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\nSaumya Roy and Gouri Shah<\/i> \nMINT (Partner to the Wall Street Journal)<\/i>
\nWed, 23 Apr 2008, Mumbai<\/i><\/p> \nSaumya Roy and Gouri Shah<\/i>
\nMINT (Partner to the Wall Street Journal)
<\/i> \nWed, 23 Apr 2008, Mumbai<\/i><\/p>
Shopper’s Stop Ltd, the 24-store retail \nchain, got a new look at a glitzy function featuring actor Shah Rukh Khan, nightclub \nlighting and hundreds of saplings that will be planted as part of the stores’ \nRs20 crore (Rs. 200 million) rebranding exercise.<\/p>
The chain, which started \nin a defunct suburban Mumbai movie theatre in 1991, got itself a new black-and-white \nlogo, uniforms, print and television campaigns, carry bags and even an anthem \nand an in-store radio channel. It will also launch an Internet shopping platform \nalong with a Think Green campaign.<\/P>
"Our customers are getting younger, \nso the brand cannot get older," said Govind Shrikhande, chief executive of \nShopper’s Stop. "We wanted to get trendier without losing the experience \nof 17 years." <\/P>
The rebranding comes soon after Lifestyle, a department \nstore chain from the Dubai-based Landmark Group, announced a new campaign to highlight \nits shoes, kidswear and home accessories categories along with fashion. <\/P>
"In \nthe Indian market, the issue is of increased competition," says Devangshu \nDutta, chief executive of Third Eyesight, a retail consulting company.<\/B><\/P>
A \nslew of global apparel brands such as Guess, Esprit and French Connection have \nentered the market over the past two years, after foreign retailers were allowed \nto own majority stakes in their Indian operations. <\/B>These brands have brought \nstore design and experience in line with global standards along with fashion, \nencouraging Shopper’s Stop to change as well, Dutta said.<\/B> <\/P>
Just the \ncreation of a retail destination brand was an innovation in itself, says Anand \nHalve, co-founder of Chlorophyll Brand and Communications Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. \n"But as the category grows tangible, differentiators
such as store environment \nand experience have become hygiene factors, and that is when branding becomes \nimportant. It adds intangible value to tangible things."<\/P>
For instance, \nShopper’s Stop found that while younger shoppers came and bought the new brands \nthe store has been introducing, they did not associate with the store itself, \nsays B.S. Nagesh, managing director of Shopper’s
Stop.<\/P>
To woo younger \ncustomers, Shopper’s Stop will tie up with Blue Frog Media Pvt. Ltd, a Mumbai-based \ncompany that runs a live music club, and will have its own record label for an \nin-store radio station. <\/P>
Shopper’s Stop, which currently occupies 1.5 million \nsq. ft in total, will add 89 stores or 1 million sq. ft every year for the next \nthree years. It will increase the average size of its stores to around 85,000 \nsq. ft from
the current 65,000 sq. ft, Shrikhande said.<\/P>
With organised \nretail expected to grow at around 42% till 2011, according to a report by Mumbai-based \nbrokerage Edelweiss Securities Ltd, department stores will start to focus on subcategories \nwithin their stores. <\/P>
"You will see subbrands being promoted in a big \nway to create an appeal among special segments in different categories," \nsays Chlorophyll’s Halve.<\/P>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saumya Roy and Gouri Shah MINT (Partner to the Wall Street Journal) Wed, 23 Apr 2008, Mumbai Shopper’s Stop Ltd, the 24-store retail chain, got a new look at a glitzy function featuring actor Shah Rukh Khan, nightclub lighting and hundreds of saplings that will be planted as part of the stores’ Rs20 crore (Rs. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-quotes"],"yoast_head":"\n