Study of Visual Merchandising of FLF- CENTRAL, VASHI (A brand of future group)

Graduation Research Project Study of Visual Merchandising of FLF- CENTRAL, VASHI (A brand of future group) Submitted by Esha Singh IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE POST GRADUATE DEGREE "MASTER OF FASHION MANAGEMENT (MFM)" Submitted to Department of Fashion Management Studies (FMS) National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Plot no. 15, Sector 4, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra 410210 Ph. 022 2774 7100 Fax: 022 27745386 Web: www.nift.ac.in May, 2017 1

Graduation Research Project Study of visual merchandising of FLF-CENTRAL (future group) Submitted by Esha Singh Under the Supervision of Dr. Sushil Raturi Associate Professor IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE POST GRADUATE DEGREE "MASTER OF FASHION MANAGEMENT (MFM)" Submitted to Department of Fashion Management Studies (FMS) National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Plot no. 15, Sector 4, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra 410210 Ph. 022 2774 7100Fax: 022 27745386 Web: www.nift.ac.in 2

CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Ms. Esha Singh of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Mumbai has successfully completed his/her GRP work titled Impact of visual merchandising on the business Study of visual merchandising of FLF-CENTRAL (future group), in partial fulfillment of requirement for the completion of 2 Years Post Graduate Programme "Master of Fashion Management (MFM)" as prescribed by the Department of Fashion Management Studies (FMS), National Institute of Fashion Technology. This 'Graduation Research Project' report is the record of authentic work carried out by her during the period from 12.01.2017 to 03.05.2017 under my mentorship. Signature Dr. SushilRaturi Associate Professor 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to express my sincere gratitude to all the people who provided me the opportunity to get exposed to a retail outlet like central and encouraging me to take training at this organization. Firstly I would like to thank future lifestyle fashions Ltd for providing me the chance to undertake this internship at Mumbai central, vashi and allowing me to understand the organization and letting me explore and work in the visual merchandising and store operations team, which I believe was challenging and a great learning opportunity for me who is aspiring to associate with fashion retail industry as a career. I would like to mention the heartfelt help provided by the entire team of Vashi Central. A special acknowledgement tomr. PrabhuramChandrasekaran, Store manager, my Industry mentor who guided, encouraged, adviced and supported me throughout the internship period. I would also like to extend my thanks to the major store operators, Mr. BruceleeMoni - Visual Merchandiser, Mr. Dev Saini and Mr. JayendraKadam- Mens section category manager for providing me the opportunity to embark on this project. I am deeply thankful to my faculty mentor Dr. SushilRaturi for his suggestions, support and feedback throughout the internship period of sixteen weeks. ESHA SINGH 4

DECLARATION I Ms. Esha Singh, hereby declare that the Graduation Research Project (GRP) entitled Impact of visual merchandising on the business Study of visual merchandising of FLF- CENTRAL (future group) is the result of my own research work carried out by me during the period from 12.01.2017 to 03.05.2017 except as cited in the references. This report has not been submitted to any other University or Institution for award of any degree/diploma etc. Signature Esha Singh Date: 11.05.2017 5

NIFT: MUMBAI Proceedings of the MFM GRP External Jury Examination of Ms. Esha Singh held At 10 am on 18 th May 2017 in NIFT, Mumbai. The GRP Internal Jury Examination of Ms. Esha Singh on her MFM GRP report entitled Study of visual merchandising of FLF-CENTRAL (future group) was conducted in the Place of Viva voce examination at 10 am on 11 th May 2017. The following members of the External Jury were present: 1. <Name, Designation & Address> Faculty Member from Other Centre of NIFT 2. <Name, Designation & Address> Industry Expert 3. <Name, Designation & Address> Industry Expert/Expert from Other Institutions 4. <Name, Designation & Address> Faculty Mentor/Supervisor 6

RECOMMENDATION The Research scholar Ms. Esha Singh presented the salient features of her GRP work. This was followed by questions from the External Jury members. The questions raised by the Jury Examiners were also put to the scholar. The scholar answered the questions to the full satisfaction of the jury members. Based on the scholar s research work, her presentation and also the clarifications and answers by the scholar to the questions, the board recommends that Ms. Esha Singh, be awarded the Master Degree in "Master of Fashion Management (MFM)" 1. (Name of the Jury Member with Signature) 2. (Name of the Jury Member with Signature) 3. (Name of the Jury Member with Signature) 4. (Name of the Jury Member with Signature) 7

TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER NUMBER TITLE PAGE NUMBER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2 3 STUDY OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING OF THE STORE: 7 A. Tasks performed B. Business outcome C. Problems and suggestions 4 CONSUMER SURVEY: 32 To find out the consumer perception about visual merchandising of Shoppers stop-vashivs Centralvashi 5 OTHER ASSIGNMENTS: 41 A. Brands Study B. Men s formal core merchandise list C. Feedback and requirement of the in- house ladies brands 6 LEARNING OUTCOME 48 8

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Future Lifestyle Fashions being a part of Future group sets the trend for Indian lifestyle fashion business through integrating some of India's most popular lifestyle retail destinations like Central, Brand Factory and Planet Sports and over 20 domestic and global fashion brands. With a team of talented business professionals, fashion designers and entrepreneurs the company aims to provide a perfect blend of modern and traditional fashion to the Indian customer. This project is basically about studying and understanding the visual merchandising model of the store ie. Central and hence finding the business outcome of the ladies western section on which I worked and which theme and style trend worked best for the section in terms of sales. As a part of the project, Consumer survey was done to find out the customers perception about visual merchandising and which one between Central-vashi and Shoppers Stop-vashi they feel is better on few visual merchandising parameters. The daily tasks and challenges that the visual merchandising team has to face and tackle and how important is VM to any retail business as it the backbone of the company and is most commonly referred as silent seller, whose job is ultimately to boost sales, not by talking to the customers in person or writing an ad, but by making a store and its products look so appealing that they re irresistible to any customer. While studying the model and working on it, visual merchandising job is not easy but at the same time could be fun and creative at times. Its job is not only dealing with the aesthetic look of the store but also has to be analytical to be able to know the sales reports and trend analysis, even a smallest job of making a signage and making sure the offer is there on the brand is important. Through this internship I have worked on different tasks of visual merchandising and sometimes sales marketing. Different spring summer themes highlighting different merchandise categories, making clusters and window displays, occasional event assignments of valentine s day, women s day, gudi padwa, brands study, feedback analysis etc. In considering the importance of visual merchandising on retail businesses the single and most important reason is to engage and inspire shoppers, to encourage them to buy more of the products that the company wants them to, increasing their sales, margin and returns. 9

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Future Group is an Indian private conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. The company is known for having a significant prominence in Indian retail and fashion sectors, with popular supermarket chains like Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores like Brand Factory, Central etc. and also for having notable presence in integrated foods and FMCG manufacturing sectors. Future Retail (initially Pantaloons Retail India Ltd (PRIL)) and Future Lifestyle Fashions, two operating companies of Future Group, are among the top retail companies in India Future Lifestyle Fashions (FLF) brings together the four key components in the fashion industry a strong portfolio of owned and licensed brands, a well established retail presence, a pan-india reach for its brands through a strong distribution network and investments in fast growing fashion brands into a single entity. FLF is a unique player in the fashion industry that is primed to gain leadership in building both fashion brands and fashion retailing in India. As an integrated fashion company with presence across all key segments within the fashion industry, FLF benefits from operating mature businesses that have built its presence and strengths for well over a decade. They have a portfolio of fashion brands that cover the entire gamut of sub-categories including formal menswear, casual wear, active or sportswear, women s ethnic wear, women s denim wear, women s casual wear, footwear and accessories and are present across various price points. The Company has 41 domestic and foreign brands that were developed independently of the retail presence of the group. 10

The Company s flagship retail format, Central is a chain of department stores located in central areas of large Indian metropolises and cities. Central stores located in large cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Gurgaon, as well as smaller cities like Baroda, Indore, Vizag and Surat. These are large-format stores measuring anywhere between 60,000 square feet to 230,000 square feet and offering over 500 Domestic & International brands across every category including mens-wear, casual wear, ethnic-wear, women-wear, kids wear, footwear, accessories, home products, health and beauty. These stores, often located in standalone locations also have food-courts, restaurants, supermarkets and electronics superstores built within. The Company operates around 2.4 million square feet of retail space under this brand. VASHI- CENTRAL Store operators: Store Manager: Mr. PrabhuramChandrasekaran Department managers/ category managers: Men s formal & casual: Mr. JayendraKadam Youth: Mr. ShaibaazQurashi Indus & LOB: Mr. Gaurav Sharma LOB : Mr.MaheshDevalekar Ladies ethnic & western: Mr.Davinder Saini Kids & lingerie: Ms.Swati Prasad Luggage & footwear: Ms. KiranNichale Non apparels(bags, cosmetics, sunglasses, watches, perfumes): Mr.VijayPherwani Visual merchandiser: Mr. BluceleeMoni Assistant visual merchandiser : Mr. Gaffur Human resource head: Ms. Sunita Singh 11

Team leaders Marketing head Cashier head & team Customer service team Security head & team Inventory and admin head Housekeeping team Sales team IT team STORE DETAILS Store size : 72000 sq.feet. Store location : Raghuleela Mall, Swami Pranavanandji Marg, Opposite Vashi Station, Sector 30, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra 400703 Merchandise category : more than 300 brands in all categories of ladies western & ethnic, lingerie, mens formals & casual, kids wear, toys, accessories, handbags, sunglasses, watches, perfumes and cosmetics. 12

Working hours : for customers- All day open from 11am to 9.30pm. Working hours : for staff- 2 shifts 11am to 8pm & 12.30pm to 9.30pm Human resource : 355 ( including the Store manager) STORE LAYOUT: Central outlets are always so huge it can be called a mall in itself, vashi central is a 2 floor store where ladies western, ladies ethnic, accessories, ladies footwear, lingerie, kids and all the non apparel categories like perfumes, cosmetics, handbags are on the ground floor. There is a big window display area at the entrance on the left side, as soon as we enter The 1 st floor is for mens section which includes formals, casual, ethnic, belts, socks, undergarments, blazers. As it is such a big store the store layout is free form for apparels and for non apparel products like perfumes, watches, cosmetics racetrack layout is done just as soon as one enters the store. Cash counters on both the floors, both men & women washrooms on ground floor Backend office, inventory room, staff lockers & changing room on 2 nd floor. Visual merchandising and its history: Visual merchandising is the practice in the retail industry of developing floor plans and threedimensional displays in order to maximize sales. Both goods and services can be displayed to highlight their features and benefits. The purpose of such visual merchandising is to attract, engage, and motivate the customer towards making a purchase. HISTORY When the giant nineteenth century dry goods establishments like Marshall Field & Co. shifted their business from wholesale to retail, the visual display of goods became necessary to attract 13

the general consumers. The store windows were often used to attractively display the store's merchandise. Over time, the design aesthetic used in window displays moved indoors and became part of the overall interior store design, eventually reducing the use of display windows in many suburban malls. In the twentieth century, well-known artists such as Salvador Dalíand Andy Warhol created window displays. Nowadays, visual merchandising became one of the major tool of business promotion which is widely used to attract customers and increase sales. CONTRIBUTION TO RETAIL BRAND STRATEGY In order for retailers to gain an important competitive advantage in the marketplace, visual merchandising is an important factor and an effective way of adding value to their brand. Visual merchandising communicates with customers through elements that stimulate their senses such as lighting, music, aromas, and television screens. The environment in which a consumer is in can influence the purchasing decisions they make. Research shows that stores that do not communicate well with their customers, such as the retail store having a poor layout can cause customer problem, and may lead to customers being deterred from shopping again as overall shopping pleasure has been reduced. Visual merchandising builds upon or augments the retail design of a store. It is one of the final stages in setting out a store in a way customers find attractive and appealing. Many elements can be used by visual merchandisers in creating displays including color, lighting, space, product information, sensory inputs (such as smell, touch, and sound), as well as technologies such as digital displays and interactive installations. Visual merchandising consists of mainly two techniques: interior and exterior displays, also known as in-store design and window displays. The goal of these two techniques is to attract the attention of consumers, entice them into the store, to keep them in the store as long as possible, and influence purchasing decisions. A recent study has found that these two techniques have the greatest effect on impulse buying. 14

CHAPTER 3: STUDY OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING OF THE STORE OBJECTIVES: 1. To study the existing visual merchandising model of Central. 2. To analyze the business outcome of the ladies western section on which I worked and hence finding which theme, display, collection and style trend worked best for the section in terms of sales 3. To identify problems in the existing VM 4. To provide suggestions and recommendation METHODOLOGY: Observation method of data collection and tasks undertaking. Secondary data: the internal sales/mh- reports of vashi central for sales analysis of brands and categories, VM dockets etc. Interaction with the sales staff regarding sales updates, global count, targets, while taking their assistance for changing VM etc, housekeeping team, team leaders for updating any requirement on the floor, department managers. A. TASKS ASSIGNED AND UNDERTAKEN: 3-4 th Feb last 3 days of Happiness sale ie end of season sale(flat 60%) following tasks undertaken standee at entry and cluster A4 signage at participating brand window glass sticker display 3,2& last day countdown on above collaterals for non participating brands use of existing happiness sale templates Spring summer VM plan: The spring summer theme 2017 was white is in highlighting white color in all brands of ladies western section. 15

Window displayed in white theme with white merchandise, bags and contrasting accessories and footwear. Backdrop, visual frame border made of bamboo, branding for new season fashion just in to be ordered from vendor, displayed after last 3 days of sale. Mannequin styling with corresponding merchandise on the browsers/railing New A4 signage (new season fashion just in summer2017) at new arrival. 16

Cluster of ladies western on the ground floor near the entrance with white theme. Valentines day VM plan at the entrance Excecution: Easel board and gift of love branding ordered from vendor 17

Heart made of paper flowers hand made to cut the cost of Rs3000 which the vendor would have charged for the heart. Lingerie cluster with valentine s day theme (red, pink colours) in the lingerie section. Product tag (perfect gift) to be displayed on the merchandise of the lingerie section. 18

Bag section display instructions from the head office: The walls to follow the horizontal colour blocking where every row has to follow the same colour throughout the section of all brands and has to rotate after a week. The walls to have the new collection/ fresh arrivals and the tables has to be in single or dual colours Excecution: 19

Change of ladies cluster continuing the white theme: New VM plan for the white theme: To make a cluster of mannequins dressed up in paper made dresses for the new season/collection. 20

Summer 2017 new theme of pastels highlighting off shoulder and cold shoulder tops, dresses in the ladies western section. Cluster of 5 mannequins using combination any one pastel colour and white with Mannequin styling with corresponding merchandise on the browsers/railing, accessories, footwear. Window display VM plan: 21

Window displayed in pastel theme with pastel and white merchandise, bags and contrasting accessories and footwear. Logo unit of sexy shoulders in white on the glass, window branding and cluster panels for all the clusters. Neon Lingerie display theme is back! Highlighting the hero product- padded unwired & non wired bras, bikinis, boy shorts on the lingerie cluster. Hero colour- neon- pink, green, orange, yellow, fluorescents. Key brands- jockey &amante. 22

Womens day VM plan at the entrance: 8 installation made of paper flowers construction on sun board letter cut for womens day which was on 8 th march. The installation was setup for 4 days ie from 6 th march to 9 th march for saluting women shoppers and getting themselves clicked behind the installation 8. Excecution: 23

Summer 2017 new theme of pastels highlighting off shoulder and cold shoulder tops, dresses in the ladies western section. Cluster of 3 mannequins using combination any one pastel colour and white with Mannequin styling, accessories, footwear for window display highlighting HOLI theme colourful unit. 24

VM plan for holi: Window displayed in pastel theme with pastel and white merchandise, bags and contrasting accessories and footwear. Logo unit of celebrate holi with 1000 colors of fashion in holicolours on the glass. Making all the sections look colouful following the holi theme. Lingerie display theme Go neutral! Highlighting the hero product- padded unwired & non wired bras, bikinis, hipsters on the lingerie cluster. Hero colour-beige and monochrome. Key brands- jockey, lovable, enamor &amante. 25

Footwear section VM plan execution : Installation made of sunboard boxes constructed in the footwear section near the trial room and cash counter, showcasing latest footwear collection with a mannequinne Excecution: 26

Staff Activity : Photoshoot Staff activity session for staff motivation and grooming standards There was a wall section on the staircase passage towards office where the managers and the HR decided to have frames of photos covering the wall highlighting the merchandise and brand, & the models being the staff of the respective brand, this activity was just to motivate and enhance the staff along with highlighing the costume, bags, accessories etc, this was similar to catalogues but here instead of magazine the photos frames would be used on the walls. 4 males, 4 females staff out of which 4 were in indian and other 4 in western, dressing, makeup, hairstyle, accesorries, pose for the shoot etc was VM team job. Cluster change : new theme indigo blush New theme indigo blush for ladies western section hightighting off shoulder and cold shoulder tops and dresses. indigo blush shades of all indigo blue colors throughout the section. 27

Window display- with the same new theme of indigo blush for ladies section hightighting off shoulder and cold shoulder tops and dresses: 28

LINGERIE SECTION : fixtures layout change to make it spacious and have a bigger aisle for the customers. Summer 2017 new theme of indigo blush but this week highlighting crop tops in the ladies western section. Cluster of 4 mannequins using indigo theme with Mannequin styling, accessories, footwear for ladies cluster highlighting crop tops. 29

Highlighting lakme rich color collection in the cosmetic section near the entrance with its signage standee provided by the company. Lingerie display theme Magic wire dual tone! Highlighting the hero product- padded unwired & non wired bras, bikinis, hipsters on the lingerie cluster. Hero colour- off white, sky blue, cobalt blue. Key brands- Triumph enamor &amante. Comparative analysis for jealous 21 free jeans day held at inorbit and central on 25 th and 26 th March. Jealous 21 was running a contest under which the customers can get free jeans if they take a selfie wearing jealous 21 garments and post It on jealous 21 s social media page. To enter in to the contest the entrant had to register herself through jealous 21 website or social media and get an exclusive invite. She needs to visit designated jealous 21 store, pick a garment, try it out, take a selfie, post it either on instagram or on facebook, tag jealous 21 & use #free jeans day and take a jeans free. 30

Promoting the offer and sending the comparative analysis to the head office. Free jeans day at inorbit details: Total footfall on saturday and Sunday: 1128 Free denim issued:700 Sale on Saturday: Rs 1800/- Sale on Sunday: Rs 5000/- Free jeans day at central details: Total footfall on saturday and Sunday: 890 Free denim issued: 560 Sale on Saturday: Rs 1200/- Sale on Sunday: Rs 3500/- Jealous 21 at inorbit being an EBO got better sales than jealous 21 at central which has a smaller area, stock and visibility. Cluster change : continuing new theme indigo blush for ladies section hightighting CROP tops. 31

Kids cluster: BARE denim cluster promoting its real deal offer of but 2 get 20%off, buy 3 get 30% off and buy 4 get 40%off: Summer 2017 new theme of bright colours highlighting crop tops in the ladies western section. 32

Cluster of 4 mannequins using red and white theme with Mannequin styling, accessories, footwear for ladies cluster highlighting floral crop tops. Summer 2017 new theme of bright colours highlighting denim shorts in the ladies western section. Cluster of 4 mannequins using red and white theme with Mannequin styling, accessories, footwear for ladies cluster highlighting shorts and bell sleeves tops. 33

Window display: with the same theme as the ladies cluster highlighting denim shorts and bright colored bell sleeves tops. The beauty camp by Lakme: free makeover to all ladies to drive the sales 34

Setting up the beauty camp by the vendors which was sent by the Lakme company and promoting the campaign so as to involve as many as customers possible. Other vm tasks: Made ppt for all the men s ob(our brands) brand highlighting the key merchandise for the week and colour blocking. Highlighting off shoulder and cold shoulder tops and dresses throughout the western ladies section in other brands Made ppt for ladies section brand highlighting the key merchandise for the week and colour blocking. Highlighting off shoulder and cold shoulder tops and dresses throughout the western ladies section in other brands. Made ppt for lingerie section highlighting the new collection. Highlighting crop tops throughout the western ladies section in other brands. Made signage for various offers. The vm display of each brand were changed with the assistance of the sales team, and the vm display of each brands counter included a wall, wall fixtures (shelves, waterfall), 2-way, 3-way, 4-way browsers, nesting table, gondola etc, the merchandise was set with a particular colour story on the wall and mannequins. Colour blocking and correct assortment of merchandise at the fixtures, browsers and gondola. Cluster is a group of mannequins that are placed usually at the entrance or a visible area where customers can easily get a view of the collection from mixed brands and at the same time highlighting the latest trends with balanced colour story of merchandise, accessories, props, browsers etc. 35

B. ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS OUTCOME: Analysis of business outcome of the ladies western section on which I worked and hence finding which theme, display, collection and style trend worked best for the section in terms of sales: The analysis was purely on the basis of sales figures throughout the period of 6 weeks. The sales figures were taken from the weekly MH-reports. THEMES WHITE IS IN PASTELS + WHITE INDIGO BLUSH PERIOD DISPLAY OF 2 WEEKS 6 th Feb- 19 th Feb 2 WEEKS 27 th Feb 12 th March 2 WEEKS 20 th March- 2 nd April HIGHLIGHTS Spring summer 2017 latest collection in white color. Cold shoulder and off shoulder tops and dresses in pastels. 1 st week - cold and off shoulder tops and dresses. 2 nd week- crop tops In indigo blue shades. SALES 1 st week: 8.4 Lakhs ABP: 8.5 Lakhs 2 nd week: 8 Lakhs ABP: 9 Lakhs 1 st week: 8.4 Lakhs ABP: 7.5 Lakhs 2 nd week: 8.5 Lakhs ABP: 8 Lakhs 1 st week: 7.5 Lakhs ABP: 8 Lakhs 2 nd week: 7.3 Lakhs ABP: 8 Lakhs ABP annual business plan/target set for the week INFERENCE: Comparing all the 3 themes sales corresponding to its targets, pastels+ white theme has worked best for the ladies western section achieving 8.4L in the 1 st week and 8.5Lin 36

the 2 nd week, which was more than its week target/annual business plan, this particular theme was focusing on highlighting cold shoulder and off shoulder tops and dresses. Whereas the white is in theme in the 1 st week was almost very close to the target and in the 2 nd week was 1L away from the target 9L.The target set was high for the week because of Valentine s day. Indigo blush themes performance was not as good as the other two themes, as both the weeks the target couldn t be achieved probably the reason could be the summer, dark colours are not preferred much or may the indigo collection dint work well that well. 37

C. MAJOR PROBLEMS & SUGGESTIONS: Problems: Over stocking of merchandise on the floor which includes mainly the browsers, gondolas, wall fixtures like waterfall. The main reason behind this was lack inventory space in the store. Cut- pieces were displayed during non sale period. A single design merchandise usually comes with five sizes known small, medium, large, extra large, xxl, when only one or two piece of that merchandise is available in one or two sizes it is known as cut piece. Cleanliness problem: sometimes the housekeeping team used to clean the floor after the opening of customers entry. Shopping bags, bottles, unfolded merchandise on the floor. The vinyl branding of some brands were quiet old and needed replenishment In the visual merchandising office there was only one computer having the coral draw software which was a very big problem during sale time when there is frequent change of sale offers and due to lack of PC the whole process becomes slow as there are so many brands. The sales staff lacked of knowledge about colour blocking, size blocking, usage of colour combination on the wall. The art work for a single signage cost Rs8, and daily there was so much of wastage of these artwork due to misprint, grammatical errors, font sizing probably because of lack of knowledge. Air condition temperature was not adequate on the ground floor at times and at the entrance there was an unpleasant odour. Location of the mall- raghuleela being the 1 st mall of vashi is not in a very good condition. 38

Suggestions: Suggested to use more of window display and props for showcasing any season or theme or festival or a collection or a sale and also implied on the second floor mens window display. Suggested to rectify the problems related to air condition and odour at the entrance after which got to know the reason that was because of the AC pipeline was somewhere near the sewage area and measures were already in process. Suggested about the replenishments needed for the branding and briefed the sales staff with the visual merchandiser head about colour blocking and how to use colours on the wall. Replaced signage which had grammatical errors. Suggested to make the valentine s heart with color papers on the sunboard instead of getting it done by the vendor worth Rs 3000 and implied it. And also less wastage of printing papers for signage. Implementing some required changes which was possible at that moment like welcoming person at the gate strictly offering the shopping bags, more cleanliness at kids section, some fixtures and pillars, lesser wastage of signage printing papers and discussed the major factors with the store manager Conclusions: Visual merchandising plays a crucial role and is a backbone for running a retail business without which probably a store will not look appealing, systematic, organized and convenient for shopping for customers. Signage plays an important role during a sale period. Vashi Central needs staff training as they lack basic knowledge about vm (colour blocking, colour story/theme), staff presence needs to be improved and the housekeeping team needs to be on time. Shoppers stop and central both are premium stores where shoppers stop is highly maintained in terms of visual merchandising, focuses on its in-house brands and on the other hand no one can beat central in the variety of brands and collection. 39

CHAPTER 4: CONSUMER SURVEY OBJECTIVE: To find out the consumer perception about visual merchandising of Shoppers stop-vashi Vs Central-vashi RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Data collecting Method: The method of collecting data was by Survey method: Online: 75 Personal: 25 Total sample size: 100 ANALYSIS: Q1.Do you consider yourself a fashion oriented person? INTERPRETATION: 76% says yes 40

24% Says no INFERENCE: majority of people consider themselves as a fashion oriented person whereas there are 24% of the people who do not consider the same. Q2. What attracts you to a store? (Rate on a scale of 1-6, 1 being the highest and 6 being the lowest) INTERPRETATION: 1 rating: 40% - Retail brand 41

9% - Location of the store 7% - visual merchandising 4% - Promotion 13% - Discounts 10% - Range of merchandise. 2 rating: 18% - Retail brand 31% - Location of the store 17% - visual merchandising 22% - Promotion 17% - Discounts 13% - Range of merchandise 3 rating: 13% - Retail brand 11% - Location of the store 25% - visual merchandising 20% - Promotion 15% - Discounts 15% - Range of merchandise 4 rating: 10% - Retail brand 18% - Location of the store 20% - visual merchandising 42

23% - Promotion 18% - Discounts 22% - Range of merchandise 5 rating: 14% - Retail brand 10% - Location of the store 25% - visual merchandising 18% - Promotion 27% - Discounts 27% - Range of merchandise 6 rating: 5% - Retail brand 21% - Location of the store 6% - visual merchandising 12% - Promotion 10% - Discounts 13% - Range of merchandise INFERENCE: Majority of the votes for rating 1 was for retail brand followed by rating 2 for the location of the store, rating 3 for visual merchandising, rating 4 for promotion, rating 5 for both discounts and range of merchandise, rating 6 for location again. 43

Q3. For the following statements give your opinion. INTERPRETATION: My shopping is derived by VM of a store Strongly agree - 4% Agree - 42% Neutral - 29% Disagree - 22% Strongly disagree - 3% I get attracted to a store because of window display Strongly agree - 13% Agree - 63% Neutral - 13% Disagree - 11% 44

Strongly disagree - 0% For me window display is a tool for footfall generation Strongly agree - 17% Agree - 55% Neutral - 21% Disagree - 6% Strongly disagree - 1% My purchase decision depends upon the VM of a store Strongly agree - 7% Agree - 42% Neutral - 27% Disagree - 20% Strongly disagree - 4% INFERENCE: Majority of the people agree with the above statements supporting visual merchandising being important for store s attractiveness, footfall generation. Though 54% do not agree with the statement that their shopping is derived by VM of a store and does not effects 51% customer s purchase decisions 45

.Q4. Which of the store between Central-vashi and Shoppers Stop-vashi is better in the following parameters according to you. Conclusion: Shoppers Stop-vashi is better than Central-Vashi in the following parameters: Attractive window display by 65% Better Lighting by 58% Fragrance by 66% Music by 60% Interior displays (store layout, point of purchases displays, item display, assortment display, and signage) by 55% GENDER: 46

AGE GROUP: PERSONAL VISIT: Visited a nearby shoppers stop at inorbit to check the visual merchandising and compare it with the services provided by central. Checked the location of the mall, its food court, entrance, ambience, cleanliness, other brand stores etc. Shoppers stop being in inorbit definitely was better maintained as it is not as old as central in vashi, it had better window display displaying spring summer with floral props, cleanliness was probably looking better because of newer flooring walls & fixtures where as vashi Central does not not give that much importance to renovating or repairing minor things as in the end it is always in profit so they don t feel the necessity to utilise money if you are already in profit without having it and plus they are shifting to centre one mall in the net 2-3 months, the centre one mall is already under renovation from last 7 months. LED lights were used almost everywhere in Shoppers stop on the ceilings whereas in Central only the front entrance area & Customer service desk have the LED lights and as we go inside at the back there are yellow lights. 47

Ambience wise shoppers stop was overall good in terms of fragrance, music, AC temperature whereas in central there was at times problem with the AC temperature not being sufficient for the customers. Area wise central is big enough as compared to shoppers stop, central definitely has better collection of merchandise and brands as there are more than 300 brands under one roof whereas shoppers stop does not have that much variety of brands in both men and women category. A major reason for shoppers stop earning more than Central is that it showcases more of its in-house brands in the store. The biggest problem is the location of the two stores, shoppers stop located in the best mall of vashi therefore takes away the crème public whereas central is in Raghuleela the 1 st mall of vashi and now not in a very good conditions. The types of other brands located in the mall is another big factor, inorbit has all the braded outels like veromoda, only, tommy Hilfiger, aldo, Westside, max etc and on the other hand despite some of these brands being in central itself, the problem is except central and big bazaar all the other stores in the mall are local which affects the footfall. Food court- a major reason of customers attracting toward inorbit as it has outlets like mc donals, pizza hut, subway etc whereas raghuleela has all local food outlets. 48

CHAPTER 5: OTHER ASSIGNMENTS A. BRAND STUDY OBJECTIVE: To Study the top 3 formal and casual men s brand with the objective of trend analysis, fast moving items, customer preference and understanding of the brands with respect to its merchandise categories, styles, fits, patterns, collections and hence Changing of display according to the analysis, making sure the key merchandise is highlighted. METHODOLOGY: Secondary data: Analysis of sales report to get the top 5 formal and casual brands. Top 3 formal brands : out of 18 brands top 3 brands were park avenue, Arrow, Van huesen. Top 3 casual brands : out of 23 brands top 3 were parx, allensolly, US polo. Experimentation: Unstructured informal data collection from the respective brand s staff to know the detailed brand merchandise categories, styles, fits, trends etc and observing the customers and secondary data for knowing the top 3 brands of each category. 49

Men s formal brands Arrow : Product line- blazers, shirts, trousers, T-shirts, waist coat Among all the product line, shirts and trousers are the highest selling contributors Shirts: Fits- Regular, slim Collections- president and premium. President collection is highly priced and comparatively is of higher quality (Giza cotton) whereas premium collection is priced lesser than president collection. Pattern- plain, printed, stripes, checks. Trousers: Fits- slim, tapered, regular/smart FAST MOVING- plain and printed shirts in navy blue, light blue, white, cream color and micro checks pattern are preferred Slim and tapered trousers are fast moving almost among all age groups whereas regular fit is bought by mostly older age groups. Park Avenue : Product line- blazers, denim, jacket, shirt, suits, sweaters, trousers, T-shirts Among all the product line, shirts and trousers are the highest selling contributors Shirts: Fits- slim, super slim, regular. Collections- Beginners, celebrations, Indigo and platinum Pattern- plain, printed, stripes, checks. Trousers: Fit- super slim, smart. FAST MOVING- slim and regular fit (auto fit, wrinkle free, non-iron) are fast moving in shirts whereas super slim trousers are preferred to smart fit. Van Heusen : Product line- blazers, shirts, suits, sweaters, trousers, T-shirts, waist coat. Among all the product line shirts, trousers and suits are the highest selling contributors Shirts: Fits- slim, regular. Collections- Business, travel, lifestyle(informal) 50

Pattern- plain, printed, stripes, checks. Trousers: Fit- slim, ultra slim, smart. Fast moving- business collection in sky blue color is fast moving in shirts whereas ultra slim trousers are preferred to others for customers of age group 25-45. Men s casual brand Parx : Product line- denims, jackets, shirts, shorts, sweaters, trousers, T-shirts Among all the product line shirts, trousers are the highest selling contributors Shirts: Fits- slim, regular. Collections- black tag, indigo, printed, reversible Pattern- plain, printed, stripes, checks. Trousers: Fit- slim, low rise tapered FAST MOVING- printed and solid pastel colors are fast moving in shirts whereas low rise tapered trousers in all colors are preferred to others for customers of age group 20-35. Allen solly : Product line- blazers, denim, jackets, shirts, shorts, suits, sweater, trousers, T-shirts. Among all the product line shirts, trousers are the highest selling contributors Shirts: Fits- sport, regular Collections- oxford, Ikat(handloom collection) Pattern- plain, printed, stripes, checks. Trousers: Fit- ultra slim, smart slim, regular, kastam slim which is straight fit FAST MOVING- solid bright colors and small prints are fast moving in shirts whereas ultra slim, smart slim trousers in all colors are preferred to others for customers of age group 25-35. US Polo : Product line- denim, jackets, shirts, shorts, sweater, trousers, T-shirts. 51

Among all the product line shirts, T-shirts are the highest selling contributors Shirts: Fits- slim, tailor Pattern- plain, printed, stripes, checks. FAST MOVING- printed, denim pattern in maroon and sky blue colors are fast moving in shirts whereas T-shirts in white, black, orange, blue colors for customers of age group 18-30. Business outcome after changing the display: Week wise comparison BRANDS SALES -WEEK BEFORE THE DISPLAY SALES- WEEK AFTER THE DISPLAY Park avenue 94k 92k Arrow 61k 65k Van heusen 50k 53k Parx 60k 64k Allen Solly 51k 57k US Polo 43k 41k Out of the six brands studied, four of them grew in their sales after the change of display on the basis of fast moving analysis. 52

B. TO PREPARE A CORE MERCHANDISE LIST FOR MENS SECTION. To make the required core merchandise list of all men s formal brands for refilling by Coordinate with the team leader and the sales staff of the brands to know the requirement of the core list of the brands according to their racking / capacity Every formal brand has its merchandise divided into core category and fashion category. Core category can be called classic fashion that repeat themselves year after year Styles and trends always seem to be changing. What is trending one season may be pass the next. In fact, some styles don t seem to last longer than a month. For such fashion where experiments, trend analysis is involved is another category of the brand s merchandise. Core merchandise remains same throughout every season every year but their price increases yearly. Therefore it needs to be refilled at regular intervals according to requirement as all brands do not have same number of core products and number of requirements. Core shirts are mostly basic plain colour and the core merchandise is never sold on discount even in EOSS Prepared the core list of all formal men s brands as the required list of all style codes of core merchandise with the number of requirement needed to be sent to the vendors and head office for refilling. Core merchandise usually does not exceed 20-25% of the total merchandise and every style code comes in a set of nine, therefore for replenishment it is necessary to make the list. 53

C. FEEDBACK AND REQUIREMENT OF THE IN- HOUSE LADIES BRANDS OBJECTIVE: To prepare the feedback of in-house ladies western brands and the necessary requirements of each brand to the head office. METHODOLOGY: Experimentation: Unstructured informal data collection from the respective brand s staff to know the detailed brand merchandise categories, sales, customer feedback, styles, fits, trends etc and observing the customers Secondary data: the internal sales/mh- reports of vashi central for sales figures and product category sold, figures of weekly & monthly sales, targets etc. SCULLERS FOR HER Feedback: Nautical collection Regata de cuba collection Printed tops price range 1299/- is moving well, fabric is very light and best for summers, Portfolio collection La Cuba sleeve less top white & mustered colour is also moving well, its fashionable top for office/semi-formal wear and the price is affordable. This is life colour of cuba collection Blue & white shirts price range 1599/- moving well, customers are liking the choice of colors and its fitting Requirement: need stock in trousers / Chinos / formal shirts & Blazers JEALOUS 21 Feedback: boxy crop tops, high low t-shirts are moving fast as the collection has floral prints, nice fitting &light fabric for summers. Denims essential collections also moving well,the style of denims shirts are like short kurti and bit different and unique even the price point is also affordable. Requirement: need more stocks in Denims hottie fit, tone wash denims, ankle length, mid waist/ low waist denims / fashion denims &capries knee length/ Plain Denims. 54

RIG LADIES Feedback: 6 pocket cargos are selling fast as colours options are more. Sleeveless tang tops are also moving well with a price of 599/-. Requirement: need more stocks in shirts as we have received only 9 options as of now. Need replenishment in bottoms as they are not moving. UMM LADIES Feedback: Cochilla collection tops are selling like a hot cake as the pattern iis new, even shorts are moving well, Rider creed collection crop tops are also selling fast with price point i.e 1099/- Requirement: need more stocks in basic ankle length denims, capries and denim shirts. JEALOUS club 21 Feedback: Pastel play collection tops moving well as the fabric & fitting is good; Glitz collection black skirt is also moving well as none of the other brands have party wear skirts. Monochrome collection banker s style tops are also moving fast. Requirement: need more stocks in basic ankle length denims, capries, denims shirts. 55

CHAPTER 6: LEARNING OUTCOME Brand selections permutation and combination with regards to display. The following key points that make the vm works highlighting the key merchandise category highlighting the high price merchandise right merchandise mix(product mix) correct assortment colour story/ theme of a brand colour blocking(summer light colour to dark colour and winter dark to light) styling of mannequins for clusters/individual brands coral draw(signage) vendor management : order sheet brand themes of different seasons, their displays and color palate. VM model of the company, the way it works in routine Aside from making great displays, visual merchandising team must be able to take direction and criticism from every manager and buyer as well as be willing to change their own vision based on what the boss wants to see. One has to be analytical and be able to read reports that the company sends to see what s selling and what s not, and then be able to merchandise according to that. How to analyse the excel reports ie the MH report Dealing with staff of the corresponding brands for certain information about the brands, how knowledgeable they are about their brands, how interactive they are, awareness about conversions etc. Practical knowledge about the daily floor operations. Detailed knowledge about the company s own brands, their contribution to business, trends they follow and are divided into three main categories: LOB (line of business) which are further categorised into ladies ethnic, ladies western, kids, mens and youth. These brands are manufactured by the company itself in Bangalore. FBB brands form another business outlet of future group. 56

Indus brands which manufacture their apparels and only selling & marketing them is company s responsibility. Comparison of sales from last week on day to day basis and if the sales have decreased from last week the problem could be with any of the following: Staff- his/her knowledge, efforts, presence etc Merchandise- stock is sufficient on floor and inventory Competitive brands in the same category could be the reason if for example offers are better or stock availability is sufficient etc. Floor operations manager has to manage staff, stock and drive sales How to analyse the updates for EOSS report. Understanding how the management works prior for eoss. Once the eoss report is received from the head office the DMs need to revert back to them with the final requirement, any suggestions and remarks if required. Right merchandise mix(product mix): the bigger discounted merchandise should be highlighted to attract the customers. Correct assortment, colour story/ theme of a brand,colour blocking are not of much importance at the time of sale styling of mannequins for clusters/individual brands Signage plays an important role during a sale period for promotion of brands as well as attention of customers. Comparison with competitor retail outlet Shoppers stop by consumer survey and how a mall affects a store s sale by its location, its layout, interiors, maintenance, food court, branded stores, ambience etc. Knowledge about customer service desk activities, how queries are handled and solved. On store marketing offers and their promotion. Study of brands, their product mix, fits, pattern, core and non-core collection, fast moving, slow moving, return to vendor, feedback. 57

REFERENCES/ BIBLIOGRAPHY: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/future_group http://futuregroup.in/about-us http://futurelifestyle.in/about_us.html http://futurelifestyle.in/brands_business.html 58

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Future Lifestyle Fashions being a part of Future group sets the trend for Indian lifestyle fashion business through integrating some of India's most popular lifestyle retail destinations like Central, Brand Factory and Planet Sports and over 20 domestic and global fashion brands. With a team of talented business professionals, fashion designers and entrepreneurs the company aims to provide a perfect blend of modern and traditional fashion to the Indian customer. This project is basically about studying and understanding the visual merchandising model of the store ie. Central and hence finding the business outcome of the ladies western section on which I worked and which theme and style trend worked best for the section in terms of sales. As a part of the project, Consumer survey was done to find out the customers perception about visual merchandising and which one between Central-vashi and Shoppers Stop-vashi they feel is better on few visual merchandising parameters. The daily tasks and challenges that the visual merchandising team has to face and tackle and how important is VM to any retail business as it the backbone of the company and is most commonly referred as silent seller, whose job is ultimately to boost sales, not by talking to the customers in person or writing an ad, but by making a store and its products look so appealing that they re irresistible to any customer. While studying the model and working on it, visual merchandising job is not easy but at the same time could be fun and creative at times. Its job is not only dealing with the aesthetic look of the store but also has to be analytical to be able to know the sales reports and trend analysis, even a smallest job of making a signage and making sure the offer is there on the brand is important. Through this internship I have worked on different tasks of visual merchandising and sometimes sales marketing. Different spring summer themes highlighting different merchandise categories, making clusters and window displays, occasional event assignments of valentine s day, women s day, gudi padwa, brands study, feedback analysis etc. In considering the importance of visual merchandising on retail businesses the single and most important reason is to engage and inspire shoppers, to encourage them to buy more of the products that the company wants them to, increasing their sales, margin and returns.