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business case for sustainability

Sustainability- The 21st century’s Business Differentiator

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“Sustainability” is becoming a business differentiator in the 21st century.

People, today are more aware of the environment and ecological conservations & the term “sustainability” is being heard quite often.

Let me give you an interesting statistics here; of the 7.5 billion virgin forests that once covered the Earth, nearly half have been cut down for human consumption, with devastating effects, such as global warming, and threatening indigenous people and native species.

In my previous article, I talked about sustainability in the fashion sector and now I would highlight a few sustainable brands in other sectors like furniture, farming sectors.

Sustainable fashion making commercial sense, read here

A brand must stand for some niche

The foremost requirement for a successful brand is their stand or promise which they make to their customers. Marketers call it “Positioning”… I call it Brand Promise, your Brand identity.

There are new brands that have positioned themselves towards sustainability ie by causing no harm to nature.

 

Brand: Greenington Fine Bamboo Furniture

 Greenington uses Moso bamboo for their furniture. This is one of the fastest-growing plants and extremely sustainable furniture material.

Bamboo is 20% more sustainable and 100% harder than Red Oak. The natural beauty of Moso bamboo creates unique variations in all of their furniture.

Greenington also has a “no waste” mentality. They even use their bamboo sawdust to generate steam for press machines.

Myself, coming from India, we have seen the usage of Bamboo in furniture’s, let me tell you the advantages of bamboo as well.

Bamboo is actually a grass, and grows very quickly, 24 – 48 inches a day.

Bamboo shoots die and decay after 5 to 8 years but their roots will remain healthy and continue producing new shoots, even after the mature shoots have died or been used.

With its wide root system, bamboo crops prevent soil erosion and the plants contribute more oxygen and utilize more carbon dioxide than trees, which makes bamboo demand even more environmentally sound.

Brand: Ikea

The brand has taken sustainable initiatives and has started using sustainable wood materials like saw-dust to make pressed boards as well using Bamboo wood to produce DIY (do it yourself) furniture.

Today Bamboo furniture category contributes 1% of Ikea’s global sales.

Ikea stands for doing things differently. Ikea team is now investigating paper furniture in their efforts towards using more sustainable materials.

Sustainability made its entry into the fashion

Bamboo is a highly sustainable plant and is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to cotton, not only because of its amazing properties which are kind to you but also it makes less dependence on cotton which is a highly water-consuming crop.

The fabric absorbs moisture away from your skin, keeping you drier & more comfortable.

Bamboo: The 21st century Steel.

Watching this video will explain the usage of sustainable materials in the construction sector as well.

YouTube video

 

Sustainability in farming

Imagine growing tomatoes in deserts… yes, it is possible using sustainable farming techniques. Watch the video below wherein they are growing tomatoes in the Australian desert using sea water.

Sundrop farms in Australia are innovative disruptors in this sector.

 

YouTube video

 

Since Sustainability is a vast topic to be covered in a short article hence my aim for writing this article was to make people aware of techniques that are being used and its commercial feasibilities making it a possible and a viable business proposition.

My readers can now reach me through my blog contact form, in case they need any clarifications.

Good News, you can now subscribe to the blog simply by entering your email address and get notified as soon as an article is published.

 

About the author:

Ritesh Mohan is a passionate retail professional with over 20 years in the Retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in beauty, fashion and fragrances retail & FMCG sector. He has been instrumental in the growth of some of the regional brands as well in the Middle East region.

Ritesh specializes in Retail management, Product development, and Brand Management, Retail Operations, Sales Management, and Franchising & Business Management.

He strongly believes in empowering business owners with his wisdom & experience of around two decades in the industry.

 

retail store operations sop

Effective Retail Store Operations – A winning strategy.

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Developing an effective store operations strategy & imparting the best customer service are the foremost priority of a retail manager or even the CEO of a retail organization.

The store remains the temple of your brand, and we all know that the customer is the king.

So how retailers are coping up with the “Listening to their customers needs” requirements?

Recently, I got an opportunity to talk to my retail fraternity member, my retail mentor and a good friend from India, Mr. Pradeep Chechani as we both had earlier worked together in the Middle East with one of the leading retailers.

Since we both shared our similar passion i.e. Retail management, it was important for me to bring Pradeep’s insights and share his wisdom with readers of my blog as it would be very beneficial to those who are entering into retail or want to make retail as their career.

Ladies & Gentlemen, Let me introduce you to Mr. Pradeep Chechani, a Retail professional with 20 + years of work experience. Well exposed to Fashion & Grocery retail verticals including fruits & veggies. Expert in functions like B&M, Planning, Supply Chain, Operations. Developed expertise in Omni-channel retail, Ecommerce & Digital Marketing, Process automation, Customer Experience Management.

Below are the excerpts of my interview with Mr. Pradeep Chechani.

Q1: what are the pain points of a store manager and how can we reduce those pain points in order to increase customer service efficiencies?

 

A1: Key Responsibilities of a Retail Store operations Manager is to

  • Manage employees
  • Control costs
  • Manage merchandise
  • Provide Customer Service

 

The top 3 responsibilities mentioned above can be managed with internal processes.

The business looks at continuously increasing the productivity of two of the most important assets: the firm’s investments in its employees and its real estate.

Traditionally, issues pertaining to merchandise management were considered the most important retail implementation decisions and buying was considered as the best career path.

Today, developing a strategic advantage through merchandise management is becoming more and more difficult.

Competing stores often have similar assortments of merchandise. Therefore servicing the customer through store management or convenience, have become a critical basis for developing a strategic advantage.

Learning tip:

You need to find a differentiator in your retail business model, your retail store or brand need to stand for something (for example Walmart positioning stands for everyday low prices).

Learn about the “ Power of Bundle” in merchandising planning, Read here.

Create mediums/channels to listen to your customer’s needs or grievances:

Often a retailer tends to lose ground because there is a delay in reacting to customer feedback and therefore they start losing customers and start to react only when it is too late.

One model that is fast becoming successful in quickly reacting to the ‘Voice of Customer’ is the ‘Service Gaps model’.

Retailers have started to adopt this model. Blended with technology, it becomes very effective. The basics of the model are like this:

There are essentially 4 types of gaps.

  1. The Knowledge Gap

    It is the difference between the Customer’s expectation for service quality and the retailer’s perception of customer expectation. Knowing what the customer wants requires a comprehensive study on the customer’s expectation and continuous interaction with her.

  2. The Standards Gap

    It is the difference between the retailer’s perception of customer expectation and the standards defined to fulfill this expectation.

  3. The Delivery Gap

    It highlights the difference between the defined standards and the actual service delivered.

  4. The Communication Gap

    It addresses the difference between the actual service delivered and the customer’s perception of that service quality. It also highlights the difference in the retailer’s communication of that service and the customer’s perception.

 

 

Q2: How can a store manager reduce the stock loss or stock variances which is the biggest margin eater for any retailer?

 

A2: Inventory is another big investment for a retailer. It has to be tracked with precision.

Few pointers for optimizing retail store operations:

a) Calculate shrinkage as an ‘absolute variance’ and not as a ‘net variance’. Both over & under inventory leads to sale loss and other inefficiencies within a store and across the supply chain.

b) Break down the entire inventory movement process in small logical processes and then start monitoring every subprocess. You are bound to identify the problem area.

c) Detecting and Preventing Shoplifting can be minimized by:

  • Implementing the correct Store Design. Avoid too many pillars, keep the line of sight clear supported with CCTV system
  • Employee Training
  • Don’t assume that all shoplifters are poorly dressed

Read the article on Retail shrinkage and its control measures, click here 

Q3. How can a store operations manager work closely with merchandise planning and Visual teams in order to increase the stock turnover or stock rotation?

 

A3: The support that the retail store operations usually provides is

a) Display merchandise, maintain visuals standards & follow planograms as directed for the store

b) Work closely with buyers in suggesting new merchandise based on customer feedback, buy merchandise wherever applicable, Plan & manage special promotions, Markdown merchandise, etc.

The advent of technology is making this process very accurate and speedy. We are seeing tech solutions taking customer feedback and publishing it internally and accurately via machine learning. So the manual element and errors are getting minimized.

Right merchandise in the right quantities with a visual appeal is bound to help the inventory throughput

Q4. What kind of customer service differentiation do you see both in India, in the middle east and the European markets? How can we improve our customer service aspect in case we lack the same when compared to western counterparts?

 

A4: India is all about volumes.

There are Indian hypermarket stores regularly getting almost 7 to 8k number of bills (NOBs) per day during the weekends. In festive season this goes up by two folds. The Middle East & Europe comparatively does not see this congestion.

The Indian labor is cheap and availability is good. Hence customer service is more via manpower than anything else.

One common trend which I see catching up in all these regions is giving convenience to the customer. Hence,various door to door delivery models is coming up which are supported very well by the last mile logistics. I see a lot of customer acquisition through this medium.

Learn about the business model of last-mile logistics, click here.

Q5. How can technology help to reduce the delivery and communication gap which you have mentioned in your answer?

 

A5: Tech solutions that cover the entire journey of the customer in a store and capture customer feedback in a convenient way help to reduce this gap.

The structured and unstructured feedback is processed via machine learning and categorized.

A retailer can then decipher & plug the communication and delivery gap.

 

I hope readers of my blog would have really liked the insights shared by Mr. Pradeep from his extensive experience in handling hypermarkets chain in India to some big e-commerce projects. His replies provide the elements of the retail store operations standard operating procedures.

As a retail professional, it is my duty to support upcoming retail professionals by providing them the right wisdom from industry professionals through the Q&A session on my blog. This is a first Q&A session and I promise to bring you more from industry experts.

In case any of my readers or retail fraternity member need any kind of advice or help then you may reach out to me at riteshmohan@yahoo.com.

Most importantly now, you can subscribe to retail insights on my blog by entering your valid email id.

You will get weekly updates on any new article that I would be publishing. This is one way of staying connected to retail insights and marketing strategies.

 

About the author:

Ritesh Mohan is a passionate retail professional with over 20 years in the Retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in beauty, fashion and fragrances retail & FMCG sector. He has been instrumental in the growth of some of the regional brands as well in the Middle East region. Ritesh specializes in Retail management, Product development, and Brand Management, Retail Operations, Sales Management, and Franchising management. He strongly believes in empowering business owners with his wisdom & experience of around two decades in the industry.

 

digital disruptions

How to thrive in an era of digital disruptions?

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We all are hearing or have heard about digital causing retail disruptions i.e. what we known as a retail apocalypse.

Big retailers and big brands are shutting their stores, the latest to follow the trend is Gap and Toys r us & 125 years old Sears have filed for bankruptcy.

So how does one do business in the era of digital disruptions?

We live in an environment wherein everything can be copied, any innovation can be copied and launched in a better & fine-tuned service or in the form of a product.

No copyright lawsuits or trademarks can protect your innovation or innovative service, there is always a way out in legal terminology which we call as loopholes.

My article is my attempt to list out some tricks & strategies for the businesses to overcome this problem and would help you become a disruptor in your own domain or category of expertise.

 

Rule no 1: If you cannot beat the opponent, change the rules of the game.

 

Case study: Harry’s a hip & trendy razor club.

Razor category is dominated by P&G Gillette and the founders of Harry’s were quick to realize that they cannot afford to fight with MNC giant.

Using a digital platform and using influencer based content, Harry’s launched their trendy razor subscription service.

Today, Harry’s attracts more Instagram followers and product subscriptions through its website than a fully stocked Gillette aisle in a supermarket ever could. And so Harry’s has been growing 35% year-on-year between2014 to 2016, three times faster than the industry average, commanding 9% of all online razor sales.

Whereas the Gillette aisle in the local supermarket targets exactly one catchment area or neighborhood, Harry’s website reaches millions.

Rule no 2: If you can’t reinvent yourself then buy out your competition.

Unilever was quick to understand the ball game of e-commerce and how it could affect their future sales especially in a category which was dominated by rival P&G Gillette.

Unilever acquired dollar shave club for 1 billion USD; benefits are plenty, ready ecosystem of e-commerce platform, a ready customer base of millions of subscribers and moreover a commanding position of a category which was earlier dominated by Gillette.

 

Case study 2: Xiaomi –Chinese mobile company.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi had invested in some 55 startups, generating products from power banks to air purifiers.

What Xiaomi offers to startups is a combination of funding and incubation by “taking non-controlling shares” and “leaving maximum interests to the startups” so that they are much more incentivized and willing to fight on the front line.

Startups typically get access to Xiaomi’s brand and distribution—its online channel, its app, and its 300 offline stores. As a result, Xiaomi has positioned itself as not only a low-cost phone maker but also an emerging powerhouse among the makers of the all-important “connected home devices.”

Advantages:

Xiaomi’s ecosystem gives customers unusual new products that they never knew existed.

Example-Internet-enabled rice cooker, and air purifier (the first affordable one in China).

Xiaomi by investing in start-ups has created an entry barrier for its competitors when it comes to innovation and developing innovative products.

That’s what I call a masterstroke of a strategist.

Want to learn about leadership skills in 2019, read here.

Rule no 3: leap into the future.

 

Take learnings from your past experiences. With a curious mind try to seek new knowledge which would help you to take your business in search of new opportunities, resulting in leaping forward your business.

Rule no 4: Execution is everything.

 

Everything in today’s world can be copied in the shortest time possible, however, what cannot be copied by your competition is

  • Your passion for your product or service
  • Your hard work and persistence
  • The execution of your vision into strategy.

 

I would like to share an interesting video to validate my article, watch it here

YouTube video

 

Hope my article would have given my readers some valuable insights to become disruptors in their category.

In case if any of my readers need cutting edge advice or strategy for their business, then you know who your GO TO person is.

I can be reached on riteshmohan@yahoo.com.

 

Reference book: Leap by Howard Yu. (One of my best read books in 2019 so far, a must for strategist enthusiasts).

 

About the author:

Ritesh Mohan is a passionate retail professional with over 20 years in the Retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in beauty, fashion and fragrances retail & FMCG sector. Ritesh has been instrumental in the growth of some of the regional brands as well in the Middle East region. He specializes in Retail management, Product development, and Brand Management, Retail Operations, Sales Management, and Franchising & Business Management. He strongly believes in empowering business owners with his wisdom & experience of around two decades in the industry.

management lessons

7 Management Lessons for building key leadership skills

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As I write this article i.e. Management lessons that can transform you into a leader. These Management lessons are my learnings & interpretation from the book “who will cry when you die?” by Robin Sharma.

By clicking the article link, you all have decided to live your life by choice rather than by chance.

Find your purpose or Why

There is a Sanskrit saying “when you were born, you cried while the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way that when you die, the world cries while you rejoice.”

Every one of us is born with something special, may it be a particular skill or in-born talent or some kind of creative passion, may it be sports, music or literature.

It is our responsibility to identify our core strengths by introspecting ourselves and make it our Unique Selling Proposition.

Master one trick or skill that would make you stand apart.

As there is a statement in a book “Art of war”; don’t fear a boxer/fighter who tried 100 kinds of punches 10,000 times but definitely fear a boxer who had practiced one particular kind of punch, 10,000 times.

Don’t spend too much time thinking about an idea or concept but work towards converting that idea into a prototype and then finally pivot to an actual working product. Be always Action oriented.

Maintain a diary

Write about your mistakes- you made and good things in a diary daily.

Mention your learnings from each of these experiences (mistakes and successes). You will notice that over a period of time you would start making lesser mistakes and it would result in overall self-development.

Maintain a morning schedule:

Your morning decides as to how your day would go.

Start your day with positive thoughts, positive wisdom quotes and try to get into habit of waking up early. Early start of the day gives you a head start Vis a Vis your peers and fellow team members.

Be creative like a child

Focus on resources that you have rather than constraints.

Observe a child eating bread, they would eat the soft middle portion and would leave the hard side crusts. Working under constraints makes you to think harder and come up with creative solutions.

Take risks

Overcome fear of failure by taking action and avoid procrastinating on any idea. All the great inventors or geniuses were inspired to make the lives of other people more productive and enriched.

Try to do things that you always wanted to do and don’t even think of failures. Yes failures are the steps in the process of achieving success.

Remember, Failures are nothing but success delayed.

You are bound to achieve success with your persistence and hard work and resilience.

Keep Focus

I had previously written an article on developing a habit of saying No in order to stay focused, click here

To be successful, you need 3 core ingredients hard work, Persistence, and Resilience.

Take one step a day towards your goal daily.

If you want to lose weight, you join Gym, you would not lose weight by exercising 5 hours daily but you will see significant weight loss, if you exercise 30 mins daily consistently for over 6 months without any breaks or loss of momentum.

Make a mastermind alliance

Most of the successful people create a mastermind alliance with a group of like-minded people who are tied by similar values, similar philosophies. The alliance is all about mutual benefits so you must be able to give as much as you expect to receive. Discuss the challenges that you are facing and ask for the group’s input. It is what I call collaborative learning approach.

 

I hope my article would help aspiring entrepreneurs, corporate managers to think and invest in self-learning to realize their goals & aspirations.

Check out the video by Robin Sharma

YouTube video

I can be reached on riteshmohan@yahoo.com, in case any of my retail fraternity member needs my help with any of their retail issues or problems. I would be more than glad to help my fraternity members with my wisdom.

 

Reference book: “who would cry, when you die” by Robin Sharma.

 

About the author:

Ritesh Mohan is a passionate retail professional with over 20 years in the Retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in beauty, fashion and fragrances retail & FMCG sector. Ritesh has been instrumental in the growth of some of the regional brands as well in Middle East region. He specializes in Retail management, Product development and Brand management, Retail Operations, Sales Management and Franchising & Business Management. He strongly believes in empowering business owners with his wisdom & experience of around two decades in the industry.