Indiantelevision.com Team

(28 June 2006 3:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The Shop, a two-day summit on organized retailing, commenced on 28 June in New Delhi. In an inaugural address, McDonald's MD (North and East India) Vikram Bakshi emphasized that North India is leading the growth of organized retail in India.

The Retail Theatre at The Shop saw international experts, captains of the industry, CEOs of Indian retail chains across formats and categories addressing key retail issues - presenting views, reviews, trends, possibilities, success stories, vision of marketing gurus, SWOT analysis and a lot more.

"The retail industry in India is witnessing a very interesting phase where different retail formats and categories are emerging and opening up, not just in the metros and larger cities, but also in smaller towns. Northern India is an emerging retail market with all international brands and national retailers targeting the North. Among the northern states in India, Punjab has the highest potential to develop as a key growth market for retailers. McDonald's itself has 88 outlets in India, 64 per cent of which are located in the North," added Bakshi.

Showcasing the best in retail offering, providing an in-depth analysis of retail business trends and formulating a differential winning strategy, The Shop received the participation of the best retail concepts, successful brands, retailers and distributors from all over India, informs an official release.

Speaking at the forum, Future Group president - marketing Sanjeev Agrawal said, "Retail as a medium is about being inclusive and not exclusive keeping the real India in mind. The 'Real India' frame has many more people than we think. It is imperative to recognize the section of consumers one is targeting. And, in India, the debate is not between aspiration and value but in creating a convergence of both. We at Pantaloon, believe that retail must constitute everything for everyone and through our brands we wish to target every segment of the retail market."

Microsoft Business Solution business head Sushant Dwivedy said, "Mass marketing is dead and every individual consumer needs to be treated separately. Technology can be used in the retail industry to provide better service to consumers and build loyalty factors. The industry needs more web enabled services. Success for retailers will be driven by smarter operations."

The Shop introduced new retail formats to retailers and potential franchisees and retail real estate developers and equipped regional players with necessary support and systems and learning from masters in the business of retail, the release adds.

Commenting on the event, the organizers of the summit Images Group editor in chief Amitabh Taneja said, "We will witness retailers who have their own well-merited views and concepts which would change retail thinkers to reset benchmarks in many areas and share their huge aura of experience with the audience. Images is now all geared up to focus on India's most promising retail zones with a series of events titled The Shop felicitating interaction of international and national players with these regions in order to facilitate retail expansion and strengthen sourcing from regional brands and manufacturers."

The Shop is the zonal version of the annual India Retail Forum event that takes place in September in Mumbai and is the Asia-Pacific's largest platform for retailers across the globe to come together and discuss the latest trends, visions and challenges of the retail industry.

Over the two days, the forum will witness national and regional retailers across formats and categories, shopping centre developers, potential franchisees, investors, retail support and systems, vendors, government officials, trade bodies.

Some prominent attendees will include McDonald's MD Vikram Bakshi, HyperCity Retail CEO Andrew Levermore, Mobile Next CEO Vijay Menon, Pantaloon Retail president marketing Sanjeev Agarwal, Microsoft Business Solutions Business Head Leed Sushant Dwivedy, Total Outsourcing, Wipro Head- Client Solutions Sam Matthew, Lifestyle Senior VP N. Sathiyanarayanan, Chute Gerdeman USA CEO Denny Gerdeman, Apollo Health and Lifestyle CEO Ratan Jalan, VLCC CEO Sandeep Ahuja, Prozone CEO and director Provogue Tim Eynon, Bipin Gurnani CEO Piramyd, Swatch Group India Country Manager Gopalratnam Kannan, Barista CEO Partha Datta Gupta and many more.