Indian Jeweller (IJ) Magazine August -September 2019

The importance of location
The Where &
Why of LocaTion
The way people are shopping is definitely changing. Though the
omnichannel model facilitates a stronger brand presence resulting in more
conversions, the sheer convenience and inventory that e-commerce gives
its shoppers has changed the retail landscape over the years. And let’s
face it, the economy may be down but commercial real estate is booming.
Buying and renting commercial spaces is an expensive proposition and
being judicial and understanding the whats, whys and wherefores before
choosing a store location or thinking of opening that second store is more
imperative now than before says Vijetha Rangabashyam
In a company podcast, Dan Bane, CEO
of Trader Joe’s, one of America’s biggest
national chain of neighbourhood specialty
grocery stores said, “We won’t open a store just
because we can.” Half a century, an ownership
transfer and hundreds of stores later, Trader
Joe’s strategy remains watertight, ensconced
with careful considerations of market reality,
population density, average income of the
people in the neighbourhood, education and
other factors. In 2013, Swedish ready-toassemble
furniture company IKEA decided
to enter the Indian market around the time
when Foreign Direct Investment rules were
eased a bit. The initial plan was to set up shops
in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. But after a
well wisher from Hyderabad made a case for
the city with thirteen strong points centering
around its demographic, economic, human
resource, commercial and government
advantages, IKEA signed an MoU with the
city. After a year, the 4-lakh sq-ft Hyderabad
store has attracted over 4 million visitors and
the strategy of the brand in terms of retail
expansion has changed a little – they are more
keen on opening smaller stores and debuting
online, like they have in Mumbai.
Every business is different. What worked or
might work for IKEA or Trader Joe’s may
not work for a jeweller or any other business
owner who deals in high-value goods, but at
the core of any business, location is key and
the location you choose will have a great
impact on the walk-in traffic, future sales, its
ability to further grow and more.
INDIAN JEWELLER | august-september 2019 | 101