ceo panel growth through collaboration, cooperation and inclusivity

Retailing in India: Growth through collaboration, co-operation and

Inclusivity

Senthil Natarajan, CEO, Kovai Puzhamudir Nilayam

B A Srinivasa, Jt MD & CEO, Vivek Ltd

Subhash Chandra, MD, Sangeetha Mobiles

S Raghunandan, CEO, Virtuous Retail

Panelists (from Left to Right)

Moderated by Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Cipla Ltd (on the Far Right)

Opening Remarks by the Moderator

What is the common thread among retailers in Chennai? There’s a method to the madness. There is a large sense of community…it’s in the thought process; their DNA.

I have never come across a more humble set of retailers in the country. In most parts of the country, as long as you shop, the retailers attend to you but the moment you decide you don’t want to buy anything, they will turn their backs on you. Not so in Chennai. Whether you buy something or don’t no one complaints of you having wasted their time.

Chennai: a perfect example of growth through collaboration, co-operation and inclusivity

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Moderator: Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO,

RAI

On collaboration


There are three pillars on which the foundation of a shopping center's business rests: consumers, retailers and community. photograph

Moderator’s photograph


RAI

On collaboration


How do you growh prosper and survive?• Two ways: apart from creating public spaces,

you need to connect with the community. At VR Surat we’ve done this through art. Bringing together people for something other than shopping. In Gujarat, Garba is huge. So we created a property called Glam Garba. There are also different ways in which we are trying to work: work with the local bodies to improve not just the centre, but the catchment. This is how you integrate truly with the community.

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RAI

On inclusivity


What people don’t realize that there are 1000s of people working in a shopping centre, either through direct or indirect employment. How you (a mall company) care for them, benefit them., will have a direct impact on the efficiency of your centre.

Also, the more you work with the retailer, the larger impact it will have on the collaboration.

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RAI

On collaboration and co-operation


• In retail, misappropriations happen on a daily basis. And one can’t even file an FIR against an employee. How much of this information is getting shared among retailers? We need to talk to each other.

• We all are going through tough times, thanks to e-commerce who are buying at x and selling at minus x just to garner customers. And for that it’s important that we come together. Towards that, I’m trying to initiate a dialogue with others in my segment to start an e-commerce venture.

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RAI

On collaboration and co-operation


Co-operation and collaboration has been a way of life in Viveks. From day 1, the products we sell had to be of good quality. That required us to collaborate with the best brands.

Our work begins after the customer pays and collects the goods, from delivery, installation, after-sales. Today, we are even helping them dispose them their old gadgets. The collaboration doesn’t end with the customer, it has to be with self, employees…everybody. Without it we cannot move forward.

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RAI

On collaboration, co-operation and inclusivity

Senthil Natarajan, CEO, Kovai Puzhamudir

Nilayam

Collaboration, co-operation and inclusivity is in the human nature, right from the hunting-gathering times. It’s in our DNA.

A great example of collaboration and co-opration on a mass scale is Captcha that provides authentication when you sign up to prove you are not a computer program. They renamed the company Recaptcha brought out word from old text book. Almost 10% of the human population has contributed to it.

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RAI

Final words

You have to work with

the community

for your center to survive,

prosper and grow.

Collaboration doesn’t end with the

customer, it has to be with self, employees…

everybody. Without it we cannot move

forward.

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Senthil Natarajan, CEO, Kovai Puzhamudir

Nilayam


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We offer insurance

to employees,

EMI to customers and for that we have to collaborate

with several

partners.



RAI

Inclusivity doesn’t mean supporting someone, but helping them become independent so that they can fend for themselves.

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Retailing in India: Growth through collaboration, co-operation and

Inclusivity

ceo panel growth through collaboration, cooperation and inclusivity

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