RETAIL CHRONICLES 10TH ISSUE

in The City:
New
NEERU
SPECIAL:
COVER
NRS
Biopic: INDU JAIN
News at a
Retail
Glance!
J Somaiya Institute Of Management Studies & Research,Mumbai
K
9158256641 | 9769886091
Contact:
RETAIL
CHRONICLES
Fortnightly Newsletter | Volume-2 Issue-10 | 1-15 JANUARY 2018
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Retail Lab SIMSR
retaillab.simsr@somaiya.edu

DON'T BE
AFRAID OF
NEW ARENAS
- ELON MUSK

NEW IN THE CITY
By Vikas Khetan
Neeru's Mumbai Darshan
One of India’s most popular ethnic wear
Neeru, opened its first store in Mumbai at
Swami Vivekananda road, Santa Cruz. Neeru’s
specialty is its elegant design, pure fabrics, fresh
colours, fabulous tailoring and innovative
silhouettes. The whole Neeru's outlook is based
on the concept of supporting great ethnic crafts,
integrating Indian traditional and modern
fashion sense into a modern but desi outlook.
The launch event of Neeru's was full of
Bollywood stars like Karisma Kapoor, Neil Nitin
Mukesh, Dino Morea, Gauahar Khan, Amrita
Arora, Soha Ali Khan, Aftab, Sophie Chaudry,
showed their presence in the event which made
the event even bigger than previously planned.
It showed the inherent popularity of Neeru even
among celebrities.
Not just celebrities but family of big
industrialist, bankers and politician graced the
event by their presence. Brand owner like
Rakesh Biyani, Vijay Sampath, Hitesh Ruparelia
were present too. Other famous people who
were present in the event were investment
bankers like Gaurav Deepak, Abha Aggarwal,
Amit Dhingra, and Swati Kulkarni.
Neeru’s was launched in Hyderabad in 1971 and
royal characteristics of the city have stuck to it.
From wedding theme fashion to daily wears, it
gives us the royal touch. Seldom a brand give so
much soul to its cloth but Neeru's lifts the
appeal and appearance of those who wear it.
Today Neeru’s is present in almost 40
exclusive stores across nation with presence in
almost 20 Indian cities and also in Dubai. It is
one of most prominent Indian fashion brand an
that is why Neeru’s has chosen young and
beautiful Sonam Kapoor as their ambassador.
For last 4 years Neeru’s has been creating great
fabrics wear for women, children and men.
Though they focus more on women dressing but
still they are focused on men and children
dressing too, providing them with lot of great
ethnic wear items. With great success in Indian
ethnic and fashion market they have created ne
benchmark for every type of Indian fashion
brand. For style, elegance and royalty Neeru’s is
the place to shop from. And now we can also
experience regal Neeru’s in Mumbai too, at
Swami Vivekananda road, Santa Cruz.
02

NATIONAL RETAIL
SUMMIT
by Kapil & Aditi
KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies
& Research is known for its quality
education, strong bi-lateral ties with various
corporate organizations for exposure and its
culture of constant industry interactions in
forms of different events. It provides
students a chance to get to know the industry
closely along with their academics which
helps them become industry-ready in all
aspects. National Retail Summit (NRS) is one
of a kind Flagship event of the institute
which focuses on retail sector and its
different elements. Through various activities
and competitions it helps the students to
know about this fastest growing industry and
challenges them to solve real time problems.
The 7th edition of NRS was successfully
conducted by students of PGDM Retail
Management 2017-19 batch on 14th and 15th
December, 2017. The two day event was a
conclave filled with panel discussions,
interactive sessions, challenging competitions
and many fun activities.
DAY 1: KEY NOTE ADDRESSAL
MR. Sadashiv Nayak (CEO, Big Bazaar)
shared his experience of being more than 15
years in the retail sector. He talked about the
opportunities he got, challenges he faced and
the growth of the industry which he saw
with
his career. He shared the insights about Big
Bazaar, about how it became a brand from
just one store, its management strategies to
tackle the change in buying behaviour of a
.
common man of India during the course of
last 10 years and how Big Bazaar positioned
itself among its competitors after the FDI in
the retail sector. Mr. Nayak was ecstatic
about sharing his life experience. According
to him it was a flashback of his life for him
and he was glad to see the excitement and
inquisitiveness of the students for the retail
industry. He answered some of the students
query regarding the career advice as well.
Mr Avirat Shete, Co-founder and Director,
Midearth Wildlife and Adventure Holidays
did a motivational interactive session with
the students. The theme of his talk was
persistence & attitude in life. whether it is
03

studies, sports, job or entrepreneurship,
your attitude and persistence towards it
make you different from others. He also
shed light to challenges he faced as an
entrepreneur, why he chose to work in
adventure industry and the importance of
being healthy and fit in corporate life. He
also interacted with many students
regarding their passions, hobbies and
their career plans.
KURUKSHETRA: A CASE STUDY
COMPETITION
Kurukshetra is a flagship case study
competition of NRS. More than 125
registrations were received for the
screening round. Teams from IIMs, SIBM
and many other premium institutes
participated for the first round which was
a case study based on a live case given by
Mr. Mint (A food aggregator start up).
The case was about marketing strategies
for the business and product positioning.
Out of all the participants only 5 teams
were selected for the final round by the
judging panel.
The final round was also a case study
round. The case was given by the main
sponsor of the event “Kamani Foods”.
The case was about a product launched
by Kamani foods for which competitor’s
analysis was to be done and marketing
strategy had to be made. After evaluating
all the finalists on the basis of idea,
business ethics, business acumen and
feasibility of ideas, the panel selected
Team from MICA Ahemdabad as the
winner of the KURUKSHEBTRA.
DAY 2: PANEL DISCUSSION
.
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The discussion focused on how the unorganized
retail sector is moving towards organised in the
wake of today’s tech-savvy and busy shopping
environment, what are the challenges which
brick & Mortar form of retail is facing in the era
of online retail giants. The dignitaries shared
their views as per their respective sectors. They
also discussed what will be the scenario of retail
industry in India as well as in the world. The
panellist told the dos and don’ts which need be
followed by budding managers to be successful
in the industry. The session ended with the
Q&A round with students.
The discussion focused on how the unorganized
retail sector is moving towards organised in the
wake of today’s tech-savvy and busy shopping
environment, what are the challenges which
brick & Mortar form of retail is facing in the era
of online retail giants. The dignitaries shared
their views as per their respective sectors. They
also discussed what will be the scenario of retail
industry in India as well as in the world. The
panelist told the dos and don’ts which need be
followed by budding managers to be successful
in the industry. The session ended with the
Q&A round with students.
DAY 2: RETAIL STORIES:
In this age of experiences, it is said that only 5
% of our audiences retain facts and figures and
most of them actually retain a ‘story’. Since the
time unmemorable story telling has always
been a way of life in nurturing Indians and help
them absorb knowledge about good values,
ethics and practices. So why not tell a brand
story especially in these times when brands say
they are offering experiences. “Retail Stories”
was one of a kind experience where to the
students as the dignitaries called upon shared
their valuable experience. It was not only an
engaging session but their experiences and
stories have taught us great learnings. The
belief to come up with Retail Stories was
that students will get inspired by the
entrepreneurial journey and some of
them might get ignited to start a venture
and their business of dreams.
Mr Kaushal Thakkar and Mrs Nirali
Somaiyaa were the dignitaries called for
the Retail Stories event.
DAY 2: BRANDOMANIA
'Brando-mania' was one of a kind brand
strategy competition for management
students. Participants were required to
come up with a new brand of their own
along with a product in the specified
category provided by NRS team. The
category was given by the online bidding
process. The candidates needed to submit
their plan of action for the branding,
marketing, promotion of the product as
well as the brand. For the final round 5
teams were shortlisted and the judging
panel declared the team from SIBM Pune
as winners. The team from KJ SIMSR was
runner up in the event.
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Retail Mela:
Students of PGDM- Retail Management
2017-19 batch organized a two day fair
“Retail Mela” as well. Far from the hustle
bustle of strategies, competitions, books
and quotes, numbers and planning, it
gave students an atmosphere to have fun,
shop and eat. The creative minds worked
day and night to decorate the campus and
gave it a look and feel of a fair. The stalls
were handled by students mostly. There
were variety of products available for sale
including clothes, leather items, footwear
and food. Students not only enjoyed being
there but also learnt about the retail
sector practically. It was a never to forget
experience.
Testimonial:
National Retail Summit 2017 was indeed
an event to cherish. This year, the event
got bigger in terms of number of
registrations from around the country.
Year by year NRS has becoming an iconic
event. Its growing reputation and
enthusiasm among the participating
students has filled me with enormous joy.
I personally thank Dr. Monica khanna
and entire college administration for
supporting us. I congratulate all the
participants and the winners, I want to
appreciate each and every student of
PGDM- Retail Management senior batch
for their constant guidance to their
juniors. Last but not the least I want to
congratulate all the 60 students of RM
junior students to put in their days of
hard-work and make this event a huge
success.
- Prof. Vandana Khanna
program coordinator
PGDM - Retail management
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06 07
BIOPIC
Indu Jain
By Raveena Gupta
Indu Jain is 75 year old billionaire from Uttar
Pradesh. She is chairman and CEO of Bennett
Coleman & Co- Company. BCCL is the India’s
largest media group. Founded in the year 1838,
it has headquarters in Mumbai, India. In 1948,
Ram Krishna Dalmia sold this company to the
present group, Sahu Shanti Prasad, his son-in
law. It provides media publishing services such
as newspapers, Magazines and Internet. Huge
brand names such as Times FM, The Economic
Times, Femina, Sandhya Times, Times of India
and Filmfare are under its ownership. Along
with this, various television channels such as
Zoom, Times Now and ET Now; and FM radio
network like Radio Mirchi also constitute its
holdings.
The Times Group acts as their famegenerating
source. It is one of the most
circulated English daily newspapers, and is
accordingly headed by Indu's sons Samir and
Vineet. It today sells more than 3 million copies
worldwide and employs 7000+ employees,
publishes 5 dailies including two largest in the
country, owns 15 publishing and 15 printing
centers, and 55 sales offices. They also have 2
lead magazines, 29 niche magazines, 32 radio
stations and 2 television channels, producing a
turnover in excess of USD $700 million.
Indu guides every step taken towards the
development of The Times Foundation, and has
successfully collected international and national
acclaim for it.Delhi is the landmark city
for its headquarters. Today, the Times
Group is our country’s most profitable
media company, and has 50% urban
market share of English dailies. Indu
Jain is the guiding force of the group,
and continues to infuse new energy into
it.
The Bhartiya Jnanipath was awarded
for excellence in creative literary writing.
Today, this prestigious award lies within
the powers of Indu Jain. She is the
chairperson of the Bhartiya Jananipath
Trust, and rightfully heads the post
being a true patron of literature and art.
Personal Life
She is the widow of Late Ashok Kumar
Jain, and is the mother of Vineet and
Samir Jain. Fortune worth USD $2.8
billion was inherited by her through
Sahu Jain family, the industrial family of
India.
Her Ideologies
A spiritualist at heart, She manages
the philanthropic genre of the Times
foundation. She also writes columns for
it. She is also an enthusiastic supporter
of women's rights, and her passionate
fight for various causes is well known.

08
Paytm launches 'Paytm for
RETAIL NEWS AT A GLANCE
Business' for SME's to accept
digital payments
Global chain WAFL set to open
first outlet in India
Future Group in advanced talks
to acquire Foodworld
Supermarkets
OnePlus opens first authorised
offline store in India

Our Team
Content Head
Neeti Gupta
Junior Team
Retail Chronicles is a bi-monthly newsletter of
Retail Lab, the Retail committee of KJ
Somaiya Institute of Management Studies
& Research, Mumbai. Images used in Retail
Chronicles are subject to copyright.
Aditi Barde
Vikas Khetan
Ravina Gupta
Kapil Gupta
Design Team
Sujay Ambure
Nivya Shah
Devesh Shukla
Debashish Sarmah
/retaillabsimsr
@Retail_LAB
retail_lab
K J Somaiya Institute Of
Management Studies & Research,
Mumbai
retaillab.simsr@somaiya.edu
+91 9766122888
+91 8547527273