About Pantaloon Retail India Ltd.

About Market

The basic objective of any marketing activity is to generate, satisfy and retain consumers by facilitating production, distribution and consumption functions of the society. Consequently, any marketing activity is actually a process consisting of a series of iterative and inter-related steps to effectively perform the above-mentioned functions. Retailing is one such step in the marketing chain of activities that facilitates the distribution function. Initially, it was considered as just another step in the marketing chain and the function was accepted as obvious. As the competition increased globally, differentiation became more and more difficult. Consumer’s purchasing power increased as economy opened up into more market-oriented mode. Retail function being the most often used and final link with the ultimate consumer, marketers thought of using it for differentiation and positioning. So, retailing ceased to be considered as an outgrowth of traditional marketing activity; rather it was recognized as an important business proposition in its own accord, which ultimately helps marketing in performing its function and successfully satisfying the objectives. Therefore, retailing immerged as a discipline and considerable thinking and research went into it for the development and substantiation. In this course, we are not trying to repeat retailing as a marketing channel function. Rather visualizing the immerging role of retailing business in satisfaction of marketing objectives, we will try to address some crucial issues that the entrepreneur faces in the retailing business.

An overview on Retail Revolution in India

Retail in India is on a cusp of transformation. Organized retailing as a professional service-oriented set-up, is a recent phenomenon in India but is growing at a tremendous pace with a potential of creating over 2 million new (direct) jobs within the next six years, assuming an 8 to 10 per cent share of organized retailing in the total retail business.

The fast changing retail environment demands that professionals learn new skills, improve their efficiency, learn to compete and think out of the box. As retailers work directly with customers and there is need for good managerial talent to interpret and satisfy the needs and desires of customers. All this requires an education that is intensive, comprehensive and closely linked to the retail business world. The need is to have a program which has all the inherent features of a business management program and includes experiential learning throughout the program.

Market Trends, Challenges & Opportunities

Across BRIC countries, the food and grocery (F&G) segment is clearly driving retail growth. For eg, retail food sales dominate the total retail market in Brazil, accounting for almost 54 percent of the total retail sales, while Russia is the fastest growing retail food sales market in the world, with the potential to again double in size by 2008.

The prevalence of English as a language of communication to a very great extent facilitates material sourcing and business communication. While India and Russia pose no problems in this regard, Brazil and China present communication problems for foreign companies.

The importance of governments that are quick on decision-making and passing liberal trade laws cannot be emphasized enough. In China, for instance, being a non-democratic country makes it easier for foreign investors to do business sans bureaucratic red-tapism (in comparison to a democratic country like India), the obvious reason being that the political establishment is not directly accountable to the people.

Growing urbanization and metropolitan saturation is leading to the expansion of retail formats and investment opportunities towards tier-II cities and rural hubs across all four countries.

Continued economic reforms together with the growth of organised retail (especially in the F&G segment) has led to growing rural incomes, triggering off far-reaching, social impacts. The upcoming ‘Golden Quadrilateral' plan for roadways in India, which is to connect the four cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, will have massive economic and social repercussions on rural and semi-rural clusters along the vast network. In China too, the government plans to create a rural retail network covering 70 percent of all villages by 2008.

Retail and India

India's imminent urbanization process has implications for demand for housing, urban infrastructure, location of retail, and demand for consumer durables.

The on-stream infrastructure development will drive growth in the transportation sector, spur demand for vehicles, increase real estate values along the “Golden Quadrilateral” corridor, and potentially boost construction of suburban homes as people escape congested cities. Plus, it will open up thousands of villages en route to a global audience and effectively integrate them with the growing Indian economy.

• Growth of the Retail market, to a great extent, is the dependent on the size of the country's consuming class and the rate of growth of GDP, especially disposable incomes.

• India is the world's second most populous country and its GDP growth is likely to surpass that of China by 2015.

• It is estimated that India's GDP will surpass that of the US before 2050, to make it the world's second largest economy.

• Reflecting on the robust growth in India's GDP, consumer expenditure (in current prices) grew at a relatively high pace of nearly 10 percent per annum over the past two years.

• India's advantage lies in the fact that it has the largest young population in the world – over 890 million Indians are below 45 years of age. The median age for India is 25 years as compared to 28 years for Brazil, 33 years for China and 38 years for Russia.

• There are more English speaking people in India than on the European continent.

• The retailing industry in India, estimated at USD 270 Billion in 2006, is expected to double to USD 440 Billion by 2010.

• The size of the organized retailing market in 2006 stood at USD 12.4 Billion in 2006, thereby making up a mere 4.7 percent of the total retailing market.

• Of the total retail market, food and grocery retail is by far the single largest block estimated to be worth a whopping Rs.642, 200 crore, but more than 99 percent of this market is dominated by the neighborhood mom & pop stores.

• Clothing, textiles and fashion accessories constitute the second largest block.

• For the year 2007, the India Apparel Report 2007 expects growth of organized retail to touch 40 percent. From 2008 onwards (until at least 2010), organized retail is expected to register around 45 percent YoY growth in India.

• Total retail in India, which registered 5.7 percent YoY growth from 2004-2006, to range between that and 6 percent YoY growth over the next 3-4 years.

• With these growth percentages and following from our estimates for 2006, the future estimates* for organized retail in India: 2007– Rs.77, 000 crore; 2008 – Rs.111, 500 crore; 2009 – Rs.162,000 crore; and 2010 – Rs.235,000 crore. (*Estimates based on 2006 prices).

• In terms of formats, the energy in terms of new investments is expected to be driven towards the supermarkets and hypermarket segments.

• All new players – Reliance Industries, Bharti Retail/ Wal-Mart, AV Birla Group – have shown interest towards developing these two formats, along with wholesale, cash & carry outlets, while India's largest retailer – Pantaloon Retail India Ltd. – has a continuous store rollout schedule for its Big Bazaar hypermarkets and Food Bazaar supermarkets.

Why pantaloon

Pantaloon is not just an organization – it is an institution, a center of learning & development. We believe that knowledge is the only weapon at our disposal and our quest for it is focused, systematic and unwavering.

At Pantaloon, we take pride in challenging conventions and thinking out of the box, in traveling on the road less traveled. Our corporate doctrine ‘Rewrite Rules, Retain Values’ is derived from this spirit.

Over the years, the company has accelerated growth through its ability to lead change. A number of its pioneering concepts have now emerged as industry standards. For instance, the company integrated backwards into garment manufacturing even as it expanded its retail presence at the front end, well before any other Indian retail company attempted this. It was the first to introduce the concept of the retail departmental store for the entire family through Pantaloons in 1997. The company was the first to launch a hypermarket in India with Big Bazaar, a large discount store that it commissioned in Kolkata in October 2001.

And the company introduced the country to the Food Bazaar, a unique 'bazaar' within a hypermarket, which was launched in July 2002 in Mumbai. Embracing our leadership value, the company launched all in July 2005 in Mumbai, making us the first retailer in India to open a fashion store for plus size men and women.

Today we are the fastest growing retail company in India. The number of stores are going to increase many folds year on year along with the new formats coming up.

The way we work is distinctly "Pantaloon". Our courage to dream and to turn our dreams into reality – that change people’s lives, is our biggest advantage. Pantaloon is an invitation to join a place where there are no boundaries to what you can achieve. It means never having to stop asking questions; it means never having to stop raising the bar. It is an opportunity to take risks, and it is this passion that makes our dreams a reality.

Come enter a world where we promise you good days and bad days, but never a dull moment!

Company profile

Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is India's leading retail company with presence across multiple lines of businesses. The company owns and manages multiple retail formats that cater to a wide cross-section of the Indian society and is able to capture almost the entire consumption basket of the Indian consumer. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates through 5 million square feet of retail space, has over 331 stores across 40 cities in India and employs over 17,000 people. The company registered a turnover of Rs 2,019 crore for FY 2005-06.

Pantaloon Retail forayed into modern retail in 1997 with the launching of fashion retail chain, Pantaloons in Kolkata. In 2001, it launched Big Bazaar, a hypermarket chain that combines the look and feel of Indian bazaars, with aspects of modern retail, like choice, convenience and hygiene. This was followed by Food Bazaar, food and grocery chain and launch Central, a first of its kind seamless mall located in the heart of major Indian cities. Some of it's other formats include, Collection i (home improvement products), E-Zone (consumer electronics), Depot (books, music, gifts and stationary), all (fashion apparel for plus-size individuals), Shoe Factory (footwear) and Blue Sky (fashion accessories). It has recently launched its retailing venture,futurebazaar.com.

The group's subsidiary companies include, Home Solutions Retail India Ltd, Pantaloon Industries Ltd, Galaxy Entertainment and Indus League Clothing. The group also has joint venture companies with a number of partners including French retailer Etam group, Lee Cooper, Manipal Healthcare, Talwalkar's, Gini & Jony and Liberty Shoes. Planet Retail, a group company owns the franchisee of international brands like Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, Next and Guess in India.

Future Group

Pantaloon Retail is the flagship enterprise of the Future Group, which is positioned to cater to the entire Indian consumption space. The Future Group operates through six verticals: Future Retail (encompassing all retail businesses), Future Capital (financial products and services), Future Brands (management of all brands owned or managed by group companies), Future Space (management of retail real estate), Future Logistics (management of supply chain and distribution) and Future Media (development and management of retail media).

Future Capital Holdings, the group's financial arm, focuses on asset management and consumer finance. It manages two real estate investment funds (Horizon and Kshitij) and consumer-related private equity fund, Indivision. It also plans to get into insurance, consumer credit and other consumer-related financial products and services in the near future.

Future Group's vision is to, "Deliver Everything, Everywhere, Everytime to Every Indian Consumer in the most profitable manner." One of the core values at Future Group is, 'Indianess' and its corporate credo is - Rewrite rules, Retain values.

Future Group is positioned to cater to the entire Indian consumption space. It operates through six verticals: Future Retail (encompassing all lines of retail business), Future Capital (financial products and services), Future Brands (all brands owned or managed by group companies), Future Space (management of retail real estate), Future Logistics (management of supply chain and distribution) and Future Media.

The group's flagship enterprise, Pantaloon Retail, is India's leading retail company with presence in food, fashion and footwear, home solutions and consumer electronics, books and music, health, wellness and beauty, general merchandise, communication products, E-tailing and leisure and entertainment.

Future Group's vision is to, “deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time to Every Indian Consumer in the most profitable manner.” One of the core values at Future Group is, ‘Indian ness' and its corporate credo is – Rewrite Rules, Retain Values.

Future Group Manifesto

“Future” – the word which signifies optimism, growth, achievement, strength, beauty, rewards and perfection. Future encourages us to explore areas yet unexplored, write rules yet unwritten; create new opportunities and new successes. To strive for a glorious future brings to us our strength, our ability to learn, unlearn and re-learn, our ability to evolve.

Future Group, will not wait for the Future to unfold itself but create future scenarios in the consumer space and facilitate consumption because consumption is development. Thereby, we will effect socio-economic development for our customers, employees, shareholders, associates and partners.

Our customers will not just get what they need, but also get them where, how and when they need.

We will not just post satisfactory results, we will write success stories.

We will not just operate efficiently in the Indian economy, we will evolve it.

We will not just spot trends, we will set trends by marrying our understanding of the Indian consumer to their needs of tomorrow.

It is this understanding that has helped us succeed. And it is this that will help us succeed in the Future. We shall keep relearning. And in this process, do just one thing.

Business Description

Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd. The Company's principal activity is to operate chain retails stores in names of Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Central and Pantaloons. The Big Bazaar is the discount store, which offers a wide range of products under one roof. The products include apparels and non-apparels such as utensils, sports goods and footwear. The Company also has its presence into gold retailing by launching Gold Bazaar. The Company's Food Bazaar provides a range of food and grocery products ranging from fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, FMCG products and ready-to-cook products. The Central offers a chain of stores including books and music stores, global brands in fashion, sports and lifestyle accessories, grocery store and restaurants. The Pantaloon retail stores focus largely apparels and accessories.

Group Vision

Future Group shall deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time for Every Indian Consumer in the most profitable manner.

Group mission

v We share the vision and belief that our customers and stakeholders shall be served only by creating and executing future scenarios in the consumption space leading to economic development.

v We will be the trendsetters in evolving delivery formats, creating retail realty, making consumption affordable for all customer segments – for classes and for masses.

v We shall infuse Indian brands with confidence and renewed ambition.

v We shall be efficient, cost- conscious and committed to quality in whatever we do.

v We shall ensure that our positive attitude, sincerity, humility and united determination shall be the driving force to make us successfull

Core Values

• Indianans: confidence in ourselves.
• Leadership: to be a leader, both in thought and business.
• Respect & Humility: to respect every individual and be humble in our conduct.
• Introspection: leading to purposeful thinking.
• Openness: to be open and receptive to new ideas, knowledge and information.
• Valuing and Nurturing Relationships: to build long term relationships.
• Simplicity & Positively: Simplicity and positively in our thought, business and action.