Westside retail giant

Westside-Retail Giant

Established in 1998 as part of the Tata Group, Trent Ltd. operates Westside, one of India's largest and fastest growing chains of retail stores.

The company has already established 36 Westside departmental stores(measuring 15,000-30,000 square feet each) all over across various cities in India.

Trent ventured into the hypermarket business in 2004 with Star Bazaar.

Westside is exclusively designed and the merchandise ranges from stylized clothes, footwear and accessories for men, women and children.

Mission Statement :

“To be regarded by our customers as the most relevant retailer in the country.”

Achieving the Goal :

Develop a comprehensive understanding of customers needs, strive to win their confidence, and offer them best-in-class products and services at affordable prices.

Policy :

Satisfy our customers with the range, quality and value of the products we offer and attain new heights of excellence through teamwork, in an atmosphere that encourages creativity and innovativeness.

Factors Shaping Westside Success

Style

Affordable Price

Quality

ArrangementsGround Floor Cosmetics Jewellery Watches Bags

Ist FloorWomen SectionChildren SectionHousehold items

IInd Floor (Men Section)Casual ClothingFormal WearEthnic Wear

Private Brands in Westside 2 F 4 U SRC Gia Urban angel Intima David Jones Ascot Blackberry Lee Spykar Provogue

Services and Store Atmosphere Pre-purchase services include accepting telephone & mail orders,

advertising, window & interior display, fitting rooms, fashion shows.

It provides post purchase service including shipping & delivery, gift wrapping, adjustments & returns, alteration & tailoring.

It also provides ancillary services including general information , check cashing, parking, restaurants, repairs, interior decorating, credit etc.

Levels of service

• Self service- Self service is the corner stone of all discount operations. Many customers are willing to carry out their own locate compare select process to save money.

• Self selection- Customer find own goods, although they can ask for assistance.

• Limited Service- Westside also offers services like credit, merchandizing etc.

• Full Service- Sales people are ready to assist to any phase of the locate compare select process. Customers who like to be waited own prefer these types of stores.

The Three Cs• Comfort- Aims to create harmony between the person and the clothes

they wear.

• Crispness- Employees get training, wish list acting as tool to know customers preferences.

• Coordination- Finding star employees and designating them as trainer and coach to train the staff.

3 Kind of coaches :

Customer service coach IT skills Coach Product knowledge Coach

Westside Model

• MARKET RESEARCH

• RETAIL LAYOUT

• CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

• PRODUCT POSITIONING

• ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONS

Market Research• Appreciated importance of MR – conducted before entering new city

• 5 member in house team

• Collected information on buying patterns, demand potential , lifestyles etc.

• Support from Tata companies like Taj Group , Titan, Voltas, Tata AIG , Tata Engineering.

• Before entering retail segment conducted research FINDINGS

1. Store owned brands and other brands ratio 30:70

2. Many international retailers stocked only own brands due to more loyalty , flexibility , high returns.

3. Heavy investment for brand building and poor economies of scale. MR conducted to understand customer behavior to enhance customer

loyalty .

Retail LayoutPHILOSOPHY & PROBLEMS FACED

Sold in house brand only – higher margins, more control over manufacturers( quality, cost), no intermediary costs.

Expensive real estate – leased shop space.

Required spacious showrooms in metros : 10000 – 20000 sq ft.

THE MODEL

Free Form Layout/Boutique Layout – fixtures and aisles arranged asymmetrically.

Merchandise displayed at 2 levels on same floor.

Merchandise in separate clusters e.g.. Women's wear and accessories clubbed together for convenience.

2 main divisions :

Apparel –men's’ wear, women’s’ wear, lingerie, kids wear Product – household, gifts, other accessories

Sourcing and Stocks

Each store on average stored 30,000 SKU’s of different products.

Merchandise sourced from 250 exporters from Delhi , Mumbai and Bangalore.

Centralized buying for all products except cosmetics and perfumes to avoid sales tax.

Carried 63 days of stock days.

Product positioning

• Positioned as value for money products - good quality, low prices , contemporary and exclusive designs and wide variety.

• Good store ambience – shelves not overloaded.

• Focus on “ I-got-a quality-product-at-a-reasonable-price” feelings.

Promotion and Advertising

Focus on 2 parameters – style and affordabilityTotal advertising spend 8% of sales

INHOUSE PROMOTIONS

Peaked during summer, Diwali and Christmas – “Festival of Delights” program.

Promotions based on themes – matching decorations , liver bands and Other.

attractions Clubwest Classic and Clubwest Gold. EXTERNAL PROMOTIONS

Advertising on media - Model Fleur Xavier for advertising contract.

Retail Mix- Promotion

Retail Mix- Promotion

Retail Mix- Advertisement

Pricing

• Pricing decisions consistent with firm’s marketing strategy and target market.

• They believe in democratizing their service and charging fair price.

• Offers Value for Money proposition for consumers, especially by offering their own brands.

• Helps to augment their sales margin.

Pricing ( Cont.)

• Types of Pricing:• Promotional discounts• Seasonal Pricing• Image Pricing.• Product form Pricing• Psychological Pricing• Product bundling Pricing• Value Pricing.

Customer Feedback

• Conducted research to better serve customers.

• Focus on customer feedback.

• Trust in customers reflected confidence in products.

Problems faced by Westside

• Target customer base changed over time.

• Not much shelf-space is given to the International brands.

• Customer preferences are changing from in-house labels to international brands.

• Lesser media promotions.

Why They Should

Accolades

Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame.

India Brand Summit – Brand Leadership Retail.

IFA Visionary of the Year Award, 2002 – Mrs. Simone N. Tata.

Most Admired Large Format Retail Chain of the Year - Lycra Images Fashion Awards 2005.

NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2006 - Retail Category.

THANK YOU