India Retail Report Synopsis

Backgrounder:

The India Retail Report 2007 aptly documented 'Opportunity India Retail';
published by the IMAGES Group and released by Mr. Kamal Nath, Hon'ble
Commerce & Industry minister, Govt. of India in January 2007, the research
volume set benchmark figures on Indian retail, while sizing up the entire market
with its key segments, scope and performance of key players across categories and
formats.

Under the aegis of India Retail Forum (IRF), for the first time, the entire retail
industry and some of the world’s top global research & consulting firms came
together for a detailed study of the Indian retail industry. The book, which became
a best seller across all titles of books in major book chains, also carried detailed
analytical articles by 40 thought leaders from the industry and the government.
While the hard copies became must-haves for every CEO connected with Indian
retail, the CD version with navigation facility, tables, graphs, pictures of hundreds
of stores and shopping centres emerged as the most user-friendly tool for top level
executives for use in corporate PPTs. Copies of the book were ordered from
possibly every corner of the world -- reflecting IMAGES' capability of spreading
the India retail story across the globe.
The past eighteen months have seen plenty of action in Indian retail; it is the
right time to update the retail world with the new edition of India Retail
Report. Supported by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Shopping Centres
Association of India (SCAI) and Retailers Association of India (RAI), the India
Retail Forum saw the release of this most sought after report in the presence world
retail captains, corporate majors and policy makers of India and the entire retail
fraternity. This year, many more organisations including National Council for
Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Indian Council of Research in
International Economic Relations (ICRIER), and International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI) have contributed well researched chapters.
550 hardbound pages of extensively researched content, the new edition, presents
the India retail story in all its colours. Quantifying consumer spending and modern
retail share in all consumption categories -- from food to fashion; telecom to
automobiles; consumer durables to health & wellness, entertainment & leisure --
India Retail Report 2009 is an ultimate guide to the business of retail in India.
Chapters pertaining to the investment climate, retail profitability and legal issues
have been especially put together by industry experts -- to enable potential
investors in taking informed decisions.
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As per the India Retail Report the Indian retail market stood at Rs.1,330,000
crore in 2007 with an annual estimated growth of about 10.8 per cent. Of this,
the share of organised retail in 2007 was estimated to be only 5.9 per cent,
which was Rs.78,300 crore. Nevertheless, this modern retail segment grew at the
rate of 42.4 per cent in 2007, and is expected to maintain a faster growth rate over
the next three years, especially in view of the fact that major global players and
Indian corporate houses are seen entering the fray in a big way. Even at the going
rate, organised retail is expected to touch Rs.2,30,000 cr (at constant prices) by
2010, constituting roughly 13 per cent of the total retail market.
Quotes:
“The India Retail Report 2009 is a well researched and professionally
presented document that brings forth several opportunities that could benefit
the Indian consumers. I look forward to the Indian retail sector continuing on
its developmental growth path and spreading its benefit to all.”

–Kamal Nath, India’s minister for Commerce & Industry.

"Many countries specially in south east Asia like Malaysia, Indonesia and
Thailand have put in place regulations with a view to balance the conflicts of
interests between modern retail and the traditional retailers and suppliers to
modern retail. We hope to achieve the best interests of the Indian business
through sustained efforts in this direction to make Indian retail truly
competitive with global standards."

– Ajay Shankar, secretary, DIPP, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

"Retailers must play a wider role in society.The traditional retailer was in

many countries, an active part of the social structure of the neighbourhood.
More than just a source of products or services, he was a companion, friend,
advisor, source of news etc. Most modern formats do not permit such
personalised interaction. However, it is important that we recognise and play
our role in maintaining our neighbourhoods, preserving the environment,
assisting in municipal planning and development, and playing multiple roles
as good citizens. It’s not just good social behavior, its good business too!."

–Amitabh Taneja, Chairman, IMAGES Group and chief convenor, IRF.

“For retail to be modernized and contribute significantly to the consumption
economy of the country, we have to involve the government and the society at
large as stakeholders in the business. Unlike the IT boom in the eighties which
happened without government intervention, retail development has to be an
integral part of the state and central governments’ India strategy”.

– B S Nagesh, Chairman, Retailers Association of India and MD, Shoppers Stop

Limited.

“The need of the hour is to sensitize all our stakeholders to the transformation
that modern retail can bring in to our country. We need to develop a
collaborative platform among retailers and other stakeholders that facilitates
further growth of the sector. And as retailers, we need to focus on how to
bring about market innovations that spur consumption and create an
inclusive model that brings more consumers into the fold of modern retail”.

– Kishore Biyani, Chairman, CII Committee on Retail and Founder & CEO, Future
Group.
HP to upgrade Subhiksha’s IT infrastructure
11 Sep, 2008
 HP Financial Services, the asset management
services and leasing subsidiary of US-based IT
conglomerate HP, has announced that it will partner
India’s largest supermarket chain Subhiksha to
develop software to support the latter’s financing
and asset management services.

Elaborating this development, Irv Rothman,

president and chief executive officer, HP Financial
Services, said, “India is a critical market for us and building a strong relationship
with leading companies like Subhiksha is key to our growth strategy in Asia.”

R Subramanian, managing director, Subhiksha, confirmed the news and said, “We
have been working closely with HP over the last two years and we are happy with
this new development as, from now on, we will be able to invest more effectively
in our business growth.”

In this new plan, along with deploying SAP business enterprise software for
Subhiksha, HP will provide desktop PCs and other IT equipment on lease to
Subhiksha and refresh it’s older PCs with new technology.

Subhiksha head honcho is IRF’08 chair

30 Aug, 2008

India Retail Forum (IRF), arguably the country’s

largest congregation of retail minds, has a new
chairman on board. The Forum, for the year 2008,
will see R Subramaniam, the managing director of
Subhiksha, control its reins.

Handing over the charges to Subramaniam, V

Vaidyanathan, executive director of ICICI Bank and
the chairman of IRF 07, said, “My last duty as
Chairman of Indian Retail Forum 2007 is to hand over the reins to a representative
of the industry who will lift the Forum to greater heights. It is my proud privilege
to welcome Mr R Subramanian, as the Chairman of IRF'08. Mr Subramanian has
kindly accepted the mandate of his industry counterparts, and will chair the 2008
edition of the magnum opus of Indian retail, where the retail world comes together
to understand and explore the world's most lucrative retail market.”

As per the IRF, the decision was taken in sync with the views and choices of the
entire industry. “After getting the views of over 250 industry captains, one name
stood out. When Mr Subramaniam was nominated by Bijou Kurien, president and
CEO, Reliance Lifestyle Holdings, and seconded jointly by Sanjiv Goenka, vice
chairman, RPG Group and Mr. B S Nagesh, MD, Shopper's Stop, the opinion of
the industry leaders became clear,” informs Vaidyanathan.

Inviting the industry to support him in his new role, Subramaniam stated, “I hope
that I shall have the industry’s support to make IRF '08 relevant for retailers. Let us
all combine efforts to make this the magnum opus of Indian retail as no one else
can better execute it than us.”

New Partners

Meanwhile, industry bodies including the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII),

Retailers Association of India (RAI) and Shopping Centre Association of India
(SCAI) have joined hands with the IRF.

Speaking on this partnership, Kishore Biyani, chairman, CII National Committee –

Retail and the founder and CEO of Future Group, said, “IRF’s invite to CII to
partner with the largest congregation of retail minds -- offering the forum to
discuss the issues with the industry at large – was well timed and much
appreciated. Indeed the meet will provide us a much larger and an ideal platform
for a more meaningful dialogue and partnership with the industry to subsequently
chart out a detailed action plan for CII initiatives in retail.”

“The power and passion of the IMAGES team push all of us to converge at this
great platform to share, learn and evolve. IRF this year has the support of all major
bodies including Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Retailers Association of
India (RAI) and Shopping Centre Association of India (SCAI) and indeed IRF has
emerged as the perfect platform for trade bodies and industry captains to meet,
discuss and find a common agenda to work for the growth of the industry,” says
Subramaniam.

“IRF is all about sharing, learning and evolving together, and is recognised as a
global standard. Mr. Subramanian is the ideal chairman to make this huge business,
knowledge and networking platform even more relevant for the participants. I
invite the entire retail fraternity to join me in extending all support to Mr
Subramanian in making IRF '08 a huge success,” Vaidyanathan stated.

Bachat Mera Adhikar - That is what Subhiksha Has For You! Spartan,
Relentless, Frenzied pace
By Zainab Morbiwala
Hopping across to the nearest super market has ceased to be an inhibition even for
an average Indian middle-class as the benefits they offer vis-à-vis a local kirana
store are increasing by each passing day. The reasons if we evaluate are simple.
With retail getting more and more organized in our country, a lot many players are
recognizing the potential household products have.
No wonder, retail guru Kishore Biyani has his
foothold not only in the apparel and lifestyle
sector with Pantaloons, but also occupies a major
mind of recall with regards to the mother of ‘all
purpose stores' in India with Big Bazaar. Apna
Bazaar, Sahahari Bhandar etc have been in
existence since ages. Modern retail is bringing
with it new players who go a step further in
offering customers with additional discounts
coupled with excellent service and many more
product offerings. The majority of players are regional but here again the magic of
retail is gradually driving players to gain a national footprint. The latest to do this
is Subhiksha.
Starting its journey in 1997 with a single store in South Chennai, they gradually
expanded into other areas of Chennai and then the rest of Tamil Nadu. Till late last
year, Subhiksha had nearly 140 odd stores in Tamil Nadu. Talking about the same,
R Subramanium, managing director, Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd., says, “From
then on, we put together an aggressive expansion plan and when others were still
talking about the benefits of retail, we had opened nearly 450 odd stores across key
markets such as Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Baroda,
Vizag and Vijaywada.”
Before entering the genre of super market, the people behind Subhiksha had an
option of creating a niche for themselves in the software sector. Explaining why
retail was chosen over IT, Subramanium says, “The logic was that in 1997, we
thought with most big players in software predating us by at least 10 years or more,
we would be too late to enter the industry – we thought we would be quite early in
retail and get the same head start of 10 years. The ideology behind starting
Subhiksha was based on two things – to show that things could be done differently
from what the rest of the world does and that we need not copy the western market
and secondly to ensure that the benefits of organized retail went beyond the high
end affluent consumer and went to the aam aadmi as well.”
Currently, Subhiksha is expanding its operation in Maharashtra with lightening
speed and the TV commercials and radio campaign are complimenting the same.
Pinakiranjan Mishra, Partner, Risk and Business Solutions, E&Y says, “Subhiksha
has plans to set up close to 200 stores in Maharashtra in 2007, out of which about
100 would be in Mumbai. If media reports are to be believed, they have already set
up about 75 stores by the first week of January. This is quite impressive by any
standards and if they are able to grow at this pace, they will have a strong market
presence. Apart from low prices, they also offer free home delivery and if they
make this into a successful model, they have a distinct edge over others.”
Sharing his views on Subhiksha's entry, Atul Takle, Head – Corporate
Communications, Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, “We do not see Subhiksha's
entry affecting us. They are largely in the food area, whereas Big Bazaar is an all
purpose store with over 200,000 SKU's. A customer walking into Big Bazaar meets
his expectations of good quality at great prices as well as a variety of products.”
Commenting on this, Mishra adds, “The models of Big Bazaar and Subhiksha are
quite different and so is the value proposition -- apart from the fact that they both
provide “convenience” and “value”. I guess both will exist together in the
immediate future as Indian still do not do bulk purchases, especially of fresh food
items. So, while Subhiksha would probably score high on accessibility and
convenience, Big Bazaar would score as a one stop shop with better deals.”
Apart from home-delivery, Subhiksha has introduced good discounts for their
customers.
“We offer genuinely-sharp discounts and the lowest prices in town, significantly
lower than those offered by Big Bazaar, Apna Bazaar etc. In fact, we offer
discounts as much as 3-4 times those offered by some of these stores. Also, our
discounts are not seasonal and not limited to a few products. We have many more
stores in comparison to others, for instance, we operate in Delhi out of more than
110 locations and in Mumbai out of 74 locations. This is being expanded further,”
explains Subramanium.
“We prefer going the lease-rental route. The
reasons are simple, we have greater control on
the operations this way and given that we do not
have to incur an additional margin to the
franchisee, we manage to keep our costs low.
This in turn enables us to offer truly low prices to
our customers,” he further adds.
Operating in four verticals – fruits and
vegetables, pharmaceuticals, FMCG and telecom
-- the mode of operation at Subhiksha is minus any frills and for obvious reasons as
the aim is to offer good discounts. Elaborating on discount retailing, Subramanium
says, “We feel strongly about bringing true value to customers through discount
retailing. There are lots of retailers who claim to offer discounts. But the moments
you look behind the surface, you will realize that offering discounts and true value
to customers is restricted to promise of low prices on one particular day or festival
days. More over the promise of large discounts is restricted to at best 10 per cent of
the merchandise. Rest of the things actually sells at very close to MRPs. So the
customer is actually misled into believing that she is getting large discounts
whereas she may be actually getting at best an average discount of 2-3 per cent. In
true discount retailing, the customer must be offered deep discounts and genuinely
low prices that enable them to save money.
Also, the discounts must not be restricted to specific days or specific items.
Subhiksha follows the EDLP (every day low price) approach where we actually
offer the lowest prices every single day of the year on everything that is sold from
our stores.”
Talking about the no-frill, no-glamour mode working for Subhiksha, Subramanium
says, “Customers are extremely smart. They go to the glamorous options like
hypermarts and malls far away from their houses for entertainment once in a while.
For day to day buying of household provisions, groceries, toiletries, medicines,
fruits and vegetables, etc they still prefer to go close to their houses or order on the
phone. With time at so much of a premium, buying the same soap, the same
detergent or refined oil, is an activity that most individuals want to spend less time
on. They would rather spend time on more pleasurable activities. Who, in any case,
is looking for ambience to buy the same old toothbrush or toothpaste? Therefore,
no-frills stores such as ours that offer the same basics do very well.”
With over a million sq.ft in space across the country, the minimum size for a
Subhiksha store is 1,500-2,000 sq.ft. Scouting for a suitable property is a known
nightmare but for Subhiksha it has been a smooth journey so far. Subramanian
says, “So far, we have not had any serious issues. Our stores are located in
neighborhoods where finding space is not as much a constraint. We base our search
on finding the right size (1,500 – 2,000 sq.ft) properties close to where our target
customer catchments are, those that are available on a long-term lease.” To further
ease the cost, Subhiksha has opted for lease-rental route.
Talking in length about their expansion plans which happen to be noteworthy,
Subramanium shares, “In the first phase of our expansion we have invested nearly
Rs.300 crore and now have over Rs.450 crore. These include over 100 stores in
Delhi, 40 stores in Bangalore, 30 stores in Hyderabad, 30 stores in Ahmedabad, 14
stores each in Vizag and Baroda, 74 stores in Mumbai and many stores in the rest
of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu etc. In our second phase of
expansion we will be investing an additional Rs.200 crore and expand into Punjab,
Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal among other states.
We plan to open an additional 500 stores by the end of 2007, making the Subhiksha
chain over a 1,000 store strong. ICICI venture is the financial partner and the banks
are UTI Bank, HSBC Standard Chartered, HDFC Bank, Kotak and ICICI Bank.”
With campaigns like ‘Bachat mera adhikar', Subhiksha is all set to convert the local
kirana store customer into a Subhiksha customer and this will be the case for any
new entrants as well, as they will all together give stiff competition to our local
grocer. Mishra is of the opinion, “Whether we like it or not, local kirana will be
affected, probably they will become more customer oriented. Already in Mumbai
you see examples of local kiranas doing up their stores and fixing air conditioners.
So several will transform and survive and many will probably shut shop. Those
that are successful will drive their business through better knowledge of customers
and a more personalized service. For example, they will bundle their home
deliveries with products they do not sell at all. So when you order groceries, you
can also order food, or medicines, etc that they will buy and send to your home.
May be several such stores in a locality will collaborate to cut delivery costs and
capture customers. My belief is that they will also differentiate on quality on
specific products with some smart sourcing, so consumers might go to specific
stores, if they want better rice or atta. ” Sharing his views, Takle adds, “Local
kirana stores will continue to be major players. Formats like Big Bazaar are visited
once in a week or fortnight, whereas the kirana is still the place to go on a daily
basis.”
Subhiksha plans 150 consumer durable stores by mid-09
9 Sep, 2008

Refuting the media reports regarding the dilution of

its stake and that of its

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