IIMB’s EPGP Students Declared 1st Runners-up At India Retail Forum Biz Plan Challenge 2015

Rahul Aggarwal, Santosh Mishra & Sugam Bagla bag the 1^st Runner-up position in the ‘Rising Star Challenge’ at India Retail Forum 2015, Mumbai

A three-member team, comprising students from IIM Bangalore’s one-year full-time MBA (Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management – EPGP), competed with over 300 students from top B-schools across the country in the ‘Rising Star Challenge’ business plan competition organised by the India Retail Forum and bagged the 1^st Runner-up position.

As part of the competition, participants created new models of innovation in omnichannel retail. Omni-channel is the seamless, integrated sales experience that unifies all channels: bricks-and-mortar, eCommerce/online, mobile sales, catalogs, telephone, etc.

Today Consumers can engage with a company in a physical store, on an online website or mobile app, through a catalog, or through social media or they can access products and services by calling a company on the phone, by using an app on their mobile smartphone, or with a tablet, a laptop, or a desktop computer.

A good omni-channel strategy ensures that each piece of the consumer’s experience is consistent and complementary.

The business plan students presented was to include all elements of a good business plan – from the design of a compelling omni-channel retail customer proposition to a clear implementation roadmap and financial plan. The idea was to ensure a comprehensive, achievable solution which addresses the key CEO and C-level questions:

• How should we develop our ecommerce and omni-channel retail business over the next five years?
• How can we transform our multiple sales channels into a true omni-channel retail business?
• We are launching our online channel for the first time – how can we ensure it is successful?
• Will online and omni-channel retail be profitable for us?

Participants were to choose either an existing business or a new business to base their omni-channel strategy and were expected to structure their ideas around the following aspects:

1. Assortment & Pricing:  Define the optimal assortment and pricing strategy across all retail channels.

2. Online & Cross-Channel Experience : Design the online user experience by illustrating best practice and reviewing the existing user experience compared to the competition.

3. Store Estate & Experience : Determine the customer experience across all retail channels and how channels should best be integrated.

4. Marketing : Review existing marketing performance including database segmentation, identify opportunities to improve performance and recommend future marketing actions.

5. Operations:  Assess current retail and omni-channel operations and recommend the relevant changes required to store processes, fulfillment and customer service.

6. Technology:  Assess existing e-commerce technologies, identify gaps in the application architecture and recommend candidate packages to support the omni-channel retail strategy.

7. Organization:  Outline the skill and capability gaps in the current organisation, develop the new organisational structure, roles and responsibilities and change programmes required to instil an omni-channel retail culture.

8. Economics:  Develop the business case, financial plans and implementation roadmap.

The finals of the competition were held in Mumbai on September 16, 2015 and the finalists had to defend their business plans in front of a jury comprising Shailesh Chaturvedi (CEO, Tommy Hilfiger), Rajiv Makhni (Managing Editor, Technology, NDTV), Bijou Kurien (Member, Strategic Advisory Board and Mentor, L Capital Asia LVMH Group) and Ankur Joshi (Co Founder, Preter).

Team Gatik, the three-member team from IIM B, presented a business plan to implement an omnichannel retailing strategy for the Indian handlooms and handicrafts industry under the brand, ‘Kalpataru’.

“Our business plan was very well received by the Indian retail fraternity. We received a very good response, including trade enquiries from business partners present at the event,” said members of Team Gatik.