Contemporary Practices in Retail -

Project Work
In order to get first-hand exposure of Contemporary Practices
followed by brands, we students visited ‘WESTSIDE - A Unit
of Trent Limited’ store at Unity One Mall, Rohini-West.
This report aims to unlock and understand practices
undertaken by the brand, through the lens of the following
students:

1. Aashish Dhawan – FRM2101

2. Aman Singh – FRM2103
3. Jitender Kumar – FRM211
4. Muskaan Gupta – FRM2112
5. Palak Arora – FRM2113
6. Sai Prasad Jalan – FRM2114
7. Shefali Jain – FRM2116

The methodology we followed was a mix of primary and

secondary methods, wherein, we talked to the employees and
manager of the brands and explored the rest through their
website and social media channels.
 ‘WESTSIDE’ A Unit of Trent Limited

INTRODUCTION
Trent Limited is an Indian retail company, which is part of Tata Group
and based out of Mumbai. Started in 1998, Trent operates Westside,
a retail fashion chain, and Landmark, a bookstore chain with brick-
and-mortar stores in various locations of India.
In 1998 Tata sold off their 50% stake in the cosmetic products
company Lakmé to HUL for ₹200 crore (US$48.46 million), and
created Trent from the money it made through the sale. All
shareholders of Lakmé were given different shares in Trent. Simone
Tata, the chairperson of Lakmé, went on to head Trent. The reason
behind the sale was that Tata saw a greater growth potential in
retail, and believed that it would be much more difficult for an Indian
company to release new cosmetic products in a market that had
opened up to global companies.
In August 2005, Trent acquired a 76% controlling stake in Landmark,
a Chennai-based privately owned books and music retailer, and
completed 100% acquisition in April 2008.

Business -
o WESTSIDE: Our lead fashion brand with over 22 labels all
designed in-house, across women’s wear, menswear, kidswear,
footwear, lingerie, cosmetics, perfumes, accessori,es and home
furniture.
o ZUDIO: Aggressively popping all over India, we bring to the fore
irresistible fashion at unmatched prices. We create everything
in-house and love cool-spirited people who are trend sussed.
We enjoy forming tribes and creating amazing opportunities
along the way.
o LANDMARK: Inspiring the child in all of us, we are a playground
for books, toys, music, lifestyle accessories, technology,
sporting goods and more. We collaborate and source around
the world and trade our business with innovation.
o STAR BAZAAR: Trent ventured into the hypermarket business in
2004 with Star Bazaar. Keeping things forever fresh, our clean
and modern formats make daily grocery, food and shopping for
your household easy. We are a bunch of foodies and traders
who aspire to make everyday shopping a fun experience.

Practices for achieving cost and process driven efficiency –

Business analytics tools firm use-

 Posify - Posify is POS Software. Posify offers the following
functionalities –
Touch Screen (Billing), Returns Tracking, Retail Management,
Restaurant POS, Ordering Automation, Customer Account Profiles,
Barcode Scanning, Loyalty Program, Sales Tracking, eCommerce,
Discount Management, Inventory Management.
 SAP – it provides following features –
 a) Financial Management - Improve margins, reduce errors, and
drive more profitable decision-making with a complete set of
tools for streamlined financial operations.
b) Sales and Customer Management- Oversee the entire sales
process and customer lifecycle more efficiently – from initial
contact to final sale, after-sales service, and support.
c) Purchasing and Inventory Control- Optimize purchasing
practices and control costs by managing the complete order-to-
pay cycle including receipts, invoices, returns, and payments.
d) Business Intelligence- Create timely and accurate reports based
on company-wide data with analytics and reporting tools.
e) Analytics and Reporting- Empower employees to make smart,
confident decisions faster by capturing all critical information
and making it instantly available company-wide.

Digital and Contemporary Marketing Practices –

Supply Chain and Product Replenishment Cycles-
Trent has an extensive vendor and sub-vendor systems for sourcing
life style merchandise located throughout the country.
At present in Trent, Vendor Management System (VMS) and
Inventory Management System (IMS) takes care of the supply chain
of the company which is concerned with the sourcing and
distribution of the products. The company has nine outlets in major
cities. It has three sourcing centres at Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai
to manage the 300 odd vendors with a central warehouse in Pune.
The VMS is used by all the major vendors using companys extranet
facilities. The VMS provides important data on the status of the
products from fabric purchase to production and supply schedule. It
is an online information system to link the suppliers with the
company.
The inventory management software takes care of the companys
inventory planning. The company has created an intranet. One of the
functions is to deliver inventory information to the head-office in
Mumbai. In Mumbai, the merchandiser works on the sale trends
after getting the inventory status and has to take the crucial decision:
which product needs refilling and which one should go slow. After
getting the information from the outlets and the stock position in
Pune, merchandisers responsible for decide the future product line
for all the varieties.
Merchandising Practices used by Firm-
7 Ways to boost product visibility and sales
1. Make your visuals appealing to boost retail sales
Did you know that 83 % of the information our brains process comes
through our sense of sight? If your products look attractive, that can
be a driving force in catching the eye of your customers. Make your
displays multi-dimensional by mixing visual interest. Add color,
depth, and height where you can and have a focal point, in order to
have items to focus on and the overall display isn’t overwhelming.
Graphics and imagery can also add personality to your store’s
identity.
2. Ensure your display reflects your brand
Your visuals should strongly reflect your brand and product identity.
Color-blocking can be a useful tool to grab attention and reflect a
brand, as can using simple and bold shapes. According to a recent
study, over 75 percent of global consumers feel that brands should
contribute to issues they care about, so if your brand plays a role in a
cause or mission beyond everyday operations, allow this to shine
through.
"Over 75% of global consumers feel that brands should contribute to
issues they care about."
3. Think about your target customer’s experience
When it comes to driving sales and enhancing product visuals, think
about the products in relation to the target customer. Individuality is
at the heart of these experiences because customers will remember
their shopping experience for the way it made them feel. Study the
lifestyle and demographics around the target customer and their
possible emotional connection to the product. So for example, if your
core shoppers are young adults, engaging music, enticing fragrances
and familiar photography may make them feel welcome to create a
powerful and longer-lasting experience.
 4. Focus on signage clarity when making your products stand out
It has been proven many times that if shoppers cannot find what
they are looking for because they are presented with too many
options, they will give up rather than push on to make a decision.
With this in mind, always ensure that your products are clearly
organized, so shoppers can find them more quickly, improving their
shopping experience. When it comes to signage, clarity is essential.
All signs must be clear and succinct with just enough information to
inform your customers, without making them feel overwhelmed. If
you are promoting certain items, keep the promotional signage
visible, logical and clear-cut.
5. Use retail technology to improve product displays
The impact of digital technology and specialist software within the
retail space is growing at a phenomenal rate. One report states
that 63% of consumers said that digital signage catches their
attention. With this in mind, consider putting retail technology to
work in your advantage. There are a lot of solutions, such as ours at
Tokinomo, and tools that can increase product visibility and help you
get your product noticed.
6. Customer service is key
One consistent way to drive traffic into your store and to improve
product visibility is to provide excellent customer service. First
impressions count and customer interaction in-store needs to be
kept at a consistent, high standard. Store associates need to make
the customers their number one focus. Whilst their role will probably
involve other tasks, such as counting inventory, stocking and
manning the checkout, their interaction with customers should be
considered their top priority.
7. Product visibility fundamental: make the first few seconds
count
It is within the first few seconds of being in a shop when customers
are easily approachable and you can engage with them. Your team
will need to be equipped with communication skills, industry
knowledge, and deep product knowledge to engage the customer
properly. Some buyers might prefer to browse without being
interrupted but staff should be available to go the extra mile to offer
valuable advice and product demonstrations.
Every journey to improve your store and sales has its ups and downs.
You cannot tackle every problem at once, you need to prioritize.
Understanding your customer's needs and keeping in mind the
availability of your resources, you can start making changes that can
be translated into increased sales. 
Customer Retention Practices-
Extended Three Ps of Marketing-
1. PEOPLE
 All human actors who play a part in service delivery and thus
influence the buyer’s perceptions.
 Namely the firms personnel, the customer and other
customer in the service department.
 They are the one who provides cues to the customer
regarding the nature of the service
2. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
 The environment in which the service is assembled and
delivered combined with tangible commodities that facilities
performance or communication of service. Physical evidence
includes all tangible representations of service such as:
 Brochures
 Letterhead
 Business cards
 Report formats
 Physical facilities
3. PROCESS
 The actual procedures, mechanisms and flow of the activities
by which the service is delivered
 Service delivery,
 Operating system.