Mumbai: Retail Committee - Evolution and Trends in Retail Real Estate

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The Indo-French Chamber of Commerce & Industry successfully conducted its second Retail Committee Meeting for FY 2019-20 on Friday, 21st June 2019 in Mumbai. This was an insightful session with key takeaways on the “Evolution & Trends in Retail Real Estate”.

The seminar started with welcome remarks and introduction by Mr. Francois Arpels, Co-founder of Brands & Beyond and Chairman of the Retail Committee.

He thanked Mr. Ramesh Nair, CEO and Country Head, India of Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) for hosting and co-organizing the event, the speakers Mr. Shubhranshu Pani, MD – Retail India and Mr. Govind Shrikhande, Mentor & Advisor and ex-MD Shoppers Stop for sharing their expertise and most importantly  our members and guests for their participation.

This was followed by Mr. Shubhranshu Pani’s presentation on “Current Indian Retail Landscape”. While throwing light on the Indian economy and India’s standing globally, Mr. Pani took the participants through the journey of retail landscape in India and the evolution of the retail market.

He touched different categories within retail – apparel, cosmetics and food & beverage, their respective market size and as well as the growth and upsurge in India’s Organized Retail Market such as high street, hotel retail, transit retail and malls. He also presented the top 5 Indian groups who have a strong presence in India as well as the range of international brands in their respective portfolios.

Next was Mr. Govind Shrikhande, Mentor & Advisor and ex-MD of Shoppers Stop who presented on “India – Terre d’Opportunité”.  He described how consumer behaviour in India depends on several factors such as food, Bollywood, influence of cricket, religion, and internet and smartphone usage in India.

He presented the disruption caused by digitalization in the retail segment by giving the participants an insight into Life before Mobile vs Life after Mobile. He shared his views in the upcoming trends in retail globally using the power of technology, FDI policies in India and its evolution which are more conducive to the business environment for international brands targeting India as a prospective market. He ended his presentation with the top reasons why certain brands have exited the Indian market and as well as shared the winning mantras to be successful in India.

The third topic was “The Transforming Mall Landscape” which was presented by Mr. Francois Arpels. He highlighted the main trends such as changing demographics, increased urbanization, E-commerce revolution etc…which are the driving force behind this transformation.

He also emphasized how successful malls are now focusing on experience and convenience over the traditional shopping concept and how technology has integrated with the mall concept and new formats are welcomed in real estate segment of retail by giving examples of various malls worldwide and their unique concepts.

He also spoke about how traditional railway stations, airports and shopping centres have completely changed their outlook to integrate the new commercial real estate opportunities in the market. He presented a case study on the famous SKP mall in Beijing which transformed itself to create a luxury lifestyle brand through strict category strategy and zoning and by completely revamping their marketing and communication tools to guarantee the ROI.

Mr Arpels concluded the seminar by thanking the members and guests for their presence and the JLL team for their warm hospitality as well as providing us this opportunity to showcase their expertise amongst the participants. He also announced that the next Retail committee will be jointly organized with our partners from the Logistics Committee in October in Delhi. 

The seminar was followed by a networking cocktail graciously organised by JLL.