Variety is the spice of life

In case of apparels, retailers must showcase multiple brands
As mythological creatures once believed to rule Egypt, Sphinxes have fascinated mankind for ages. A combination of a lion’s body with the head of a human or a falcon, they were looked upon as guardians of the Egyptian statutory. Sounds great, but perhaps only in the mythological realm. Certainly, some mix & match combinations would be quite counterproductive in the real world! But when it comes to retailing giants, they are in fact thriving on this formula of having as many diverse offerings as possible under one roof. Trying his hands with one such Sphinx, Mukesh Ambani recently unleashed the company’s first hypermart in Ahmedabad. Doing activities on a gigantic scale has always been Mukesh’s penchant and this latest initiative is no exception. But what’s noticeable is that a majority of the store space is dedicated to apparels & dress materials. Apart from rolling out many in-house labels, he is also trying to ramp up his act with yesteryear’s brand Vimal. “We will be offering many of our apparel brands in this mart and will soon introduce Vimal too,” affirms Parimal Nathwani, Group President - Corporate Affairs, Reliance Industries. And he is not alone. With the domestic haute couture market, spicing up at an extensive 10% per annum, along with a growth of 20% in the prêt-à-porter segment (according to Confederation of Indian Textile Industry), players like Ambanis, Tatas and Bhartis are giving tremendous importance to apparels in their retail plans. While, Ambanis have blended suiting material with many new in-house brands of apparels, Tatas are embracing their in-house brands with Westside.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative