We offer customers only the best: Planet Fashion Grande COO

Offering your customer the best of everything is the maxim to succeeding in the retail biz, attests Shoaib Farooqi, the COO of Planet Fashion Grande.

While other retail outlets focus on housing all kinds of brands, Planet Fashion Grande has gone selective with the brands you have. Why?
If you see the world over, every fashion category like formal wear, casual wear and even Indian ethnic has one brand that dominates the market. Most customers have their favourite brands and stick to only buying them. So, while opening our store we decided to focus on brands that our customers want, instead of housing both known and unknown brands. The brands we have in-store are Calvin Klein, Esprit, Nautica, EDC, Ritu Kumar, AND, Satya Paul, AllenSolly, Levis, Louise Phillipe and Van Heusen.

These are all premium brands. Do you think people are as brand-aware as you hoping them to be?
We are catering to the premium segment of the market and as such, all the customers who come into our store are people who travel wide and know their brands.We tag a premium on the exclusivity of our offering. The advantage of housing these exclusive brands is that they are not mass-distributed and so, when people know that they can now shop for their favourite Calvin Klein in Bangalore, they will come by and shop.

Planet Fashion Grande is a premuim outlet. What are the value-additions you offer to your shoppers?
Apart from the exclusive offerings in terms of brands, we have taken care to ensure that the shopping experience at the store is good. We have a well-trained staff who have  been handpicked from across the country. The store also boasts of a highly-experienced stylist who will personally attend to customers to advise them on fabric, design, fits and style to match their body type, usage occasion and comfort preference.

With brands flooding in every day, are you wary of competition?
India is a market of more than a billion. So, I only see strength in this. I always say that retail in India has the benefits of 2Ps — population and prosperity. It’s only increasing every year. The Indian customer is both value-conscious and price-conscious. And while brands may come in, our strength is our innate understanding of the Indian customer.

In your international travels, what is the significant difference you see in shopping there and in India?
As an international tourist, I have noticed that one doesn’t have to travel around a city to shop. There’s always one street dedicated to shopping. Singapore, for instance, has Orchard Road where you can shop for everything and it takes only 15 minutes to get there from anywhere in the city. Unlike Bangalore, where you might have to travel two hours just to get to Brigade Road or Commercial Street!

As a retailer with years of experience, what are the key factors that will ensure success in the retail space?
Location is the most important criterion. Secondly, the Indian consumer goes for value. So while he is ready to spend big amounts, he also wants to know ‘what he’s going to get out of it’. As a retailer, you have to deliver exceptional value. You have to deliver the best merchandise, the best shopping experience, the best styles and the best service!