VP Harris gives a welcome address at the CRS 2014 conference. He notes that while retail faces challenges like economic slowdown and changing market dynamics, leadership and truly understanding customer needs will be more critical than ever. CCTV footage could be better utilized to understand shopper habits beyond security. New store designs at Witco that condensed space successfully drove higher sales compared to larger competitors, showing the power of innovative concepts. Technology enables new models, but good ideas, concepts and understanding needs remain most important.

1. Welcome Address
VP Harris
Chairman, Southern Regional Council and
MD, Witco (India)

2. Welcome Address – CRS 2014
It’s time we shift focus inward and examine what we do and how
we could do it different?
Photo
VP Harris
Chairman, Southern
Regional Council and
MD, Witco (India)
Currently there is uneasiness in Retail
despite great hopes for a promising future.
Some feel the problems are due to the
Economic Slowdown.
To others, it’s the re-alignment of markets
between the huge, big, medium and small.
Yet others, feel it’s all due E-Commerce
Or a of all of the above.

3. Welcome Address – CRS 2014
How many of us use the CCTV footage for other than security? Is
that not a terrific tool to understand shopper habits?
Photo
VP Harris
Chairman, Southern
Regional Council and
MD, Witco (India)
The right leadership with focus is more
critical than ever before. Dynastic succession
is no guarantee of success, either in politics
or anywhere else.
Listening to the Customer and sensing
what even she does not know she needs
is key. Before omnichannel existed as a term,
retailers were taking orders on phone, via
messenger, gestures, domestic help or notes.
They accepted payment through check,
monthly accounts or even an oral IOU.
Deliveries were to office, home or hotel.
Assortments were even taken to the
customer’s doorstep. Simply put, understand
a need and fulfilling it.

4. Welcome Address – CRS 2014
 Technology is a great facilitator and enabler. Brands
like the Uber taxi service have invented a new delivery
model entirely based on it. However, we cannot forget
that the genius is in the "thought" the "idea" the
"concept"
 The New design of Witco stores is an example of this.
Just like the Opec Oil Crisis forced the US Auto Sector
to invent fuel economic cars, exorbitant mall rentals
forced us to look for an effective design to compress
6000 sft stores to 600 sft!
 This was even more challenging in a market like
Chennai, where a lady is used to examining 100 Sarees
just to confirm her choice! The new design does not
allow "scanning" the entire range of Hand bags and also
acts as speed breaker! A multi-brand selection
is displayed price band wise.
 It helped us outsell the other three stores in the
same category at the mall, which are larger to our
store by 30 to 100% in size! The stand-alone store
where we adopted this design saw growth while other
stores were de-growing due to the slowdown.
Photo
VP Harris
Chairman, Southern
Regional Council and
MD, Witco (India)

5. Welcome Address
VP Harris
Chairman, Southern Regional Council and
MD, Witco (India)