Here are the key points regarding customer behavior towards Pantaloons during the pandemic: - Increased online shopping and reduced footfalls in stores due to safety concerns. Pantaloons saw a significant growth in its e-commerce business as customers shifted online. - Preference for trusted brands. Customers were likely to opt for well-known brands like Pantaloons that they feel can ensure a safe shopping experience both online and offline. This enhances Pantaloons' brand equity. - Focus shifted to essential and casual clothing. Demand increased for comfortable clothing, loungewear, activewear that can be worn at home. Formal and occasion wear sales declined as social gatherings reduced. -

2. INTRODUCTION
Pantaloons Fashion & Retail Limited is an Indian premium clothing retail chain.
Tagline: In love with life, in love with fashion
Founded in 1997 and headquarter is in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Pantaloons offers value for money with quality apparel in India
It has a network of 3000+ stores with a presence across approximately 25,000 multi-brand outlets with 6,500+ point of sales in
department stores across India.
HISTORY
The founder of pantaloons is Kishore Biyani.
Originally incorporated as men’s wear private limited on October ,1987 and afterwards changed to
Pantaloons fashion limited on july 1997.
Pantaloons was initially a part of future groups.
On May 2012, Future Group announced 50.1% stake sale of its fashion chain Pantaloons to Aditya
Birla Group in order to reduce its debt of around ₹80 billion (US$1.2 billion)

3. STRATEGIES OF STORE OPERATIONS
Minimize operating expenses
Keep furniture cost to minimum
Cut down expenses related to sourcing by almost 25-30%.
Creating mother- hubs across India
Slashing channel cost by up to 25%.
Economizing Shelf Space
“Today's price”
Pantaloons Fresh Fashion
Pantaloons Fresh Fashion stores in smaller towns
Wide variety of categories like casual wear, ethnic wear, formalwear, party wear and sportswear for Men, Women and Kids.
Pantaloons Fresh Fashion stands out as a fashion trendsetter, on the lines of how fashion is followed internationally

4. IT OPERATES THROUGH TWO
SEGMENTS:
MAJOR
COMPETITORS
MAJOR
COMPETITORS

5. MAJOR CATEGORIES HANDLED
Western wear
Ethnic wear
Formal wear
Active wear
Accessories
Foot wear
(for men,
women and kids)

6. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE
COMPANY OVER ITS PEERS RETAILERS
Apart from Pantaloons, big players in the retail market in the same segment are :
Shoppers Stop Limited
United Colours Of Benetton
Future retail
Allen Solly
Vishal Mega Mart
Immediate competitors of Pantaloons are Reliance Trends, Max, lifestyle and FBB
And the reasons behind the strengths of Pantaloons, which acts as a competitive advantage over it’s peers
retailers are:
Brand equity and early mover advantage
Experienced professional managed team constantly keeps on innovating designs, concepts and products
Vast range of lifestyle and value retail products and services

7. Strong distribution and logistics network and supply chain management
Advertising, branding and discounts have enabled the brand to capture the
youth
Below the line promotions: coupon, discounts, Merchandise available at
affordable prices, gift items with certain amount of purchase, money back offers,
exchange offers and offers on special occasions
Above the line promotions: advertisement in newspapers TV internet and
partnership with BihFkix and Big FM 92.7.
Other promotional methods: green cards debit cards for customers to avail
additional discounts, posters and display inside the store, loyalty points for
privilege customers.
Competitive pricing: Pantaloons is known in the market for its value pricing as it
provides it merchandise to a large target customer base at affordable prices.
Being financially strong help Pantaloons India deal with any kind of problem and
dip in profits and outperform their Rivals

8. Pantaloons Retail Format
Pantaloons
Retail
(India)
limited
Lifestyle Retailing
Pantaloons
Central
Fashion Station
aLL
MeLA
Value Retailing
Big bazaar
Food bazaar
Entertainment and
Atleisure

9. Pantaloons Lifestyle products under Private Labels and third party brands
Central - ‘Shop, Eat, Celebrate’ In the heart of the city Seamless mall providing the customer with a wide range of lifestyle
products across multiple national and international brands
BIG bazar: isse sasta or acha kahin nhi Provides more than2,00,000 items- food, grocery, utensils, kitchen
needs, home needs, bath needs, toys, stationery, electronic and white
goods
Food bazaar offers the Indian consumers convenience, cleanliness and hygiene
through pre-packed commodities while retaining Indian’s preference of
“See- Touch- Feel” created by displaying products in the open at
competitive prices.
Fashion Station: A thematic store, Fashion Station is an attempt to offer current fashion
products to the mass market.
All- a little larger The store has a wide collection to select from – Western wear,Indo-
western and Ethnic wear in both formal and casual categories.
Matching accessories like belts, ties, and handbags are also available.
To complement the collection,the store layout is designed keeping in
mind the requirements of its customers
Mela Provides a complete range of home furnishing Pan services like in-
house home designers

10. RETAIL MARKETING MIX OF THE
PANTALOONS
PRODUCT - Pantaloons offers best
quality products to its customers.
Varieties of Clothing products are
available for kids, women, and men
It has around 100 plus in-house
brands
It has about 4-5 product
categories.
It has also tie ups with other
private label and licensed brand
more in apparel and accessories.
ACCESSORIES
Hand Bags
Watches Footwear
Sunglasses
Perfumes
Jewellery
Luggage
Bags
Cosmetics
WOMEN'S WEAR
Casual
Formal
Ethnic
Sports
Plus size
Fashion
Lingerie
MEN'S WEAR
Casual
Formal
Ethnic
Sports
Plus size
Fashion
Innerwear
HOME DÉCOR
Curtains
Bed sheets
Pillow
Pillow
covers
KIDS WEAR
Casual
Ethnic
PRODUCT MIX

11. PRICE - Price is one of the most important things to be
considered while releasing new products in the market.
The target market of Pantaloons is usually middle and
high-class customers.
Pricing decisions consistent with firm's marketing
strategy and target market.
They propose to provide branded products at 10% less
than the MRP and 20% off on the local brands.
The types of pricing:
Seasonal pricing.
Product bundling pricing.
Promotional discounts.
Since pantaloons provides products to a potentially a
large no of customers at affordable prices, it falls in
the High Turnover-Low margin category.
PROMOTIONS
They promote in house brands with some space with
other brands.
The Pantaloons Payback Green card, which is a
unique loyalty programs, has been designed
exclusively for Pantaloons' customers to enhance
customer experience.
Presently offered to over 4 million members, the
programs entitle members to discounts in terms of
points and special privileges at all Pantaloons stores.
All types sales and discounts.
Online and offline promotions.

12. PLACE
Chain of stores mainly functioning in malls.
Stores located nearer to the competitors. Product availability mainly depends on the city of operations.
Pantaloons have Distribution collection centre (DCC) in four major Metros of the country.
It has about 100 stores all over India.
They have also introduced online shopping. Exclusive stores for women and kids.
In stores they keep 70% of their own brand and remaining 30% of other brands.

13. STORE LOCATION STRATEGY
Pantaloons’ follows the following criteria in selecting the
location for its department stores:
First, a city study is done to understand the city’s
propensity to spend, and to know whether it is mature
enough for the department store concept and the
pantaloons shopping experience.
Area choice is the second step. In area choice, Pantaloons
gives prime importance to the socio economic
background, especially the social structure of the area,
and shortlists a few areas in the given city. It then carries
out detailed markings on short listed areas.
It specifically checks out if the area matches the image
that Pantaloons desires of its stores.
Pantaloons then contacts a number of households in the
various strata of the society in the given area to know
their preferences on shopping & to assess whether they
are open to the idea of a contemporary department store
outlet in their city/ area, and how far are they prepared
to travel to shop in this outlet.
Selection of the actual premises is the next step. This is
done on the basis of catchment area analysis, footfalls
analysis, competitive analysis, adjoining business analysis,
infrastructure analysis and traffic analysis.
Pantaloons is particular about adjoining business analysis. It
studies the tenants and retailers adjoining the proposed
premises. The idea is that they should complement (and not
clash with) the Pantaloons store.
The analysis also helps to ensure that the price points of
the surrounding retailers’ match the price point of
pantaloons and that they also target the same segments of
customers.

14. Pantaloons (Private labels under the brand)

15. REVENUE & STRATERGY
Building Strong brands: - To maintain its leadership position, the company will
still continue to invest in building strong & vibrant brands that evolve consumer
needs & preferences. In current preference consumers are likely to opt for trusted
brands to ensure smooth & safe experience on both online & offline. In long run,
company will enjoy its worth and will have a high recall value and the trust of the
customer.
Building agile design & supply chain- They have done a radical shift from a 4-
season cycle to 12 season cycle where the company is managing its inventory
effectively and bringing flexibility in buying plans. Also making a requirement to
manufacture safe cloth masks in a short around time.
Reaching a wider customer base: - Here they are planning to reach to tier 3 & tier
4 cities by introducing budget brands like peter England and more, & also giving
focus more on omni channel strategy. As they are getting a 18% growth in their e-
commerce business so they are now planning to give importance on these aspects.
Digital Transformation: - As due to this pandemic every brand knows the
capability of e-commerce now. So, thereby there are planning to create a new
business model just for online platforms.
Giving more focus on Omni channel strategy and to penetrate into tier 3 & tier 4
cities. Added a “Customer-360 program”, where the data would be stored up for
all the customer transaction and interaction which would be used to analyze the
customer behavior and decision making through Artificial Intelligence.

16. MOM ( Sr. executive)
Q1. Customer Behavior towards the present scenario?
As in present scenario the footfalls are not great. We are not hitting our daily profit margins but nevertheless we are
known for our almost safety and global brands. The customers are now coming up with the new normal procedure are we
are inviting more and more of them by following all required procedures. So, we have come up different discounts/ offers
to attract customers to buy once again. As in December the sales are picking up quite a bit and we are hoping to get back
to the normal routine once again.
Q2. How do you cope up with the safety standards that are being issued in this pandemic?
As we are known for our safety and brands, we have come up with all digital payment methods but due to servers’ issues
and convenience we are also accepting cash mode. In our outlet we are only allowing 20 people at one time and as one
goes another will only be allowed to enter. At the entry gate we have people to check your temperature and also a
machine for automatic sanitization. We are also giving free mask to the people who doesn’t have one or mayn’t be
carrying at the moment. Also, when a shipment comes in, we sanitize it and we do regular employee checkup and
sanitization. We have also tied up with local floor cleaning companies to give us the best cleaning services in this time.
Q3. What are the plans you are looking to target the customers?
Right now, we are targeting new customers as the loyal customers are coming and buying on a frequent process but we
want to target new customers to enlarge our portfolio. By which we have collaborated with ethnic brands and some more
global brands like Ted Baker and more.
And about discounts, we have a plan where if you shop for 1250-2300, we are giving 500 Rs discount coupons for further
use.

17. Consumer Behaviour in Pantaloons:
Maximum people prefer shopping malls for buying apparels and some of them prefer going to retail stores
that include multiple brands under same roof rather than going to exclusive brand outlets.
Most of the customers buy apparels once in 3 months whereas some part of the population buy it once in
every month.
It has been observed that the sale of Pantaloons hikes when the discount is being offered on various apparel
brands.
Customers prefer payments through debit card or through online payment apps rather than paying through
cash because of the current Covid Scenario.
For customers, service provided to them at pantaloons means a lot and it plays a significant role in their
buying decision for apparels.
It has been observed that maximum number of respondents of apparel belongs to the age group of 25-30
years. Therefore, apparel retailers in line with manufacturers should focus on this segment in order to grow
their business in future.
Consumers’ consumption pattern depends on the season as well as on festivals. For e.g.: maximum apparel
sale is observed in winter and summer and not in autumn and spring. On major festivals like Diwali, Holi, etc.
the sales go above the roof.

18. Marketing Plans of Pantaloons:
Branding: Pantaloons focuses on determining its target audience and how they can stay unique in
apparel industry. They are customer centric and they always implement effective B2B strategies.
Increase Awareness: Pantaloons always posts valuable content on social media platforms, trade
journals and advertisements. They also believe in word of mouth and spreading awareness
through banners and hoardings.
Study and Teach: They are very active in learning new concepts and trends going on in the
market. They want to stay on the top of the thing that’s why they teach their employees through
webinar, seminar sessions and keep tracks of all things.
Share: If the brand is doing well in the market, so automatically the prices of shares go up and
that results in branding.
Customers first: For them customers always comes first. They have separate complaint column on
their website where they try to sort out most of the consumers grievances. They also do direct
communication with customers when the customer visits their outlet.
Trade Fairs: They participate in every trade fair or exhibition so that they can cater to mass
audience and learn from other brands too.

19. Use of Advanced Tech in Pantaloons:
Pantaloons Retail (India) is planning to invest Rs100 cr in information technology over the
next three years and has entered into a partnership with business software solutions
provider SAP for the purpose.
As per the roadmap, SAP will implement its My SAP business suite, SAP advanced
planning tool for merchandise planning and SAP apparel & footwear solutions which
would be implemented across the organisation.
Pantaloons is trying to come up with an automated wardrobe planning tool that, using
analytics, records its female customer's purchases and introduces them in a virtual
wardrobe. The platform also allows women to create looks from their wardrobe.
They are also working on developing a better mobile app from where people can shop
online and customize their product.
They are also trying creating a platform that allows brands and retailers to create to
serve 3D 360 shopping experiences on their websites, mobile apps and social channels
via 3D Commerce Cloud.

20. Contribution/ share of major private
labels:
Louis Phillipe
Van Heusen
Allen Solly
Peter England
• These 4 brands had continued to dominate in their respective segment and these brands had helped all over to open moreover 400 stores and
also increased their customer base to over 18 million satisfied customers by gaining their trust, providing superb quality and superb retail
experience.
• And after that these segments had also helped them during this pandemic: -
1. Inner wear, Athleisure & Active wear – These segments are grown up y 40 % and now they have widened its distribution to sell across
20,000 outlets.
2. Ethnic wear- Ethnic wear is the largest segment in the Indian apparel segments for which they have invested with Jaypore- an ethnic
apparel and lifestyle retailer, which would be positioned as an omni channel business to be positioned as high fashion ethnic & luxury wear.
3. Global Brands- Like Ralph and Lauren, Ted baker, American eagle to be positioned as a premium luxury brand which would give
Pantaloons its rising brand prominence & Product excellence.

21. Emerging imperatives for customer
outreach
Collaborate deeper with leading 3rd party E com
players
Roll out Omni channel functionalities
Buy online ship from store
Video/ digital catalogue based assisted shopping
Digital Commerce
Reshuffle product mix in line with current context-
casual-athleisure, WFM, fashion masks, Sustainable
apparel
Revisit fashion cycle- season less buying, mark down
strategies
Business Model Reset

22. IMMEDIATE FOCUS
Safety & Health
Safe Shopping
Sanitization, Rigorous
social distancing norms,
masks, contactless
shopping and payment.
Health & safety of all
employees across stores,
offices, warehouses &
Factories
Cost Reduction
Work with landlords on
aligning occupancy costs
with business reality
Optimization of
overheads
Curtail all discretionary
spends
Tighter material vendor
negotiations
Focus on cash
Maintain liquidity
Optimizing Working
capital
Improve inventory turns
Rationalize Capital
Expenditure

23. MERGERS & ACCQUISITION
In a bid to capitalise on its large market presence in the branded fashion space in India, Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. (“ABNL”)
announced consolidation of its branded apparels businesses under its listed subsidiary - Pantaloons Fashion & Retail
Limited (“PFRL”).
Under the consolidation, the apparel businesses of group holding company ABNL demerged its branded apparel retailing
division “Madura Fashion” and the Aditya Birla Nuvo group holding company MGLRCL demerged luxury branded apparel
retailing division “Madura Lifestyle” into listed firm Pantaloons Fashion & Retail Ltd (PFRL).
PFRL would be renamed as Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd (ABFR). This combined entity would be the product of the
merger of Madura Garments, Madura Lifestyle with Pantaloons Fashion and Retail.
The consolidation will unlock shareholder value and give investors an opportunity to invest in the fast- growing fashion
space through Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL).
Demerger is a business strategy in which a single business is broken into components, either to operate on their own, to be
sold or to be dissolved. A de-merger allows a large company, such as a conglomerate, to split off its various brands to invite or
prevent an acquisition, to raise capital by selling off components that are no longer part of the business's core product line,
or to create separate legal entities to handle different operations.
PFRL and ABFRL The complete consolidation process involves a series of mergers & demergers which are:
Demerger of Pantaloons from Future Retail. Merger of Pantaloons Fashion & Retail with Aditya Birla Nuvo.
Demerger of Madura Fashion (the branded apparel retail division) and Madura Lifestyle (the luxury branded apparel
retailing arm of ABNL).
Merger of Madura Fashions & Madura Lifestyle into Pantaloons Fashions to form Pantaloons Fashion & Retail.
ANNOUNCEMENT DATE FOR MERGER 3rd May 2015. The merger took three months to complete.

25. By- SIMRAN KAUSHIK