Retailers use digital format to draw festive season buyers

With the launch of the Chennai Shopping Festival (CSF), beginning October 7, Friday, customers can go online, click and choose from an offer bouquet of over 30 brands. Spearheaded by The Retailers Association of India (RAI), the festival has been planned at a short-notice as it seeks to use the digital platform by consolidating the offers made by retailers in a single place, RAI CEO Kumar Rajagopalan said at a press conference on Friday. 

“We have united for a common cause across competition as members of the retail fraternity. For the first-time we are hosting the CSF, that is for the consumer, by the consumer and of the consumer, as the festive thought process is what made us plan this initiative,” Hasbro Clothing founder Suhail Sattar said. Brands and retailers have come under a single roof allowing the customer the convenience of finalizing their purchases, Wassup Founder-CEO Balachandar R, pointed out. TS Ashwin, steering the Odyssey brand, says experiential events such as book-reading or rangoli have been planned to hook the customer, as he dwelt on the first-of-its-kind “marketing collaboration.”  

So was the festival an attempt to counter the mega shopping blitz of e-commerce players like Flipkart and Amazon? Rajagopalan disagreed and said the idea is to magnify effort to target and reach a larger set of customers as it is Chennai which has “paved the way for modern retail thought process.” Also, 30 to 35% of shopping happens from outside Chennai. Only 15% of the businesses have gone online. Therefore, the market offered a huge potential that is yet untapped, he said, while lamenting that Tamil Nadu, unlike Karnataka, Maharashtra or Andhra Pradesh lacked a retail policy. A direction in this regard will be a big boon for retailers, who are facing business many business challenges. 

“We still don’t have a clear guideline on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This distinction between single and multi-brand retail is hurting the retailers heavily. The FDI norms are being flouted. Why is a brand like Amazon garlanded while the likes of Walmart are not welcome? This myopic view of the Central government has to change.” he added. Given the disparities and challenges faced by various states with respect to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Rajagopalan said RAI is doing its best to present the case of retailers as the endeavour is to have a level-playing field and encourage ethical business practices. Earlier, at the Chennai Retail Summit held here, traditional retailers shared their real-time experiences of starting small and growing big. Understanding customers is what would determine the growth of business, they said, urging retailers to pursue their business with a passion and vigour that would position India in the top 10 list of global retail industry.