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National level retail conference gets underway at the SRM University
(December 22, 2009, www.timeschennai.com)
Chennai: A three day national level retail conference got underway today at the SRM School of
Management at SRM University campus in suburban Kattankulathur. The conference titled 'Retail Excellence
- ICRE'09,' is deliberating on the core issues and exploring the possibility of the future of the retail trade.
Addressing the delegates, SRM University Chancellor and SRM Group of Institutions Founder T. R.
Pachamuthu said big players while entering the retail space should take the small players along with them to
ensure their sustenance.
Profit making alone should not be the goal of the retail players, he said and called for inclusive growth to
meet the challenges.
Exhorting students to become entrepreneurs by utilising the job opportunities in the retail industry, Mr.
Pachamuthu said India need good Administrators to lead the country in a right way and wanted the students
to show interest in politics.
"This trend is increasing now as students of IIMs and IITs are contesting polls", he added.
Speaking at the conference, Pantaloon Retail India Limited, Head, Corporate Communications Atul Takle
said the Retail trade market in India was poised for recalibrated growth as those in the business were well
aware of the needs of the customers. The Modern Retail space in India need not be apprehensive to be
bearish with the Industry set to grow to USD 450 billion in 2015 from the present USD 350 billion.
"There was no reason to be bearish. The Industry should be optimistic as the opportunities are huge. The
consumer space in the Modern Retail Industry is going to grow by 15 per cent, which means that there are
huge opportunities still waiting", he added.
There were different categories within the retail industry space like food sector, beverages, consumer
durables, fashion, lifestyle among others.
"There are lot of opportunities for the organised retail players in India. The propensity of the middle class to
spend puts the organised retail industry in a bullish mode as people realise about the lot of value that modern
retail offers", Mr. Atul Takle said.
Compared to the 2008 scenario when the Industry was affected due to recession and global economic slow
down, he cited the example of the real estate industry and said the demand before 2008 was high as the
prices went over the roof.
"The prices are controlled by the real estate developers because of the high demand. Post-2008, things have
changed a lot. The demand is not that high and the developers are looking at different revenue models since
the capex costs are under control", he added.
Stating that the recession has given a significant learning experience, Mr. Atul said since India was diverse
country, local factors play a huge role in pricing of goods in the retail industry. He said lack of trained work
force was one of the challenges faced by the Industry.
Observing that presence of biggest names like Bharti, RPG, TATAs, Ambanis in Indian corporates, he still
believed that there was future in this business.
"We should be bullish as the modern retail industry has been keeping pace with changing aspirations and
lifestyle. If it continues to do so, it is here to stay", he added.
Noting that Chennai was the base for the retail industry, he said the Saravana stores was the precursor to
today's format stores in India, like Big Bazaar and Reliance Fresh, Mr. Atul said the Industry was still in an
infancy stage with several mountains to climb in future.
In his keynote address Mr. Radhakrishnan, Managing Director of Aligned Business Partners emphasized that
entrepreneurship is not only establishing a business but also an attitude. He added that people in decision
making at the big format stores corporate offices, must carefully make decision which definitely has an
impact on a lot of people in the retail trade.
Mr. Desigan, founder trustee of the Consumer Association of India, emphasized on the rights of the
consumer and the realities of the consumerism. He emphasized that the MRP is a must so that the retailers
don't jump over in pricing to end up with fat margins. He also lamented at the poor margins for the producer
and wanted that corporate retail houses should really make it a habit to increase margins for the producer
and for the right quality.
Prof. Victor Louis Anthuvan of LIBA spoke on the occasion. Dr. Jayshree Suresh, Dean of the SRM School of
Management proposed the vote of thanks.
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