go up. When completion goes up, efficiency will also go up. In fact, I think the government should have been even more liberal.” Agrees Vineet Kapila, “With the penetration of modern traders in the market will help the category or the segment to grow by giving shoppers better and varied choices and international traders do understand this trade better in terms of sourcing the goods, shopper analytics, IT system which in a way will help to grow this system in a better way. The Indian market being huge there is enough space to accommodate various brands in retail sector just like any other vertical. And more importantly it is not only the capital which will decide the fate of the players, but the softer skills like understanding the Indian market, relation with the customers and understanding their need which makes them visit the outlets and which will help win the situation.”
Vineet Kapila, President Spencer’s Retail Ltd - RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group
and the government will earn more revenues. When you look at the whole path of progress, it’s like this; when consumption increases, production increases and when production increases, employment increases. And this is what we are seeing and will see more of with the new policy,” says retail industry veteran and pioneer, B. A Kodandaraman, Chairman and Managing Director -- Vivek Ltd, and Founder Member of the Retailers Association of India (RAI). This
November 2012
Says Riyaz Marol, GM, Namdhari’s Fresh, Bangalore, “Though many oppose the arrival of foreign big brands, I believe the new FDI policies will have a positive impact on the Indian retail scenario. Both foreign brands and local retailers will co-exist . Opening gates to foreign brands means bringing in more capital and quality technology. In short, development.” Standards in merchandising, shopper experience One common and understandable view is that the entry of multinationals will give a step-up to standards in retail and in the process improving merchandising, brand visibility and therefore shopper
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Feature respective catchment and you will almost have it whenever you go. Thus it is surely a mistaken belief that it will have a negative impact on them.”
Peshwa Acharya Technology Entepreneur & Ex CMO Reliance Retail
Mark Ashman CEO, HyperCity
Impact on small retailers- kirana and home grown chains
retailers and people will still continue to buy from them.” Agrees Vineet Kapila, “Analysing the present market scenario with the development of the market, the small retailers will also grow and they will not be in deluge, we have seen that the results are really positive in other countries following such policies. People today want to shop in convenience and with the increasing time to commute, all they want to shop is next door. At the same time, out of need and relation the small retailers or ‘kiranas’ will stay as they deliver a very well assortment to their
One immediate cause for concern among many is the impact the new policy will have on the home grown traditional retail. There is a mixed reaction but it is obvious that they cannot afford to be complacent. Says Kodandaraman, “There is existence and co existence. The Kirana stores have been in existence for many years now and they won’t vanish because of the new policy. This country has 12 million
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But for them to survive would mean certain adaption. Adds Kodandaraman, ”They, along with other domestic retail small chains, will now need to gear up, put in best practices and train their people well. They should differentiate themselves and that is very important,” Says Nisha Abdulla -- Head -- Shopper Research, Insight Instore, “We do see a long term negative on traditional trade… the smaller players will get weeded out, with the stronger kirana owners meeting the needs of greater numbers in a catchment. Where there were 5 in a catchment, maybe 2 of the larger smarter kirana players will survive in the long term.” Impact on Jobs With the expected greater presence of foreign players, there is also the worry that local jobs in the retail industry might get affected. According to Vineet Kapila, the entry of more international players will only add more opportunities. “Today every one aspires to do well and at the retail sector there will be
Feature much more opportunities due to quality people and the employees always want companies which are more organized and has got capabilities to grow and develop potentialities. Thus under a disguise there may be a problem in the employment in
are certain clarities required in some areas, of which, one is getting it restricted to some cities but the question in the investor’s mind would be, ‘If I am coming with 100 thousand dollars then one need more geographical space to increase.’ Next issue is if it is a state’s subject, then with the change in the government or the various opinions that are coming up from all ends on whether they want it or not, why leave that lacuna in the policy? The third angle is the clarity on back-end or what exactly it comprises of. 30% of the investment has to be mandated to back-end.” Well, that’s certainly a point to ponder. Implications for the POP industry
D J Bangara MD, Autographics small kirana shops. It will definitely upgrade the skills of human capital which is very important from the country’s well being point of view.” Agrees Smita Chettri, Director- Client Servicing, The Circus Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, a Delhi based Brand/Activation/Events/ Retail Solutions provider, “Retail trade contributes around 10-11% of India’s GDP and currently employs over 4 crores of people. FDI could provide further options to existing Indian retail chains / groups to raise long term capital for expansion and maybe to attract partnerships with some global players. This would impact in the increase of jobs and the quality of jobs in retail.” A few others are however more cautious. Says Peshwa Acharya, Technology Entepreneur and Ex CMO Reliance Retail, “It should usher in some quality jobs in retail, though lots of senior level jobs might go the expats. The Government of India needs to have a policy to ensure the Indian / local people get preference. This needs to be a priority for the Govt.” Grey areas But even as the dust settles on the initial reactions, there are some questions and uncertainties. Says Mark Ashman, CEO, HyperCity, “This move is definitely good for consumers and definitely good for the retail industry. But we also have to see how long it takes for this decision and what are the ripple effects. I think there will be a steady stream of retailers coming, but they have to prove themselves even though the government is relaxed, as India is not the easiest market to operate in. You got to be determined and definitely patient. If you are determined and patient, there is a long way to go.” Agrees Vineet Kapila, “There
November 2012
Well, for the POP solutions providers and vendors, the new policy ushers in huge opportunities. As Amit Shah, MD-Spectrum Scan, Mumbai says “For our industry definitely, this is going to be big opportunity to POP/POS manufacturers.”
Amit Shah MD, Spectrum Scan
will also survive and grow, but not in the FDI segment. Transparency, compliance to regulations, ethics and an organization is what they will look for, and only those who have this will get a share of this business. I am sure more and more players will become more organized out of necessity. We have followed this principle from day 1, and hence our customers are only from this category.” (see interview on page 35). Need of the hour – Gearing up for potential opportunities Well for many, the impact of the policy would take years to materialize given the grey years and the cultural and political dynamics of the country which might make it challenging for the foreign entrants to consolidate their position here. But it helps to be prepared. In fact, now well may be the best time for a collective effort from all stake holders in the industry to redefine and look at the retail context and shopper communication in a newer and more innovative ways with newer strategies on all fronts. As Nisha Abdulla says “The last ten years has seen a trickle down from evolution in the Modern Trade context into traditional Trade... with the entry of newer players now we expect a similar trickledown effect. It would be essential for brands and retailer to incorporate realities of the Indian market – thinking global would be the best way forward. Brands will need to go beyond just branding; a need for real innovation at retail, and greater activation. Some changes in the retailer-brand dynamics and brand-retailer
Agrees Vineet Kapila, “From the point of view of the vendors it is also more beneficial as they get good rate for their products.” But while it presents opportunities, it also presents the Darwinian theory of survival of the best. As Nisha Abdulla of Insight Instore says, “We anticipate a shake-up in the POP vendor market with the smaller, less innovative players being weeded out -- some amount of consolidation of capabilities might take place.” So this means that for the vendors it is possibly a clarion to reevaluate their capability and take the necessary steps in order to become more organized. As D J Bangara, MD -- Autographics, Bangalore says, “The bulk of signage and merchandising comes from the unorganized industry and small Mom & Pop sign shops. FDI and big brands will do business with organized industry, and this segment will grow. Small business
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Nisha Abdulla, Head Shopper Research, Insight Instore collaboration will see an upturn, having a positive influence in the area of shopper marketing. In the short-to-medium term collaboration is key!” Well, who’s listening? Turn to page 51 to read more about the implications of the new FDI policy in retail.
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Technology
In touch with the tech-gen shoppers Capillary Technologies a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) company goes all out to ensure that the service provided to their retail customers facilitates incremental value to the shoppers. Here’s a detailed report on Capillary’s new solution called ‘!n touch’ that does exactly this. Fairy Dharawat
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good shopping experience is a lot dependent on the availability of time saving easy to use technology interfaces that facilitate faster buying decisions and product information access. According to a February 2012 survey by Google, three-quarters of smartphone shoppers used their device in a store during the holiday season to help them shop. Enter Capillary Technologies, a CRM company that provides customised solutions to its retailers by not only providing reports based on the data collected through point of sale, but also by shopper behaviour in store.
Aneesh Reddy Co Founder & CEO Capillary Technologies Capillary Technologies provides Intelligent retailing solutions to their retail customers through a cloud-based Retail CRM application known as !n Touch. Through this cloud-based Retail CRM solution, retailers can access and use customer data and purchase data to entice buyers with loyalty programs, discounts or rewards. Capillary’s Analytics tools process millions of instances of data sourced from multiple channels like point of sale and in store behaviour to group together customers based on their likes, preferences and habits. This allows retailers to offer their customers the right product at any given right time. Through this service Capillary helps in
November 2012
creating a well designed campaign that would help in driving sales and provide shopper with information they need while buying. Says Aneesh Reddy, Co Founder & CEO of Capillary technologies, “Supporting !nTouch, is Capillary’s Social CRM Suite – Social Connect that allows brands to engage their customers on social channels and integrate their social body language with in-store behaviour.” And this helps in delivering superior customer experience on all touch points. Elaborating further he says, “!nTouch also supports specific client requirements with an array of add-on products like Clientling, Cashier Incentive, Call Centre Support, Store Task Flow, Gift Cards and a Complain Management System. Capillary combines its CRM solution InTouch with superior data analytics and a business intelligence platform that helps in client’s decision making process in order to drive sales and higher ROI( Return on Invesment). Capillary also has an SME Intelligent Retailing solution called TruTouch, which is an easy-to-use, ROI driven, self-serve-style product for mid-market retailers.” !nTouch has a metric-driven instant engagement technology that is integrated with point-of-sale of retail chains that helps in giving customized alerts to the chosen customers. At the time of checkout, !nTouch acquires and stores customer information and purchase data and processes it real-time to facilitate targeted intelligent quickselling. Says Aneesh Reddy, “!nTouch processes customer information in a matter of seconds, and provides data to the fingertips of the storefront with guided insights on how to accelerate business. The platform allows retailers to constantly track their customers, providing insight into purchase patterns, preferences and needs and then create highly customized loyalty based campaigns. Within seconds of the transaction,!nTouch runs real-time,
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instant analytics of the purchase and allows retailers to thrill the customer instantly with rewards, gifts and discounts that can be immediately realized.” Case study In October 2010, a premier leisure store chain with over 50 stores in 13 cities with the existing loyalty campaign was completely transformed into a mobile based program with the Capillary Dynamic Vouchering System which engages customers in Real Time. Capillary’s strategy was; l
Quicker member enrolment process
l Better quality of data to be captured to understand customer preferences l Faster medium to communicate with the members l
Easier redemptions for member
The NationalCampaign was rolled across 23 stores across India. Using Capillary’s proprietary tool, Point of Purchase Analytics, an in-store instant analytics engine which allows retailer to interact with its customers in realtime, the client disbursed instant mobile vouchers on every purchase. The campaign was run between 13th and 31st of December 2010, however due to extremely favorable results; the campaign was later extended to 19th January 2011. The loyalty campaign generated total additional sales of 39% from loyalty sales for the entire campaign duration with 4% of the total loyalty sales amounting from redemptions. The campaign effect continued in February and maintained a 41% contribution to the sales due to loyalty sales. However, it was observed that even in non-campaign months (MarchMay) sales from loyalty members were as high as 58% of the total sales generated, thus showing significant improvement in brand loyalty and latency.
Technology More Sales per Visit Throughout the campaign period, the number of vouchers issued and redeemed in a given duration was at a consistent proportion. In the beginning of the campaign, 19% of the vouchers issued were being redeemed on the same day, by third week of campaign, same day redemptions increased to 69%. During the campaign period, the average bill value increased by 15% and the average basket size increased by 18%. This rise was due to the additional purchases through the vouchers. Using a fixed amount for gift voucher, instead of a percentage of purchase, the perceived value of the offer also increases. For example: customers with a bill value between INR1001 to 1500 were given a gift voucher of INR150. It also helped the client to get more margins on purchases which were on higher end of a slab. Better Customer Insights The customer data captured through !nTouch during this campaign proved to be very valuable for analytics. It was observed that maximum RoI was generated from the customers with bill value between INR500 to INR 1000 during the campaign. The same segment of customers also accounted for the maximum number of voucher issued. Analyzing different segments of the customers, their purchase patterns, preferences and their response to the Loyalty Campaign enabled Capillary’s Analytics team to develop strong insights into the customers’ psyche and develop better marketing campaigns for The Client for future. Conclusion Using a real-time loyalty program, The Client has been able to keep their customers engaged and interested. With superior Capillary tools, the client has not only been growing their customer database phenomenally, but are also able to conceive campaigns according to market trends, keeping the customers coming back to their stores. n
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November 2012
Technology
Taking customer engagement to new levels hence deliver highly customized loyalty based campaigns, to drive customer engagement effectively. The loyalty system works across multiple channels and is also seamlessly integrated with our website and call centre. What kind of tech investments did it require? And how exactly do you measure the returns on this cost involved?
Mrinmoy Mukherjee, Director, Marketing & Global Business Head for The Raymond Shops network in India As told to Nameeta Renchi
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aymond Retail, winner of Asia’s Best Customer Loyalty Program at the Asian Retail Leadership Awards held recently in Dubai, is a good example of how a good technology powered customer loyalty programme can work wonders. Mrinmoy Mukherjee, Director, Marketing & Global Business Head for ‘The Raymond Shops network’ in India shares the success story of the Raymond customer engagement initiative that used Capillary’s cloud+mobile+analytics CRM solutions to take customer engagement to a new level. Could you tell us more about the customer engagement initiative? How it was launched and what was the objective? The Raymond Shop runs a customer loyalty rewards program, ‘Premium Circle’ across its 650 outlets, including franchise owned stores. The program was launched in 2005 with an objective to create a unique experience for the customers and build stronger ties between the brand and its patrons. Today, The Raymond Shop engages a massive 1.3 million customers, with more than 45% as part of Premium
November 2012
Circle and offers them benefits such as extended customer service, great rewards points scheme, cross country alliances and personalized, on time engagement. How did you partner with Capillary for the same? What exactly were your requirements and how exactly did Capillary solutions that match your needs? At Raymond, we always look for innovative ways to engage customers and stay ahead of the curve. We found Capillary’s cloud+mobile+analytics CRM solutions perfect to take our customer engagement to a new level. With Capillary, Raymond now offers its customer a card-less, paper-less loyalty program which uses customer’s mobile number as the unique identifier and simplifies the sign up process, which in turn encourages more registrations. Our membership registration showed a dramatic improvement of 115% from 2010 to 2011. The data capture is now done in successive visits using Capillary’s solutions easily and we have built a very rich database. The platform allows Raymond to constantly follow its customers to identify their purchase patterns, preferences and
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Capillary’s solutions are designed to work with any POS and do not require additional expenditure to implement. A small client is installed in each POS at our stores and it becomes operational in no time. We work with Capillary on a monthly fee model based on number of POS running its solutions, thus eliminating any sizable upfront investment. Capillary has a model to track efficiency of its solutions and account for the sales generated through their campaigns, giving us a clear picture on every marketing dollar spent. How do you think such customer engagement solutions help retailers? Retail industry is highly competitive, and retailers have to mull strategies to keep the vast pool of customers engaged. Capillary’s solutions can help retailers to create powerful, personalized realtime Intelligent Customer Engagement solutions and thus establish one-toone relationships with its customers. The platform doesn’t just help them to build rich data, but also uses it to create intelligent customer engagement campaigns. Using its multi-channel solutions, retailers can reach out to the customers even when they are not at stores, through mobile, emails, social media etc. This new technology is definitely a great way to break clutter and increase brand loyalty. Going forward what are your other plans in the customer engagement area? In the coming months, Raymond plans to aggressively expand its Premium Circle member base to 1 million customers. To achieve this, we intend to add more features to our program and make it more accessible to our customers. We are looking at creating a stronger engagement for our customers with Capillary’s solutions and make our campaigns more focused n
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Interview - Industry
“The customer is always right, even when he is wrong!” To survive and sustain quality in an industry fraught with challenges takes guts, vision and a commitment to delivering the best. Autographics is one of the oldest players in the industry having completed 25 years of being in this business. In this interaction with Point Of Purchase, D.J Bangara, Managing Director, Autographics, talks about his whole journey, reminiscing, reflecting and sharing some invaluable insights and observations even as he savours the special occasion of the company’s 25th anniversary. Read on. expansion or new business we did or still do is driven by our Customers, and over the years, we diversified and foraged into new areas, not because it was what I wanted to do, but because my Customers wanted it.
D.J Bangara, Managing Director Autographics To begin with how does it feel, having completed 25 years in this industry? It’s a fantastic feeling, but the time has gone by so fast, and it took some time to get used to the fact that we are 25 years old! Reflecting back, what were the highlights in your journey? Could you please share your growth story? When I started in 1987, I had no idea that the business would grow so much and what it would take. I was young, had the courage of youth to think big, and had the energy to work hard towards building our business. We started as a small screen-printing unit with just 7 people, developing automotive decals for the 2-wheeler industry. TVS-SUZUKI was my only client, and I owe them a lot. I was exposed to Japanese standards of Quality, Cost and Delivery assurance, and this has helped me to sustain our business and satisfy Customers. Any
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I consider myself blessed to have had the opportunity to work with the best brands, to deal with some of the best people – Customers and Supply partners, and be exposed to international standards. I also have had the best of people working for me, and many of them have made a long career in our company. In fact I have staff that joined in 1987 still on board, and it gives me immense satisfaction when I look back. I saw the industry from its infant stages, and had the privilege of seeing the best days of the industry. Some milestones GRAPHICS are:
for
AUTO
l Single source supplier to TVSSUZUKI for automotive decals for 13 years l
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Preferred supplier to Coca-Cola India from day 1 in 1993 to date First fleet graphics for Coca-Cola in 1993
l First Scitex customer for India in 2000 with the first high speed high resolution digital printer l
Acquisition of our automotive decal business by 3M in 2000
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Installation of first Scitex TurboJet in 2004
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Member of the Advisory Board of Scitex in 2004
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Platinum PSP of HP
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Chosen by Coca-Cola for the market activation in Amritsar for Muhtar Kent
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– Chairman of Coca-Cola – maiden visit to India in June 2012 What about the challenges… how did you overcome them? I was always able to look at a challenge in a positive way, knowing that there is a solution to any problem, as long as one faces up to it squarely. The most important thing in life is to first admit you have a problem, and then you can find a solution. We cannot wish problems away. How did you arrive at a clearly defined USP as far as Auto Graphics is concerned and how did manage to sustain it? From OEM business in 1987 with TSSUZUKI, we diversified into signage and commercial graphics in 1993 when Coca-Cola launched in India, and meanwhile, we were also doing some amount for industrial labeling for the white goods industry with customers like Whirlpool. By 1995, I realized that we were trying to do too much under one roof, and decided to split the business into 3 separate entities: Auto Graphics – for signage AutoStriping – for automotive OEM Image Labels – for industrial labels
Interview-- Industry I delegated work, and with responsibility, I gave authority and even a share of business ownership to senior people, and that brought in the focus and expertise in each type of industry, and that is what helped us grow and offer the service and dedication to our customers Any important learning for you as an industry professional? For me, it is all about doing the right thing, and I believe that we must be driven by our Customers. “The Customer is always right, even when he is wrong�, has been my motto from the beginning. Specialization is the key to success - we can never be a master of all.
working on your retirement plans? As a business sooner, sooner or later, one has to seriously face the issue of succession planning – and that was the primary reason for the tie up. My children are abroad and are not involved in the business, and hence I had to find the right partner to take over. He had to be young, of this generation so that he in synch with the present, and had to be dynamic
The retail industry dynamics are changing and now with the announcement of the new FDI policy one can expect more changes and possibly greater international competition too. What would it take for an industry player to survive and succeed in this environment?
Any significant changes and trends from the client side over the years that are worth mentioning? I can see changes in demands from Customers over the last 25 years. We had closer interaction in the good old days, which was one to one, and our business relationships always merged with personal commitments. This has now changed to electronic communication, which at times is very impersonal, to the extent that I have not met many Customers even once, but do a lot of business with them! Call me old fashioned, but I believe that we must have a personal commitment also and that comes only when we sit across the table, and understand each other and then work out solutions for mutual benefit. Quality and delivery assurance was always foremost in the early days, but today price comes first, and I am sorry to say that many Customers sacrifice quality just to get a better price, which I feel will damage their brand in the long run Today what do you think are the key challenges that the industry faces? Managing the business and retaining Customers is the biggest challenge in our industry today. Doing an accurate costing of jobs is critical, and one must consider cost of depreciation when quoting and decent ROI, without which we will not be able to invest in new technologies, and this will affect our growth in the long run. Customers will also lose out, since they will not get new technology. About two years you tied up with a new partner (selling equity)? Any particular reason for that? Are you
hour is not just printing solutions, but total merchandising solutions. This has not been our area of expertise, and hence the logical step was to look for an international partner who wants to come to India, and bring this expertise in. We are fortunate to tie up with idX Corporation, USA, who are one of the largest store fixtures companies in the US, and we are working together to establish ourselves as the leading and preferred vendor partner to the industry
Arjun Reddy I joined hands with Arjun Reddy of S R Digital in March 2011. Arjun has come on board and is taking over the company. He is about the same age as I was when I started the business (in fact 2 years younger) and I believe that he has the courage of youth and the guts and vision to take this company to the next level and drive it for the next 25 years. We get on very well, and complement each other. I will continue to be a part of Auto Graphics forever, but will mentor it while Arjun drives it. As business owners, we have a responsibility to ensure continuity to our Customers, Supply Partners, Employees and Stakeholders, and this means that we should bring in the changes that are needed and are relevant to the long-term sustainability of the business. A tie up like this is an example of thinking ahead. Also, your company was purely in graphics business, but you have tied up with an international partner who is specialized in fixture? Was this based on your observations of market needs and trends? As I said, we are driven by Customers, and we are seeing that the need of the
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The bulk of signage and merchandising comes from the unorganized industry and small Mom & Pop sign shops. FDI and big brands will do business with organized industry, and this segment will grow. Small business will also survive and grow, but not in the FDI segment. Transparency, compliance to regulations, ethics and an organization is what they will look for, and only those who have this will get a share of this business. I am sure more and more players will become more organized out of necessity. We have followed this principle from day 1, and hence our customers are only from this category. Any new milestones or vision for Auto Graphics for the future? To continue to maintain our leadership position in the industry, and to build a respected business. To practice fairness in all that we do, and to add value to our Customers always. Any word of advice to someone starting out in this business? My advice to a new entrant is to be committed, be focused, and not cut corners. We have a great responsibility when working with brands and we must not compromise the Brand at any time for short-term gains n
November 2012
Profile
Answering the need of the hour Brand visibility and promotions at retail come with their own challenges. Kshobha Pte Ltd. was set up with the aim of helping brands convert these challenges into opportunities. Here’s a look at the company’s offerings. promotions effortlessly. The company’s products include Enterprise marketing campaign management services, Franchise marketing management services, Digital Asset Management Services, Print Service Provider’s Online Store and they all come with their own specific benefits and functionality. Kshobha’s suite solutions help:
Pankaj Goswami Director & Co-Founder, Kshobha
Chong Ching Chuan Director & Co-Founder, Kshobha
t is an established fact that over 70% of decisions happen at the store. But garnering these crucial consumer decisions and converting them into advantage for the brand still poses many challenges, not the least of them being execution bottlenecks and logistic issues. A solution to overcome these challenges is the need of the hour. And this is exactly what Singapore based Ksobha Pte Ltd offers.
Ravi was the Founder Abacus Computers Ltd, the first in India to pioneer a revolution for open platform language publishing and newspaper editorial system in the ‘80s. Chong Ching Chuan, popularly known as CC is the backbone of the Periscope Hong Kong operations. With nearly 20 years of experience in print production, CC brings in a wealth of knowledge and experience as the Head of Production Graphics.
Kshobha is a technology venture incorporated in Singapore and promoted by industry veterans and experts in the field of Graphic Arts. The company provides a suite of cloud based infrastructure for enterprises to manage and deploy their marketing collaterals across print, web, display and video encompassing their regional and local branch offices as well as franchisees and channel partners.
Kshobha’s solutions stemmed from certain keen observations of market needs. For example, it was observed that while more than 70% of purchase decision happens at the Point of Sale, more than 40% of POP campaigns do not meet desired results as execution delays severely impact effectiveness of the campaigns. As Pankaj says, “In today’s competitive market scenario, retail clients are being pushed by the dynamic market pressures to come out with innovative POP campaigns at very cost effective means to either do promotions or react to competitive campaigns.”
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The company also has strategic association with leading print & digital media services providers across many locations in India and abroad for seamless execution of POS campaigns through a single source. Koshbha is driven by Pankaj Goswami -- Director & Co-Founder, Ravi Dugal -- Director and Promoter and Chong Ching Chuan - Director and Co-Founder. Pankaj, is a veteran in the digital printing industry with nearly 20 years of experience with companies like Xerox, Scitex Vision and Hewlett Packard, while
November 2012
Kshobha was thus set up keeping in mind the above challenges and the opportunities and provide solutions around them. The company collaborates with technology partner Mediawide and other accredited network of print services provider in multiple countries to deliver solutions that enable enterprise to govern, manage and carry out the execution of localized 48
of
products
and
1. Brands which are into selling products through retail 2. Media companies 3. Print Services Provider Here is a look at how Kshobha’s solutions help clients across platforms: 1. Media Planning : This is for media companies to help them maintain an inventory of their sites and give access to potential media buyers to plan out their campaigns. The sites could be both traditional sites like billboards, bus shelters etc or also could be digital displays. 2. Content & Ad building : This allows brands to build their ads through a collaborative method between agencies which create the main design and then allows regional offices or franchises to use the system to build their own localised versions. This module can be used to build marketing collaterals, POP materials, POS customised items, corporate stationery, sales proposal, etc. Approval & Ordering system : This allows seamless ordering of actual “jobs” through real time acquisition, approval & ordering through different stake holders. 4. Tracking and Invoicing : Allows real time tracking and invoicing of actual “jobs” with plug ins with corporate MIS. Well, equipped with such solutions, Kshobha can certainly look forward to a promising market, fuelling new in-store campaign demands in the process n
Profile
The relationship builders Encouraging loyal buying and enriching brand value for more than 20 years not only requires continuous effort but also sustained integrating of creative strategies. LoyaltyOne has been building and retaining loyal consumers for more than 200 brands. Here’s a look at how the company goes about it. Nameeta Renchi The beginning In the spring of 1991, Craig Underwood, Sam Duboc and Rob Gierkink jammed three desks into Room 2011 at the Cambridge Suites to create a makeshift office. Sharing one phone line and a single computer, the trio had pooled their talent to promote a unique business venture - a new kind of marketing program that would reward consumers’ loyalty by giving them opportunities to travel. More recently, LoyaltyOne has expanded its base of operations globally, operating in Canada, the U.S., South America and India to help global brands enrich relationships with their customers
Caroline Papadatos, Senior VicePresident - International at LoyaltyOne and Head of Global Alliances Caroline Papadatos, Senior Vice-President -- International at LoyaltyOne and Head of Global Alliances reminisces, “It was 3 men in a hotel room who devised this transformational model called Coalition Loyalty. The founders of LoyaltyOne launched the first retail-centric coalition in Canada in 1992, and called it Air Miles. When it was introduced, the retail coalition was (and still is) a new kind of a marketing program, built on a unique coalition of retail partners that promised to reward consumers loyalty by giving them opportunities to travel. 20 years later, LoyaltyOne runs AIR MILES Reward Program, the world’s leading coalition loyalty program that is considered the gold
standard. There is no other model where multiple brands offer a loyalty solution under a common brand and benefit from the common scale, quality of data, communication and rewards platform and analytics services.” The Air Miles program has in fact become the model for loyalty program design, the world over. According to Caroline, 2 out of 3 Canadian households carry an Air Miles card. In India that would be equivalent to a staggering 300M households. AIR MILES has a base of 130 partners, impacting upwards of 60% of partner sales with a 90% renewal rate. Essentially Loyalty helps its clientele build long term relationship with their consumers and has consolidated its position as a market leader in customer management, loyalty strategy, loyalty programs, and analytics & marketing services. Says Caroline, “We work closely with these brands to identify their loyalty objectives and the customer metrics they want to shift. All brands will want to acquire new customers, but while retailers are focused on spend lift, basket size and frequency of store visits, other partners may want to design their loyalty solution to stem customer churn or acquire customer data for segmentation and modeling. The LoyaltyOne solution is a loyalty platform, not a program. The beauty of the model is that Partners can customize their participation and offers to drive individualized loyalty results.” Speaking on the approach LoyaltyOne follows says Caroline, “LoyaltyOne encourages long-term strategic partnerships. The work with partners starts with identifying their customer goals, and then mutually defines the optimal loyalty solution. ” Sharing her observations and insight into the trend among brands and retailers where customer engagement is concerned Caroline shares, “Colloquy, the knowledge practice of LoyaltyOne, conducted a loyalty cross-cultural study across 6 countries, including India. On average, 42% of Indians participate in loyalty programs and carry 3 cards
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in their wallet. As this is an average, best customers or high value shoppers may carry 4 or 5 cards. Clearly, both retailers and consumers are becoming more attuned to loyalty programs, but increased customer engagement will only come when Indian retailers fix some of the underlying consumer dissatisfaction.” The company’s Colloquy Cross-Cultural Study, revealed that the top 3 points-ofpain for Indian shoppers were: Low shopping levels - 28% Privacy concerns - 28% In-sufficient incentives – 19%” Well, it these observations that have helped LoyaltyOne come up solutions tailored to meet brand needs. No wonder that it has a long list of clientele including Safeway, Toys ‘R Us, American Express, Saks Fifth Avenue, MGM Mirage and others. In India, the LoyaltyOne partner, Direxions Marketing Solutions in actively engaged with Levi’s, Kaya Skin Clinic, Novartis, Domino’s Pizza and Leela Kempinski, to name a few. When asked about the key market drivers in India for LoyaltyOne explains, “It is an exciting time to be in India. FDI in retail has just been announced; this will intensify competition and give brands a financial driver to retain their best customers and scale their acquisition efforts.” Future plans Speaking about future plans, Caroline says, “As we expand our base of loyalty operations in Canada, Brazil, India and the United States, we look to new geographies and the development of new products for our partners. Over the past 20 years, we have transformed the business of loyalty and increasingly, our clients ask us to help them accelerate their customer analytics and design customer experiences. Our recent investment in Direxions Global Solutions Private Ltd., a leading full-suite marketing services company and Cartesian Consulting Pvt Ltd in India, allow us to offer this full suite of services for the Indian market.” n
November 2012
Interview-Industry
Re-thinking retail possibilities In Norrkoping, Sweden, a group of people at Stora Enso did some futuristic re-thinking on the possibilities of creating renewable materials. The result was a paperboard that is the strongest of its kind available today. Challenging traditional methods and being more eco sensitive, Stora Enso Re-board is an eco-friendly paperboard with unique engineered fluted core which is driven by the company’s philosophy of Rethink. This paper based sandwich board is capable of replacing MDF, Plywood and Chipboard used today in many retail applications and is the first paper board in the world to independently measure CO2 emissions. Using Re-board will in fact produce 10 times lesser carbon, according to the company. In a conversation with Point Of Purchase, Kiron Loy, Marketing & Sales Director, Stora Enso shares more details on the implications of this product in the retail environment. Read on‌
improve waste management. Re-board is the only substrate found on the WalMart supplier hub database illustrated as a material that can lower carbon impact & improve waste management. Many Re-board in-store displays around the world have lasted beyond 4 years. Many are only required to last 1 – 2 years. Heavy signage made from MDF has been replaced with Re-board signage reducing the strain of roofing & ceiling structures. Kiron Loy Marketing & Sales Director Stora Enso What insights led to the concept of Re-board? Over recent years there has been a drive to use more sustainable, eco-friendly material as opposed to plastics, MDF & chipboard. Brand Owners & Retailers are actively driving this initiative. Walmart is just one of many retailers seeking materials that lower carbon impact and
November 2012
What are the highlights of the product? The paper board has a good planar flatness and provides thermal insulation and protection from different environmental conditions. An embedded moisture barrier protects the core and the physical properties remain unchanged in humid conditions. It is durable, contains no harmful components and is form stable. Re-board is made out of water-based adhesives so that it can be recycled as paper in normal waste paper streams.
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What exactly are the application benefits, specifically of the unique engineered fluted core? Our engineered core provides many benefits, from stability, strength, and retention of fixings such as screws, enables rapid cutting of shapes to producing 3D items, which allows the production of curves & clean edges. The Re-board sheets can be cut into
web based tool designed to help WalMart vendors find interesting products, processes & technologies that can help them reduce their carbon footprint. Reboard is the only substrate on this site. How exactly does it combine brand aesthetics with eco responsibility? Could you share some examples?
any desirable shape. Digital print or decorative lamination on it can create amazing effects. Stora Enso also offers a 5mm Re-board. It is produced on the same machine as the other Re-board dimensions and therefore benefits from the identical engineered core, process and quality assurance. What are the cost implications of this new material for POP display makers? Compared to traditional materials, when you take the full project into consideration, Re-board is usually more cost effective, reduces carbon footprint & allows companies/retailers/brand owners to claim carbon credits. What kind of response have you received from the retailer and the brands to the use of this material in retail? Very positive uptake to the point where Re-board information can be found on Wal-Mart’s supplier hub database, a 51
There are numerous. Philips wanted POPs that reflected their products such as clothes irons or highly branded with their logos & products. Others brand owners such as Siemens wanted to enhance their message of eco-friendly products by utilising eco-friendly material for their new range of energy efficient white goods. Could you tell us more about your partnership network across the globe and your initiative to push overall standards? The Re- board family includes faithful partners and distributors worldwide. They can access the readymade design database of Stora Enso. The company has also developed a wide range of accessories for Re-board which is shared only with users of Re-board material. Recently Stora Enso also initiated Re- board design awards for encouraging best designers Do you have any plans to launch Reboard in Indian market? Yes we do. Stora Enso has offices in India & we are currently in discussions with several large distributors & have many POP converters wanting to become Partners n
November 2012
Column
FDI in Retailing in India: Socio-economic and Policy Implications By Dr. Dwarika Prasad Uniyal & Dr. Swagato Sarkar, O.P Jindal Global University always favour Foreign Direct Investment in this sector; a case in point is India. There is also lack of proper supply chain and cold chain infrastructure, quality problems in sourcing from local vendors, unique trade practices and opposition from local small retailers, and political parties. Retailers also face lack of skilled manpower, inconsistent agricultural produce, various cultural and geographical challenges, and last but not the least, coordination problems with the parent organization. Key questions to be asked are: Dr Dwarika Prasad Uniyal Background:
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he U.S. economy is struggling to expand and Europe is going into recession. In these times of tough financial situations, fast-growing markets in the developing world seem to offer the best opportunities for boosting revenues and profits. It has to be noted that many MNCs from the developed world have been keen to follow organizations such as Boeing, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, P&G, Virgin, DuPont, General Electric, Nestle, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Oracle, Unilever, and Disney — companies that appear to have succeeded in becoming significant global entities. But the same logic cannot be applied to all industries especially in Retailing. It was found that in grocery retailing, globalization’s benefits had not accrued to the retailers. In contrast to other industries, grocery retail was found to be still dominated by local players in most countries. International players were either absent or had very little presence in the developing world’s retail markets. Despite challenges and past failures, retailers still strive to enter the developing markets for a number of reasons like a quest for greater economies of scale and scope, a need to diversify risks, a desire to attract fresh talent and create new opportunities for existing leaders, and a need to make up for constraints imposed by regulatory agencies when a retailer becomes too big for its home market.
November 2012
Dr Swagato Sarkar Retail Internationalization has become central to the future plans of many retailers, especially in the last decades. At the same time, funding of retail businesses has become international as large firms raise finance for developments, and call for funds, from the international financial institutions. But it has to be noted that despite rapid growth of retail operations across countries, almost every big retailer has experienced failure abroad: WalMart succeeded in Canada and Mexico but failed in Germany and South Korea, Tesco gained significant market shares in South Korea and Malaysia but failed to establish a presence in France or Taiwan. In this context it has become extremely important to understand and systematically study the reasons behind Retail Internationalization (RI) and the challenges retailers face in new markets. Since Europe and USA economies have been witnessing slow growth, like many transnational or multinational companies, retailers see Asian or Latin American markets as a huge opportunity for their growth. However it is to be noted that unlike manufacturing, retail remains a local business and in many of the developing markets, local retailers still dominate the market. There are many challenges in front of global retailers in developing markets, including complex political structures leading to stringent government regulations and policies which do not 52
“What exactly is meant by retail internationalization? What do retailers actually internationalize? Is it management expertise and management systems? Innovative forms of trading? Or Unique retail brands?” In a general consideration of foreign direct investment (FDI), irrespective of sector, three factors which together were important in establishing whether a firm develops direct investment in international operations. The three factors are as follows: — Ownership-specific advantages in which the firm has an innovative product, process or business method which gives to the firm competitive advantage in the market. — Location-specific advantages in which the potential host country has particular cost advantages or market opportunities not present in the home country. — Internalization advantages in which the organization of the firm or some environmental factor results in ownership and location advantages only being released through FDI. The Indian Connection The Indian Retail sector has seen a gradual although steady metamorphosis over the last decade. Despite the myriad advances over the years, the sector continues to remain highly fragmented; still primarily dominated by the unorganized segment –
Column the quintessential traditional family run stores. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector has always been a contentious issue, courtesy the well documented proclivity of our policy makers to dither and delay decision making on key aspects stemming from political risks at large. The retail FDI policy has been burning smoke every now and then with the government trying hard to buy it off the shelves before it expires. Issues: Political Consideration is a real holdup. Regional satraps oppose liberalisations of policies which might lead to increase in foreign investment. Also, despite the importance being accorded to infrastructure by the government it continues to be a reason to not invest in India. Existing infrastructure projects often do not get adequate government support leading to withdrawal of foreign investment. India needs to upgrade its labour laws to attract foreign investors which in the long run will prove beneficial to labours also. Moreover, International reports on transparency rank India as very low. A combination of legal hurdles, lack of institutional reforms, bureaucratic decision-making and the allegations of corruption at the top have turned foreign investors away from India. The current Debate: The proponents of FDI in MBRT and SBRT point out that opening up of the retail sector is the single most important second generation economic reform. Those in favour advocate that: l It will cut intermediaries between farmers and the retailers, thereby helping them get more money for their produce l It will help in bringing down prices at retail level and calm inflation l Big retail chains will invest in supply chains which will reduce wastage, estimated at 40 percent in the case of fruits and vegetables l
Small and medium enterprises will have a bigger market, along with better technology and branding l It will bring much-needed foreign investment into the country, along with technology and global best-practices
l
It will actually create employment than displace people engaged in small stores
l It will induce better competition in the market, thus benefiting both producers and consumers
The counter arguments to these claims are made by citing devastating experiences from countries which had allowed foreign direct investment in retail. It is pointed out that opening up of the retail sector will lead to the concentration and centralisation of supply, resulting in price rise, the destruction of livelihood opportunities of small retailers, and allow foreign capital to earn above-average margin. Those against would argue that: l It will lead to closure of tens of thousands of mom-and-pop shops across the country and endanger livelihood of 40 million people l may bring down prices initially, but fuel inflation once multinational companies get a stronghold in the retail market l Farmers may be given remunerative prices initially, but eventually they will be at the mercy of big retailers l Small and medium enterprises will become victims of predatory pricing policies of multinational retailers
Conclusions and way forward: FDI in multi-brand retail has become a contentious issue in India because it has the potential to change the landscape of India and the way local markets are organised. On the one hand, the evidences for both the beneficial and adverse impact of FDI in retail are available, and it is quite unpredictable what kind of impact it will have on the Indian retail scene in the short and long run. On the other hand, it is also not necessary that the foreign retailers will find it easy to set up and run successful business ventures in India. Many of the Indian retailers in the organised sector have found it difficult to make profit due to high operation cost, which includes exorbitant rates of acquiring retail space and unreliable supply chain. Unlike manufacturing, finance and service sector, retailing is very much anchored in the local context, and hence, there is a cultural dimension, which pose
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a challenge in a contradictory way: people might be ambivalent about the cultural changes which emerges with the disappearance of familiar shopping experience; whereas the foreign retailers might find it difficult to adjust and cater to the local tastes. The challenge before the MNCs who want to enter the Indian market are: achieving the right retail format to meet the demand of various consumer groups, creating a modern backend operation system, accessing reasonably priced floor space, and adjusting to the local tastes. The cost of such intervention is extremely high. It is to be seen whether the private sector alone would invest and develop warehouses, cold storage chains, rural roads and electrification, or would it invariably depend on the public sector to develop the required infrastructure. On the political front, there are various strong regional interest groups which control the market, and it is to be seen how they interact with the MNCs and other big retailers. It is quite likely that they will form some alliance with these big retailers, while retaining their share in the supply chain. However, one significant concern is that FDI in retail will be detrimental to small traders and many of them will find it difficult to operate and hence, this will lead to a large scale loss of jobs. Given that FDI in retail is a state subject, the state governments might not be willing to allow MNCs to operate if the loss of job is substantial and the governments – many of whom are financially under constrain, might not take the risk. What perhaps we will witness is a gradual entry of MNCs, initially restricted to the metropolitan cities, and even there, within the well-off areas. The other real challenge before the proponents of FDI in retail and the MNC-retailers is whether the average price of products remains steady or even get lowered, which will augment the inflationstabilisation policies and also attract the price-sensitive Indian consumers n Reference: U n i y a l D P, S a r k a r S , 2 0 1 2 , “ I n t e r n a t i o n a l i z a t i o n of R e t a i l Businesses and can Foreign Direct Investment redefine the Retail Environment in India”, JGU Report on FDI in Retail Sector.
November 2012
International POP News
Prilosec`s wildberry flavour in store P
rocter & Gamble announced the launch of new Prilosec OTC Wildberry, the first flavor-coated 24-hour pill for the treatment of frequent heartburn. New Prilosec OTC Wildberry offers the same frequent heartburn relief as the #1 Doctor Recommended original Prilosec OTC, now with a special coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. New Prilosec OTC Wildberry, which is designed to be swallowed and not chewed, has a quick-hitting, burst of wildberry flavor that triggers as soon as the tablet is placed in the mouth. The product began shipping to retailers this week and will be available in stores nationwide next month. “New Prilosec OTC Wildberry is the first innovation in the over the counter 24-hour frequent heartburn pill category in a decade,” said Phil McWaters, Brand Manager, Prilosec OTC for Procter & Gamble. “It offers frequent heartburn sufferers a new “sensory experience” in their daily routine along with relief from frequent heartburn.” Flavored heartburn remedies have been available for consumers in other products such as antacids and H2s but never in PPIs. Procter & Gamble developed a proprietary process for Prilosec OTC Wildberry that coats the swallowable pill to create the burst of wildberry flavor sensation. Prilosec OTC Wildberry is a new flavorful treatment option for all frequent heartburn sufferers who take original Prilosec OTC or other heartburn remedies, including PPIs, antacids or H2 blockers. Procter & Gamble will launch Prilosec OTC Wildberry this fall with a robust marketing plan which includes television, print and digital advertising, public relations, sampling, couponing, direct mail and point of purchase displays. The marketing campaign will continue to feature comedian Larry the Cable Guy, who has acted as a Prilosec OTC spokesperson since last year n
Article by : MSL Group Images by popon.net
www.popon.net
November 2012
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International
Shoppers Report Cautious Optimism SymphonyIRI’s second-annual EconoLink survey says that shoppers will practice prudent shopping patterns. Presenting excerpts from the study, which was carried out between May and September 2012. “
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e anticipate many shoppers across all segments will continue to practice prudent shopping patterns, such as buying on deal, choosing store brands over national brands and researching offers online,” says SymphonyIRI spokesperson. Just over one quarter of shoppers (27%) anticipate they will be financially better off a year from now, up from a dismal 22% with this view one year ago. In a similar sign of good news, 21% believe their financial positions will be worse a year from now, down from an astounding 30% with that opinion last year at this time. This cautious optimism is a principal finding of SymphonyIRI’s secondannual EconoLink survey, “Economic Shopper Segmentation: A Look into How Shoppers Are Changing Their Behaviors in Today’s Economic Environment.” The study segments shoppers into one of six profiles and surveys their attitudes and shopping patterns. To get into the spirit of this year’s election season, SymphonyIRI also conducted a companion survey that analyzes shopper voting preferences based on their EconoLink profiles. “Many shoppers believe their financial situations will be stronger next year, reflecting other SymphonyIRI surveys released this year,” said Robert Tomei, president, Consumer & Shopper Marketing, SymphonyIRI Group. “We anticipate, however, that many shoppers across all segments will continue to practice prudent shopping patterns, such as buying on deal, choosing store brands over national brands, and researching offers online. These foundational trends are not fleeting shopping behaviors and will have a profound impact on manufacturers and retailers for years to come.” EconoLink groups shoppers into a series of unique profiles, enabling CPG and retailer marketers to better understand how their categories, brands and stores perform. These segments include: Downtrodden: With a median annual income of $41,000, these shoppers are highly pessimistic about their financial situations and tend to shop at mass merchandisers, dollar and convenience stores.
November 2012
Cautious and Worried: These shoppers also have a bleak financial outlook, tend to shop at mass merchandisers, and have a median income of $42,000. Start-Ups: Impacted by the recession but with a bright outlook, Start-Up shoppers have a median income of $44,000 and skew toward shopping at grocery, drug and convenience stores. Optimistics: With a median income of $48,000, these shoppers favor supercenters, drug and convenience stores. The category name describes this group’s outlook. Carefree: A financially stable group, these shoppers earn a median income of $59,000 and skew toward shopping at club stores. They tend to be brand loyal. Savvy Shoppers: Earning on average $81,000 and financially stable, Savvy Shoppers favor grocery, drug and mass merchandiser channels. They enjoy shopping and the quest for value. Pockets of Gloom Remain The outlook for the future is generally positive among all EconoLink segments, with the most optimism exhibited by Downtroddens, 16% of whom believe their financial situation will be stronger one year from now as compared to 11% who held this belief last year. Start-ups’ optimism doubled; 18% believe their financial situation will be better next year, as compared to just 9% last year. Carefrees also have a positive outlook (18% this year versus 11% last year). In addition to their outlook for the future, EconoLink also studied shoppers’ attitudes about their financial positions today versus one year ago. Overall, 18% believe that compared to last year at this time, their financial positions are better, versus 15% who held this view last year. Those stating their financial positions are worse today versus last year decreased from 38% in 2011 to 34% today. Within the EconoLink shopper segments, the largest increases in optimism occurred among Start-Ups (11% stating their financial situation today is better than one year ago versus 6% one year ago), and Carefrees (15% versus 10%).
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However, trends that point to weaknesses in the recovery remain. Dollar spending via trade and coupons jumped to 31% from 27% in Q2 2012 over Q2 2011. Shoppers in some EconoLink segments are faring less well than others. Just 17% of Savvy Shoppers believe their financial situations are stronger today as compared to a year ago, versus 23% last year. “Today’s shopping environment is extraordinarily complex, with shoppers sometimes reporting what appears to be inconsistent behavior,” said Larry Levin, executive vice president, general manager, Consumer & Shopper Insights, SymphonyIRI. “For example, Cautious and Worried shoppers, with the secondlowest median annual incomes and a bleak outlook, are not likely to actively collect coupons, use in-store circulars or pay attention to signs and displays in the store. Yet, they are among the most pricesensitive shopper segments. Voting Patterns SymphonyIRI fielded a companion survey to this year’s EconoLink study, asking shoppers about their voting plans for the 2012 presidential election. When grouped by shopping segment, 60% of Optimistics, 49% of Savvy Shoppers and 48% of Start-Ups generally have a more positive outlook on the economy and appear more likely to vote for President Obama. While 46% of Downtroddens, and 44% of Cautious and Worrieds, seem to favor Governor Romney. Those who remain undecided in these segments range from 11% to 19%, which appear to be a higher percent than is widely reported in national polls. When analyzed by candidate, 28% of Optimistics, 17% of Cautious and Worrieds, and 16% of Savvy Shoppers plan to vote for President Obama. While 26% of Cautious and Worrieds, 22% of Downtroddens and 15% of Optimistics, plan to vote for Governor Romney. SymphonyIRI surveyed 2,420 shoppers for the EconoLink segmentation between May 9-30, 2012 and Aug. 20-Sept. 9, 2012. Interviews for the companion presidential election analysis were conducted between Sept. 14-23, 2012 n Source:http://www.csdecisions.com/2012/10/10/ shoppers-report-cautious-optimism/
International
Traditional marketing crashing into shopper engagement M
uch has been written about the “connected consumer,” “generation c,” “the wired customer” or so. It is still, however, worth a quick review to understand the numbers associated with the connected shopper. Here is a look. We won’t elaborate on the demographics/ psychographic makeup of these connected consumers here. However, let’s understand the numbers associated with them: l There are more smartphones in the US
than
116M
l Nearly half of smartphone owners use their devices to research items before or during a store visit l 80% of US smartphone users access a retail site or app on their mobile devices l
By 2016, smartphones are likely to influence between 17% and 21% of US retail purchases, equating to $628-782B in sales l I t ’s c l e a r : c u s t o m e r s h a v e smartphones and they’re not afraid to use ‘em.
Add to that the changes in shopper behavior wrought by the recession. Driven by increased scarcity of both discretionary income and time, shoppers are looking for deals and more efficient ways to shop. And forecasts are that this phenomenon will not only continue but will, in fact, increase. The question for retailers and brands: What is the best way to take advantage of these dynamics in ways that benefit both the retailer and the customer? The answer is that traditional marketing is crashing into shopper engagement. What used to be the one-to-many communication medium (such as newspaper ad inserts, billboards, and in-store signage) has given way to new and more effective one-to-one channels that engage each shopper individually via mobile devices.
The retailer strategy is straightforward. Borrowing liberally from Stephen Covey: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
new shopping and purchasing behaviors will lap those who don’t n
Smartphones combined with the right apps are the way for retailers to gain understanding of each shopper individually: what they currently want to buy, past purchase behavior, where they are in the store and what messages/ offers they respond to.
marketing-is-crashing-into-shopper-engagement/
For the second part, smartphones also provide a means to provide highly personalized and effective communications to the shopper: special offers on products of interest, new product suggestions, locations of products within the store and the most efficient route through the store. More importantly, the right messages can be delivered at the right time at every point along the decision path. This means different things to different types of retailers. But whether you’re a grocer, hardware store, department store or specialized retailer, understanding your customers individually and being able to respond to them in a personalized manner is a significant and revolutionary step forward in retailing.
S o urce:ht t p:// blogs.ime diaconne ct ion .com/ b l o g /2 012/10 /15/ fo r - r e t a i l e r s - t r a d i t i o n a l -
Smartphones combined with the right apps are the way for retailers to gain understanding of each shopper individually: what they currently want to buy, past purchase behavior, where they are in the store and what messages/offers they respond to
It’s time to take advantage of these powerful capabilities. To be sure, the retailers who leverage their customers’
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November 2012
International
The Third Moment What happens after the sale is just as important as the other moments-of-truth. Read on to know why we need to think in terms of path through purchase.
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e’re all aware that much has changed now that “social,” “mobile” and “local” have taken hold. However, when considering the traditional path-to-purchase in light of these major technological disruptions, several questions remain. For example, is there really a “preference” phase, or has technology allowed consumers to move from “consideration” to “buy” at a blinding pace? Where is social networking — specifically the act of sharing opinions about brands — reflected in the path? Is “loyalty” a consumer step, or an intended (hopefully) outcome? Is the path really linear? Does it just end after loyalty? All of the above affect the path-topurchase, which has proven to be an effective model to guide both planning cycles and the execution of marketing initiatives. It is a model that is focused, logical and linear — something that keeps us all on track and moving in the right direction. The logic remains solid. Awareness is created. Consideration takes place. Preference is established. Purchase occurs. Usage happens. And we have a loyal customer for life (hopefully). However, we now know that the path isn’t quite as straight as it was before.
November 2012
The overwhelming use of digital to inform, decide, purchase and evaluate requires an evolution in the way we think about the process and how we apply tools along the way. Based on the realities of our digital world, we must shift our thinking from the path to purchase and focus instead on the path through purchase. The traditional model must adapt to account for the fact that consumer engagement no longer occurs in a linear fashion. While the zero, first and second moments-of-truth are part of the accepted lexicon, we must evolve our approach to include a third moment-of-truth. This occurs when consumers share their experience with your product (good or bad), influencing other shoppers along their path through purchase. The traditional model must adapt to account for the fact that consumer engagement no longer occurs in a linear fashion. While the zero, first and second moments-of-truth are part of the accepted lexicon, we must evolve our approach to include a third moment-of-truth. This occurs when consumers share their experience with your product (good or bad), influencing other shoppers along their path through purchase.
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The stats are well known: Seventy percent of shoppers look at product reviews before shopping, 79 percent use a smartphone while making purchase decisions, and 37 percent say that online social sources were influential in driving purchase decisions. But what about the shopper’s online behavior afterthe sale? In today’s digital world, getting people to buy your product is not enough. As marketers, it is our job to make sure consumers have a good usage occasion, which simply means they’re using the product as intended. Usage is a deliberate phase that we need to think about and plan for, but too often it gets short shrift. How do we help consumers pair wine with the best foods, use laundry detergent to best remove stains, use overthe-counter medications to ensure maximum efficacy? How do we make it simple for consumers to share their experience and create positive awareness for a much larger audience? Like it or not, people will go online and share their experience with your product. They will go on Facebook and an average of 170 of their friends will learn all about the good (or bad)
International The Path through Purchase The jump from “purchase” to “loyalty” in the traditional model is a leap of faith, and greater attention should be paid to the Post-purchase activities of the “use” and share” phrases. This requires the development of strategic frameworks for programming every phase of the path through purchase Aware: It all starts with creating awareness- planting a seed inside consumers’ minds, suggesting their lives will be better with our product than without it. Consider: The zero moment-of-truth is defined by Google as the decisions made during the online search process. It doesn’t matter if people are buying toothpaste or a car; they go through a detailed and deliberate online journey to help inform their purchase decision. Buy: The first-moment –of –truth clearly remains important, but we can’t rest just yet. The moment a sale is made is important, but so is the moment after the sale. Use: How many times you have read a product review that is ridiculously negative and based solely on the author’s inability to properly use the product? The one-star review because the indoor holiday lights didn’t hold up on the outdoor tree during a typhoon? Now that everyone has a megaphone that can reach hundreds , if not thousands , of potential consumers, we need to make sure people are properly opening , installing and using our products. Share: At the end of the day, people will share the experience they had with your product, a stage most of us spend little time thinking about. Considering that 87 percent of people will after their purchase decision based on a negative review, we can’t afford to have erroneous negative reviews floating around.
experience they had with your brand. They will jump onto a review site and give their opinion based on their usage experience. This is where we need to take greater notice. Usage influences sharing, and sharing has become a megaphone that drives awareness for a new group of potential consumers. New apps, social networks, websites and technologies are coming online each day. As marketers, we face the daunting task of making sense out of it all and incorporating the right ideas into our marketing plans. With so many options and variables, it’s pretty easy to get it wrong. The secret to understanding all of these moving parts is to look at our consumers and how they behave within the largest possible context. How have their lives changed? What are they doing differently? How have they embraced technology? From this perspective, we can model a construct that puts all of the digital chaos in order by giving full consideration to every step of the shopping experience — before, during and after. If we don’t think in terms of path through purchase, we’re only doing half of our job! n
Like it or not, people will go online and share their experience with your product. They will go on Facebook and an average of 170 of their friends will learn all about the good (or bad) experience they had with your brand. They will jump onto a review site and give their opinion based on their usage experience. This is where we need to take greater notice. Usage influences sharing, and sharing has become a megaphone that drives awareness for a new group of potential consumers.
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MICHAEL LeBEAUis founder and ceo of Weld Media, specialists in leveraging digital technologies for Dannon, Nestle Waters, Dove Chocolate Discoveries Dunkin Donuts and CVS, among others. Email: michael.lebeau-@-weld-media. com. Source: http://hubmagazine.com/html/2012/ hub_ 50/sep _ oct/237230950/marketingdrive_ media/index.html
November 2012
Resource Digital Printing MMT Digital Unit-46, A to Z Ind. Estate, G.K.Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai - 400 013. Tel: 022-2493 7187 / 91 Email: popmedia@vsnl.com
Max Flex And Imaging Systems Ltd. 104, Prime Plaza, JV Patel Compound, B S Madurkar Marg, Elphinstone West, Mumbai - 400 013. Tel: 022- 4212 2828 Email: info@maxflex.in Negi Sign Systems & Supplies Company, 3rd Floor, Shivam Chambers, Besides Sahara Studio, S.V Road, Goregaon (W), Mumbai -04. Mobile: +91 98200 81885 Technova Imaging Systems Toll-free (India) : 1 800 22 7474 Email: help@technovaworld.com www.technovaworld.com
Printech Digital Imaging Pvt. Ltd. #270/2, Near Bhanu Nursing Home, Bommanahalli, Bangalore - 560 008. Mobile: +91 98807 12345 +91 99000 35942 write2printech@gmail.com Prince Digi Graphics 37-A, Government Industrial Estate, Charkop, Kandivali (W) Mumbai - 400 067. Tel: +91-22-28606117 / 28696117 princedigigraphics@rediffmail.com www.princedigigraphics.com Vijas Digital (I) Pvt. Ltd. Vijas House, C-1 Cama Estate, Walbhat Road, Goregaon (E), Mumbai - 400 063, India. Tel : 022-4068 3700 Email: info@vijasgroup.com www.vijasgroup.com
Machine & Material Apsom Infotex Ltd. A-53, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase II, New Delhi - 110 020. Tel:011-2638 5096 Email: sales@apsom.com www.apsom.com EFI Tel: +65 6220 1355 (EFI Singapore) +91 80 6768 1000 (EFI India) www.efi.com
November 2012
21-23 February 2013 Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon Mumbai, India
POP Advertising ACE Enterprises Manek, 21, Hardevi Society, Caves Road, Jogeshwari Station Road, Jogeshwari (E), Mumbai - 400 060. Tel: 022-2835 4940 / 2838 4445 Email: ace.rushabh@gmail.com Adglo # 150/1195, Motilala Nagar No- 1, Near Sai Baba Mandir, Goregaon (W), Mumbai - 400 104. Tel: 022-2876 7055 Email: adgloneon@gmail.com Brandmark Solutions Pvt. Ltd., 17, Orbit Industrial Premises, Opp. Hometel Hotel, Mindspace, Malad (W), Mumbai - 400 067. Mobile: +91 98205 26366 GV Display Solutions Pvt. Ltd. www.gvdisplays.com Integra Retail Solutions Pvt. Ltd. 311, 3rd Floor, Shiv Sagar Industrial Estate Kotkar Road, Off Aarey Road, Goregaon East, Mumbai 400 063. Tel/Fax – 022 - 29270892/3 Handphone: +91- 9820096610 Email: pritam@integraretail.in
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Jyothi Display Pvt Ltd. Unit No-10 & 11, Bldg No. 5 Mittal Industrial Estate, Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai -59. Tel: 91-22-4046 3100 / 16 Email: enquiry@jyotidisplay.com Kruti Promotions & Events Pvt. Ltd. 601, Corporate Arena, Piramal Nagar Road, Goregaon (W), Mumbai - 62. Tel: 91-22-6782 6464 Email: krutipromotions@gmail.com Planet Dezign (India) Pvt. Ltd., # 279, Motilal Nagar, 1, Off Link Road, Opp. Vibgyor Scool Gate 3, Goregaon (W), Mumbai - 400 104. Mob: 098210 32859 / 093222 93999 www.planetdezign.com The Rhinos India 142, Patparganj Indl. Area, New Delhi - 110 092. India. Tel: +91-11-4735 0393 Mob: 96502 96104 Email: theRhinosindia.com www.theRhinosindia.com
Ad
Calendar November 2012 15 November Retail Congress 2012 Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon Portugal http://www.inretail.ife.pt/homepage.aspx?menuid=1 14-16 November MAPIC Cannes, Franes http://www.mipim.com/mapic/
December 2012 5-6 December Asia Retail Innovation Summit 2012 InterContinental Shanghai Pudong Hotel http://aris.shinemediaworld.com/index.asp
21-23 February
In-Store Asia
Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai www.instoreasia.org
5-7 December A.R.E. Retail Design Collective New conference and showroom format www.retaildesigncollective.com
21 February POPAI India OMA Awards Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai http://www.popaiindia.org.in/awards.html 24-27 February NCA’s State of the Industry Conference Fontainebleau Resort, Miami, Florida http://www.candyusa.com/Events/EventDetail. cfm?ItemNumber=4377
January 2013 13-16 January NRF 102nd Annual Convention & EXPO Jacob. J. Javits convention center, New York City http://events.nrf.com/annual2013/public/MainHall.aspx
March 2013
20-22 January Sign & Graphic Imaging Middle East Dubai World Centre, Dubai www.signmiddleeast.com
12 March Retail Business Technology Expo Hammersmith Road, West Kensington, W14 8UX www.retailtechnology.co.uk/Events/retail-businesstechnology-expo-0
28 January Retail Trust London Ball Grosvenor House, London, UK www.retailtrust.org.uk
12-13 March Retail Business Technology Expo Earls Court, London http://www.retailbusinesstechnologyexpo.com/
February 2013 April 2013
19 February EuroCIS 2013 Messeplatz Stockumer Kirchstraße 61, Düsseldorf, Germany http://www.retailtechnology.co.uk/events
November 2012
16-18 April Globalshop, Chicago www.globalshop.org
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