COMPANY OVERVIEW

Allen Solly is a brand that transformed the dressing lifestyles of Indian officials. Allen Solly was
the modernizer in bringing the semi-formal revolt to the Indian market. It netted the imagination
of youth and professionals equal giving them a chance to mark a fashion statement at work. The
brand has progressed swiftly in the past years, becoming one of the fastest growing brands in
India.
Allen Solly was founded in 1744 by William Hollin and Co Ltd. The brand was bought in the
90’s by a company called Madura Garments. Madura Garments was a part of Madura Coats and
a big producer of threads. Aditya Birla Group acquired Allen Solly in 2001.Allen Solly
accomplished a proximate fashionable position in a highly competitive readymade market within
a short span of time. Allen Solly comes into the market with the hit idea of “Friday
Dressing”. Allen Solly launched office apparels in colored shirts and Khaki trousers which
became a prompt hit. A brand tagline “My World, My Way” was formed to show the brand’s
new trend. In 2002, Allen Solly became the first Indian brand to introduce work fashion for
women. In 2013, the kid’s apparel was expanded into a complete smart young wardrobe, “Allen
Sally Junior” for boys and girls. Solly Jeans Company was launched in 2014 and Solly Sport
was introduced as a tennis-inspired lifestyle sports brand.
 STORE OVERVIEW

Subject Retail Business Environment

Store Allen Solly

Location Punjagutta, Next Galleria

Year of Establishment 2018

Product Line Clothing

Store Size 1180 sqft

Employees 3

Website https://www.allensolly.com/
 SWOT ANALYSIS OF ALLEN SOLLY

1. STRENGTH :-The following are the strengths of Allen Solly:

 The brand is present in more than 50 countries.
 In-house and experienced design and product team is available.
 Availability of premium and international fashion.
 Work casuals in bold colours, innovative fabric and young fits.
 Strong management team

2. WEAKNESS:- The following are the weaknesses of the company:

 The global penetration is limited compared to other international companies.
 Presence of Indian and international brands offer more offerings to customer
therefore high brand switching.

3. OPPORTUNITY:- The following are the opportunities of the brand :-

 Digital initiatives and plans.
 Diversify its markets.
 Global penetration.

4. THREATS :-The following are the threats

 Higher competition.
 New technology.
 Similar patterns of lesser price given by the locals.
 RETAIL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Business Environment is the most important aspect of any business. The forces which constitute
the business environment are its supplies, competitors, media, government, customers, economic
conditions, investors and multiple other institutions working externally.

Retail Business Environment helps in identifying business opportunities, tapping useful

resources, assists in planning, and improves the overall performance, growth, and profitability of
the business. There are various types of Business Environment like MICRO Environment and
MACRO Environment.

MICRO ENVIRONMENT - The micro environment is the operating environment of the firm.
This is because the functioning of the micro environment has direct and immediate bearing on
the company than macro environment factors.

 Competitors
 Customers
 Suppliers
 Employees
 Shareholders
 Media

MACRO ENVIRONMENT - Macro Environment is the remote environment of the firm, i.e the
external environment in which it exists. As a rule this environment is not controllable by the
firm, it is huge and unpredictable to control.

 Political and legal environment

 Economic environment
 Socio-cultural and demographic environment
 Technological environment
 Ecology and Physical environment
 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT A RETAIL
STORE

The INTERNAL business environment comprises of factors within the company which impact
the success and approach of operations. Unlike the external environment, the company has
control over these factors. It is important to recognize potential opportunities and threats outside
company operations. However, managing the strengths of internal operations is a key to business
success.

 Financial resources like funding, investment opportunities, and sources of income.

 Psychical resources like company’s location, equipment, and facilities.

 Human resources like employees, targets, and volunteers.

 Access to natural resources, patents, copyrights and trademarks.

External Factors include:

• Social – Customers, competitors, householders and communities behaviour and their

beliefs. For instance, changes in attitude towards health, or a great number of pensioners
in a population.

• Economic- The economy affects a business in terms of taxation, government spending,

general demand, interest rates, exchange rates and global economic factors.

• Political- changes in government policy might affect the business. E.g a decision to
subsidise building a new house in a area could be good for a local brick worker.

• Technological- Technological factors are one of the most important external

environment factors. Technology holds a negative impact on brick-and-mortar stores
since technology is constantly changing. It is important for businesses to adapt to the
constantly changing technology to strive in the market.
Internal factors affecting Allen Solly, Punjagutta are:

Employees –

The store has 3 employees on a regular basis along with the store manager who handle the store
at all times. They are dedicated towards reaching their monthly targets on time and try to
increase their sales. The employees there have good bonds with their colleagues, which helps
them to remain focused and loyal.

Location –

The advantage to Allen Solly is that it is located just near the escalator and also near the entrance
from the metro station. So majority of the crowd walks-in in Allen Solly first rather than its
competitors.

External factors affecting Allen Solly, Punjagutta are:

Customers –

Customer flow is greatest during the weekend which increases the sales during that time. During
the weekdays, the customer flow is high from 4pm to 8pm.

Suppliers –

The goods are supplied to the store through a third party. There is proper coordination between
the store and the warehouse. But sometimes, dude to some public holidays or due to some
technical breakdown, the delivery of the goods gets delayed. This has happened a very few times
and the situation is always handled properly.

Competitors –

The store is located in a mall. There are many competitors of Allen Solly in the same mall itself
which sometimes give Allen Solly a tough competition.
 ETHICAL ENVIRONMENT

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with values relating to human conduct, with respect to
right or good and wrong or bad actions. In the retail industry, ethics relates to retailer’s moral
principles and values. Retailing plays a vital role in the economy. The retailing industry is the
first link in the distribution chain, from the customer’s point of view. It is therefore vital for
retailers to act in an ethical manner because they affect the lives of many people.

Retailing is an emerging sector in the Indian economy and ethics in retailing has posed certain
issues that require examination. The employees in the store encounter situations that could be
ethically troublesome. The needs and problems of the customers, colleagues and managers are
likely to be diverse and often incompatible. This leads to ethical dilemmas.

Some examples of ethical issues are:

 Indulging in theft
 Unfair workload on the employees
 Selling merchandise that is not of good quality
 Giving preferential treatment to certain customers
 Charging full price for a sale item without the customer’s knowledge
 Not offering information to the customer about an upcoming sale
 Pressure from a friend to give him/her from employee discount
 Not telling the customer the complete truth about the characteristics of the product
 Sell the product as if it were an exclusive when in fact it is available in other stores
 Pressure from fellow employees to not report employee theft
 Selling an expensive product when a lesser expensive product would have been better for
the customer
 EMPLOYEE THEFT

Employee theft is a term used when an employee steals merchandise, food, cash or supplies
while on the job. To commit theft, the employee must intend to permanently deprive their
employer of the value of the item stolen. In the eyes of the law, employee theft is just theft and
the elements of the crime are identical. Employee theft can occur just like shoplifting by
concealing merchandise in a purse, pocket or a bag and removing it from the store.

It can also occur by staling cash, allowing others to steal merchandise, eating food and by refund,
credit card or a cheque fraud. All of these methods lead to loss of inventory (shrinkage) and/or
profit for the Retailer. Employee theft is a dangerous crime because the retailer is paying a wage
and benefits to the thief on top of paying for the cost of their dishonesty. Studies show that
employees can do a lot more damage than shoplifters because they are trusted and have an
insider’s knowledge of the store’s security measures.
 CASE STUDY ON EMPLOYEE THEFT

Once, there was an employee who tried to steal from the store by not billing the item. A
customer approached the billing counter to purchase 2 t-shirts and this employee agreed to give
the customer discount if he did not ask for a bill. The customer agreed and the employee took the
cash from the customer and kept it with himself. Later on, at the end of the day, the manager was
tallying the day’s sales to the total count of products in the store. When the numbers did not tally,
he checked the CCTV footage and learned about this action. The particular employee was fired
the very next day.
 CUSTOMER THEFT

The crime of shoplifting is defined as a customer taking merchandise offered for sale without
paying. In the retail industry, the word “shrinkage” can be used to refer to merchandise lost by
shoplifting but the word also includes loss by other mean, such as waste, uninsured damage to
products, and theft by store employees, shoplifting range from amateurs acting on impulse, to
career criminals who habitually engage I shoplifting as a form of income. Career criminals may
use several individuals to shoplift, with some participants distracting store employees while
another participant steals items. Amateurs typically steal products for personal use, while career
criminals generally steal items to resell them in the underground economy. Other forms of
shoplifting include swapping price labels of different items, return fraud, or eating a grocery
store’s food without paying for it. Commonly shoplifted items are those with a high price in
proportion to their size, such as disposable razor blades, vitamins, alcoholic beverages, and
cigarettes.

The shrinkage percentage in Allen Solly, Punjagutta is very less, 0.02%.

 CASE STUDY ON CUSTOMER THEFT

One day in ALLEN SOLLY a gang of friends came together and picked 5-6 garments for trial.
One of the boys removed the price tag and the bar code from the t-shirt in the trial room and
wore it. He wore his own t-shirt on top of the new one and walked out of the trial room. When
they all were leaving, the manager observed that there was some difference in the way he looked.
He went into the trial room and found the broken price tag. The manager immediately stopped
them, and checked the boy and found out that he was stealing from them. The boy was handed
over to the police.
 MEASURES TO AVOID EMPLOYEE AND CUSTOMER THEFT

1) Keeping an eye on the Employees – There are only 3 employees in the store so it is
possible for the manager to monitor the movement of the employees.
2) Pre-employment screening – A proper background check of the person is done before
hiring him/her. The HR department checks why the applicant left his/her past position.
3) There is a separate place in the back-end where the employees keep their bags and
personal belonging.
4) There are CCTV cameras in the store. 2 near the cash counter, 2 near the entrance and 2
other cameras covering the entire front end of the store.
5) The customers are not allowed to take more than 3-4 garments in the trial room at once.
One of the employees checks if the barcode and price tag is intact, before letting the
customer go for trial.
6) There is a security guard at the entrance at all times to keep an eye on all those who enter
the store.
7) The customers are supposed to keep their baggage if any in a separate corner near the
entrance of the store. They are not allowed to carry the baggage inside.
8) The products are not positioned close to the store entrance.
9) Category wise counting of clothes is done at the end of every day and a global count is
done every week which is tallied to the number of products sold.
 OBSERVATIONS

We observed that the store did not have any censored security tags on the merchandise. We
would suggest the store to adopt the system of Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) system in
which the special tags places on the merchandise can only be deactivated using a POS scanner. If
not deactivated, a detection device at the store exit will trigger an alarm.