RETAIL

MANAGEME
NT

ASSIGNME
NT 2

SUBMITTED BY:

ADITI GOYAL

KRITI JALAN

MEDHAVI SINGH

VANSHIKA ARORA
About the Organization….

The TCNS group, a premier apparel manufacturer and

exporter to some of the world's major brands such as Levi's, Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic,
Saks and J. C. Penney.
Following is a brief snap of the organization:
Name of the organization: T.C.N.S Clothing Company Ltd.
Founded by: Mr. O.S Pasricha

Brands under the umbrella: “W”, “WEVE” and “Aurelia”

The company started the retailing of the garments in the domestic market by the brand name of
“W” which stands for women’s wear. The company rooted at home by setting up its first outlet
in the year 2002 in Lajpat Nagar. It later rolled out its other brands by entering into the business
venture with Big Bazaar, a subsidiary of the Future Group. The brand is launched as budget
brand especially for the hypermarkets and the supermarkets such as Spencer’s, Megamart etc.
T.C.N.S. Clothing Company Pvt. Ltd also retailed exclusively through the Reliance Mart stores.
The label is targeted at value conscious woman who look for great bargains but at the same time
do not want to compromise on quality.
Through the new label WEVE, the company wants to penetrate into the more budget conscious
market and reach down the pyramid level. WEVE is looked upon as a value proposition for the
customers offering them comfortable clothes with a scientifically derived sizing and fits. The
label is being retailed out of the first Reliance Retail outlet in Ahmadabad. The category of
products would include Indian wear like Duppattas, Kurtis, Tops and Kurtas.
About the BRAND….

Name of the brand: W

Established in: 2002, Lajpat Nagar
Philosophy: More than clothes
Parent company: T.C.N.S Clothing Company Pvt .Ltd
Channels of Retail: Exclusive Brand Outlets
Multi Brand Outlets

W offers fashion leadership in the segment through a signature ‘Fusion’ design language which
reflects an Indian essence imbued with modernity. Based on the concept of Mix and Match, it
mirrors the new age Indian woman. Rooted at home and taking on the world with panache,
playing myriad of roles with élan and taking on the challenges in her stride.

The brand grew out of the need of contemporary Indian woman for innovative ready to wear that
combine fashion and functionality. With a unique design sensibility, the Indian Salwar-kameez
was transformed into its chic & urbane - yet comfortable form. This was the first such attempt at
reinventing Indian fashion. W has added a lineup of fusion wear comprising trousers, skirts,
tunics, tops and tees along with an exciting winter outer wear line. Today W is the only national
brand providing total wardrobe solution under one roof to the modern Indian woman. W offers
related separates. This allows the woman to create her own wardrobe. This unique mix-n-match
concept not only offers the woman the sheer pleasure of designing her own wardrobe but also
promises different looks each time.
About the STORE….

Location: 26A Upper Ground Floor, DLF City Center Mall, Gurgaon, Haryana-122002

Area:
Total area: 1223 sq. ft.
Carpet area: 850 sq. ft.
Average Footfalls:
Weekdays: 35-50
Weekends: 70-110
Average Conversion: 48%
No. of employees:
Customer Experience Officers: 3
Store Supervisor: 1
Housekeeping: 2
Guard: 1
Lady Guard: 1
 CHAPTER I
RETAIL MIX
CATEGORY SIZE P COL IMAGES
RICE ORS

Variety
KURTA/KURTI/T WP,WS,WM,WL,WG, Rs. of
OPS WVG 599-Rs. Indian
3299 colors

DUPATTAS
------- Rs. 399 Wide
(chiffon, net – Rs. color
and cotton) 1799 range

SALWARS WS,WM,WL Rs. 499 Printed

(Mix and – and
match) Rs.699 solid

CHURIDARS WS,WM,WL Rs.399 Printed

(knitted and – and
woven) Rs.799 solid

STRUCTURED WP,WS,WM,WL,W Rs. Black,

FORMAL PANTS G 1399 – Navy
Rs. Blue.
1699
 CHAPTER II
Business Operations

A Brief about the everyday work at “W”

Day-to-day working at “W” started with the basic business operations that begin with the start of
the day with the opening of the store by the store manager .The basic practice at “W” is to give a
missed call to the Regional Area Sales Manager as soon as the store opens. The timings of store
opening is 9 A.M. Thereafter it is the duty of the store manager to check the mails, if any and
revert to them. The checking of the grooming of the staff as per the grooming standards of the
organization is the next task to do on the list of the store manager. Once the grooming is done, it
is store manager's duty to ensure that the store opens at sharp 11:00a.m and ensure that all the
areas are cleaned as per the checklist, Check whether all Furniture fixtures applications are in
working order/not damaged and complete/ fill the Opening checklist on a daily basis & file it.
The refolding of merchandise takes place. During the day the current sales status which includes
the sales in both units and volumes along with the average bill size is provided to the area sales
manager at regular intervals of 2:00p.m, 5:p.m and 7p.m daily. At the end of the day, the day’s
transaction are filled in the system as per the units, categories and the volumes, tally the Cash &
credit card transactions, complete the Daily Sales Report (DSR) and email the same to the ASM.
• Category wise sales
• Cash & Credit Card Details
• Deposit Status of previous day’s collection.
Last but not the least, generate the Tags & email the same to ASM & IT team.

Cash Handling
The cash was counted by the store manager on the daily basis. Keeping apart Rs.3, 000-Rs.4, 000
in the cash till, all the cash was deposited to the bank’s representative who came to the store on
daily basis except Sunday.
HR Management
The stall queries regarding the store and sometimes even personal matters were solved through
the discussions among the store staff. Any conflict among the staff or the staff and the customer
were also taken care of by the store manager.
Solving Customer queries

Every possible effort is made by the store staff to solve the customer queries and conflict
whether it is related to the product or the store as a whole.

Operating POS
Following were the tasks that are performed on the POS. At “W” the billing system used was
LS-Retail.
• Update any pending manual billing in the system for the previous day.
• Take print out of the collection report with Cash & Credit card sales details.
• Recheck cash and credit slips against sales report.
• Fill the deposit slip for cash
• Prepare the cash packet for handing over to the collection agency authorized by W /
Bank, which current now is IDBI Bank.

Display – VM (Visual merchandising)

The Display that includes the window display as well as the presentation of the merchandise
story-wise is being done every fortnight or as soon as the merchandise on the mannequin gets
exhasted. The following tasks are the responsibilities of the store staff.

• Iron all hung garments/ crushed garments.

• Ensure that the display (hang/Stacking)is as per the plan for the day based on the display
norms communicated by the regional team/HO. (Details Instructions as per the
merchandise layout guidelines).

Replenishment on the Floor

The stock needs to be replenished on the floor from the back store, so that it is convenient for the
customers as well as the staff. Thus the staff was assigned a section and the physical count of the
stock used to take place every Monday. The shrinkage was calculated and reported to the Area
Sales Manager

• Assigned staff members to check for broken size sets & file the requirement on the
replenishment sheet.
• Replenish the stock on the floor from the backroom as per the replenishment sheet.
• Shortfall/unavailability of stock should be circled on the replenishment sheet & submit it
to the Area Sales Manager .

Inventory management

Since there needs to be goods in stock to sell, it was imperative to ensure that there is stock count
of the inventory on a frequent basis. At “W” the stock count was done every Monday where the
physical inventory at the floor and the back store was counted and then matched with the
inventory according to the system. In case of any shortages, the report made was sent by the
Store Manager to his Regional Manager. In addition to checking retail store stock, stock received
in the store is counted as per the boxes and the stock was added to the software by a process
called “stock-in”. In case of sending the stock out to the warehouse, all the merchandise was
packed in the boxes after scanning their barcodes on a excel sheet. After that a print out was
taken of the same and a copy of that was sent to the IT department and the merchandiser. Also
the barcodes are scanned in the system under the process named as “Stock-Out”. The warehouse
manager is contacted and a date is settled when the stock could be picked up by the transporter.
 Trade Area analysis

When it comes to setting up a store, store location often becomes one of the most important
elements, this is mainly because:

• Generally for customers store location is typically the prime consideration when it comes
to shopping. For example, if you do not have a personal vehicle you will tend to choose a
location which is close to your home.

• Also store locations can be used to develop a sustainable competitive advantage.

• Other strategies can be changed in a short time but location decisions are harder to
change. For example many national chain stores sign lease for 7 to 10years. Therefore,
store location decision needs proper consideration before any decision is taken.

However, these days because of slow down in both, population growth, and new shopping center
construction, a retailer may find a suitable location at high rent, complicated lease and expensive
fixturing and expensive remodeling

Retail locations can be of following types:

• Central Business Districts (CBDs)

• Shopping centers

 Neighborhood centers

 Community centers

 Power center

 Regional

 Super-regional centers

 Fashion/specialty

 Outlet

 Theme/festival

• Free standing sites

• Carts, Kiosks, RMUs and tall wall units

 As different business types have different trade areas, it becomes necessary to analyse the
trade area of a particular site. To conduct a atrade area analyis, we basically need to identify
with the trade area in which the store is planned to open. As we understand the trade area is
the geographic region that generates the majority of customers. Trade Area Analysis helps to
locate prospects that fit the profile of your key customers, allowing the retailers to
concentrate and focus on marketing budget and on potentially profitable opportunities.

The trade area analysis is performed on to determine the market penetration of the households
and the target market and evaluating new sites to locate our existing business to be closer to our
prospective customers as well as in case of expanding into a new area where prospective
customers live.

A trade area contains primary, secondary and fringe segments. The most important
characteristics of a trade area are population features, income level of the neighborhood, labor
force and employment, household buying power, dwelling structure and consumer lifestyles.
Trade area analysis helped us to determine whether our business strategy matches the needs and
lifestyles of consumers. It also revealed the market opportunities that exist and the retail strategy
necessary for success.

Trade Area Analysis can even identify where your competition is located, so you can understand
how they impact your profitability, and develop a plan to counter the effect. It can also help you
understand the impact that the opening or closing of yours or competitors’ locations will have
within your geographical area, which allows you to make more informed decisions about the
future of your stores.
Technique followed:

• Radial Studies

• GIS Technology

• Gravity Model

• Drive- time techniques

We have chosen W’s store at DT city center
mall, MG road, Gurgaon. Following is
the site at which trade analysis has been
performed

National
Capital
Region
GURGAON

GURGAON

DT city
center
mall, MG
General Overview:

Gurgaon is the sixth largest city in the Indian state of Haryana. Gurgaon is the industrial and
financial center of Haryana. An important town in ancient Hindu mythology, Gurgaon is one of
Delhi's four major satellite cities and is part of the National Capital Region of India. Over the
past 10 years the city has undergone rapid development and construction. A wave of
Multinational companies chose to locate their call centers in Gurgaon after GE did so in 1997
which has made Gurgaon the call centre capital of the world. Multinational Companies also
chose to put their regional headquarters in Gurgaon instead of Mumbai or Delhi. Today, Gurgaon
is regarded as the best city in India to work and the best city in India to live, according to a
survey by Business Today magazine

Retail is another big industry in Gurgaon, where there are 43 malls, including the biggest Mall of
India, Making Gurgaon the city with 3rd highest number of malls in India

Gurgaon is considered the "Mall Capital of India" as it is home to over 40 malls including the
biggest, Mall of India. In March 2008, a law went into effect in the state requiring all malls and
shopping centers to be closed one day per week in order to conserve electricity and help traffic
flow so all malls and shopping centers are closed on Tuesday

DLF City Centre

Built By: DLF Group

Year of establishment: 2001

Opening and closing time: 10:00 am - 11:00 pm

Major DLF City Centre attraction: Lifestyle Stores,

Mehrasons Jewellers, DT Cinemas

Location: Mehrauli-Gurgaon road

Parking facility: Has two levels basement and front

parking

Number of stores: 127 till last count

Built by DLF group, an example of good architecture and

ambiance, this mall opened in the winters of 2001. It has
more than 127 different stores on four different levels of its building. Primary stores include
Lifestyle stores, Maspar, Pizza Hut, Ruby Tuesday and Mehrasons Jewellers. This mall has DT
Cinemas multiplex with 4 screens that feature both Hindi and English movies; DT Cinema has
been one of the major attractions in DLF City Centre. The major attraction of DLF City Centre
mall is Lifestyle stores which has a variety of product lines for different age groups. People
might differ in their opinions but DLF City Centre holds a great reputation and credibility among
all the malls in Gurgaon. Mainly because it was the first mall to have opened in Gurgaon or New
Delhi NCR

DLF City Centre is the mall that gave the people of Gurgaon the taste of American mall culture
which further lead to change in outlook for people of Gurgaon and New Delhi about malls. Till
date they have been able to manage the same level of reputation and credibility.
 SITE EVALUATION

Pedestrian and vehicular traffic:

The mall has a two-way entry system. It has a main entrance gate. The vehicular traffic coming
from Mehrauli, Vatika do not have to take a U-turn to enter the mall parking in the basement.
However there is a pedestrian flow of customers from both the gates. There are two exit points as
well. However the customers can exit through one gate only because of the security reason. The
second exit is the emergency exit which is used only in case of an emergency or even when the
customer traffic is high, usually on rare weekends and festive time, or when a promotion is going
on.

Parking Facilities:

The mall provides ample parking space. The customers can park their cars either in the basement
of the mall or the open area outside the mall. However the area outside the mall is usually used
for parking on the weekends and the festive time. Thus the parking which seems an issue gets
resolved at the DLF City Center mall.

Transportation:

• The site proposed is located in DLF City Center mall

• 8 lane expressway between Gurgaon and Delhi

• Delhi is 10 kms from DLF City Center

• Buses connects Gurgaon bus station to Delhi and to cities and towns in Haryana

• The Radio taxis are easily available

• DLF City Centre’s main entrance is just 20 mtrs away from the under-construction metro
station. The line is expected to complete by June 2010

• Auto running between DLF City Center and IFFCO chowk is a routine affair.

Amenities:

• Public Toilets: The centre provides toilets for the convenience at three floors including 2
disabled toilet facilities.
• Telephones: Are located in the lobby of the mall.
• Wheel Chairs: DLF City Center provides 6 free chairs for the use of customers with
mobility issues. These can be reserved by contacting the centre office or the Help Desk.
• First Aiders: All staff at the centre are first aid trained for your health & safety
• Security & CCTV: For your safety we have 24 hour security and a high tech digital
system covering the entire centre
• Centre Directory: There are two directories located at the entrance, near the lifts and car
park entrance of the centre with full listing of tenants and services available.
• Lifts & elevators: The mall provides three lift and two escalators apart from the staircase.
• Power back-up: The mall has a power back-up by which the electricity is resumed within
10 seconds of a power cut.

COMPETITOR’S

• BIBA

• Fabindia

• Anokhi
 RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSION

Recommendations:

Here I am giving a few recommendations/suggestions to the store where I had spent five months
as well as for the organization as a whole. However a lot of issues related to the store are closely
linked up to the issues at a higher level.
Thus I have tried to bifurcate the recommendations in two parts, firstly for the organization and
secondly for the store.

For the organization:

• Proper merchandise planning:
The merchandise in spite of being a brand based on the mix n match concept, the merchandising
team should manage to send the stock well with the co-ordinates i.e. bottom wear and drape wear
along with the styles in the top wear. Moreover there should be an alternative in the bottom wear
to as many styles in top wear as possible so that if a particular style is finished, the staff at the
store could use a different combination.
• Sizes in bottom wear:
Although “W” provides the widest of sizes in the top wear, there exists only three sizes in the
bottom wear i.e. WS-small, WM-medium and WL-large. However the sizes may seem fine when
it comes to the basic knit churidar, but in cases of the woven churidars, the extra large could not
fit into the large size.
• Expensive:
The cotton dupattas with very less embellishments (usually a lace), sometimes even plain
dupattas costs Rs.450, whereas the same quality other competitors are selling at less than Rs.300.
Customers find them a bit on the higher side. Thus the organization should seek ways to decrease
the cost of the dupattas in order to meet the customers’ expectations.
• Salary as per industry norms:
The salaries of the employees at “W” especially the lower staff should be increased. Also there
should be some profit motive for the staff to drive the sales at the store level.

For the store:

• Recruitment of more staff
The staff at the store is very less; there still is an urgent requirement of a CEO in the store. Thus
the store should recruit one staff person more in the store.
 • Touch-up required
The store is in a bad condition where all the tube-lights are not working properly, the
mannequins are more than five year old. Hence there is a need of touch-up in the store. The
seating table also needs to be changed. In short the management needs to do the makeover of the
entire store.

• More focus on Customer Experience:

The CEOs must be trained and must always keeps in mind that sales are not that important as the
experience they make them feel, since they enter the store till they leave the store. Hence the
sales staff should be more focus upon the customer experience rather than focusing just on the
sales.
• More authority to be delegated:
The store managers should be delegated more authority, as asking the area sales managers for a
petty expense makes the decision delivery late which affects the brand image and the decision
making process is slower down. For example, the decisions such as genuine defects with the
merchandise should be exchanged at the store level rather than couriering the merchandise to the
head office and then waiting for the reply.
• Proper and frequent sales training:
The sales staff should be provided frequent and proper sales trainings at the head-office, where
they can learn more about effective selling, new techniques of selling, more knowledge about the
fabrics and personality development.

• Proper records:
Proper records regarding the customer’s requirements, also of the credit note details would help
the store in better Customer Relationship Management, which would further enhance the sales.