APNA BAZAAR THE PIONEER OF ORGANISED RETAILING IN INDIA

......and that is Apna bazaar! Mr. Mandadi Krishna Reddy, !"nder A#na Ba$aar

Mr. Mandadi Krishna Reddy, founder Apna Bazaar, had just finished speaking to the MBA Retail Management students, at a well known business school, about his chain of retail stores. uring the ceremonial interaction after his speech, Mr. Reddy was asked many !uestions about his business which has come to a screeching halt in "##$ when the supreme court froze the assets of the company. Among them, he was asked by one in!uisti%e student about his plans for Apna Bazaar in the future, especially if the &ourts of 'aw ruled in his fa%our. (he student wanted to know, how, after a hiatus of ) years Apna Bazaar would begin its business again, especially when during the last ) years of business inacti%ity, the retail landscape in *ndia has changed dramatically. Buzzing with optimism, Mr. Reddy briefed the student of his plans to re+establish Apna Bazaar as a market leader. But, that e%ening, on the flight to ,yderabad, Mr. Reddy reflected on the student-s !uestion and pondered about what it would really take for Apna Bazaar to reli%e the glory days of its past. The %"rren& re&ai' 'ands%a#e in India Modern retail in *ndia grew tremendously between "##$ and "#/", see 01hibit /. (o begin with, the retail *ndustry mainly consited of only mom and pop stores catering to the daily needs of the consumers. (he only organized retailers on the land scape e%en in the /2)#s were chain stores of te1tile companies like Bombay ying, Raymonds, 3Kumars or 4rasim. *t was only in the /22#s that retailers like the 5uture 4roup, the R64 group etc burst into the scene. But when they did, the retail re%olution in *ndia brought fresh a%enues of growth creating opportunities for multiple %erticals in retail to flourish. ri%en by changing lifestyles,strong income growth and fa%orable demographic patterns *ndian retail industry has been e1panding at a rapid rate.(he modern retail landscape in *ndia now brimming with a plethora of retails like7 5ashion Retail 'u1ury Retail 5ood and 4rocery Retail ,ome and 8ffice *mpro%ement

'eisure and 0ntertainment &onsumer eurables and *( 9& *(: &atering 8utlets 5itness ; 6ersonal &are &ash -n- &arry 9Business to Business retail: Automobile Retailing

uring this time many retailers ha%e also grown to become national players operating across many %erticals. 5uture 4roup led by Mr. Kishore Biyani, 3hoppers- 3top led by k. Raheja &orp., More of Adithya Birla ,(rent and *nfiniti Retail led by the (atas, are e1amples of big players in this business. All this became possible owing to the economic reforms initiated by pre%ious 4o%ernments. (he recognised benchmark for suitability for in%estment in retail by global retailers, the 4lobal Retail e%elopment *nde1 94R *:, de%eloped by A( Kearney, a global management consulting firm, has consistently placed *ndia in the top positions. As per the Mckinsey 4lobal *nstitute 9M4*: analysis the *ndian market is also in for tremendous growth/. <ith almost threefold rise in income le%els, *ndia-s o%erall retail sector is e1pected to rise to= )>> billion by "#/> and to= /.> trillion by "#/) by a compoundannual growth rate 9&A4R: of/#?."*ndia is also e1pected to become the worlds fifth largest consumer market by "#"@. *t is because of such promise in the sector that global players like <alMart and Metro A4 ha%e entered *ndia through %arious arrangements. Recently the demands to allow /##? 5 * in the *ndian retail sector by global retailers are testimony of the growing and increasingly competiti%e *ndian retail sector. Ba%()r!"nd ! A#na Ba$aar Ide!'!)y (he late /2A#s witnessed the a%erage *ndian consumer facing widespread food shortages, black marketing, adulteration of food and edible oil and -short weight- of packaged commodities. Being the son of a socialist, Mr. M. Krishna Reddy, who had recently returned to *ndia after finishing courses in 0ngineering and Retail Management from the erstwhile B.3.3.R., found the scenario irksome. Mr. Reddy was appalled at the huge loss of %alue for money to the consumer due to these rampant malpractices. (herefore, in
1 Indian Youth : Demographics and readership, http: //www.ncaer.org/downloads/mediaclips/press/financial expressIndian Youth-DemographicandReadership.pdf, accessed on September, !th, "## 2 Retail,http://www.ibef.org/industry/retail.aspx, accessed on $o%ember &, "#"

/2AC, Mr. Reddy spearheaded the creation of se%eral grassroot le%el organisations in rural Andhra 6radesh, a state in 3outh *ndia, which educated customers of how they were being cheated and what their rights were. As the consumer mo%ement gained momentum, Mr. Reddy realised that the establishment was rampant with adulterated goods and short weight. (he latter was a clear %iolation of (he 3tandards of <eights and Measures 96ackaged &ommodities: Rules, /2AA which stated that all the consumers generally purchase goods either in weight or in %olume or in length or in numbers etc and it had to be ensured that the consumer gets the correct !uantity whether it is in weight, in %olume, in length or in numbers for which he D she has paid the money to the seller >. At this juncture Mr. Reddy and the consumer associations that he led decided to open up their own stores which would adhere to all e1isting consumer laws so that the consumers get full %alue for their money spent. The *+!!#era&i,e* #hi'!s!#hy (o fulfil his dreams of opening up retail stores, Mr. Reddy went to Eapan for a period of > months to study the retailing system there. ,e disco%ered that a major proportion of retailing acti%ity in Eapan was conducted based on the -cooperati%e- model. <hile in Eapan Mr. Reddy also came to know that a small retail chain back home in Bombay called the 3ahkari Bhandar also operated based on the Eapanese style cooperati%e model. (he 3ahkari Bhandar operated by organising clusters of /## families, each cluster being under a -leader-. (he leader was responsible for collecting the household re!uirements of all families under his D her cluster, which were then forwarded to the &entral 6urchase &ommittee 9&6&: of 3ahkari Bhandar. (he &6& sourced the items, at lower prices, owing to the high %olumes of merchandise and deli%ered the goods back to the families in %arious clusters through their respecti%e leaders. &on%inced with the suitability of the model for his stores, Mr. Reddy established the &onsumer Awareness ; Research 3ociety 9&AR3: (rust, under the aegis of which he decided to set up the first Apna Bazaar store. The irs& s&!re (he first Apna Bazaar store was set up on /" employees and a product range of /## items$. 5rom here onwards, Apna Bazaar witnessed meteoric rise, see 01hibit ". After opening a few more stores in the state of Andhra 6radesh, Apna Bazaar mo%ed to
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ecember /2)$ in ,yderabad, the capital

city of the 3outhern *ndian state of Andhra 6radesh with an initial in%estment of B3= /)#, "

the <estern *ndian state of Maharashtra in /2)@.

uring this time, Apna Bazaar was the

first retailer in *ndia to ha%e pioneered the concept of supermarket franchising @. *n Bombay, for a total of @# stores which were to be opened through the franchise route, Apna Bazaar recei%ed more than @### applications. Apna Bazaar continued to grow from strength to strength until the year "##@, when a 4o%ernment 8rder 948: put a restriction on the upper cap of re%enue turno%er of charitable societies and trusts. A#na Ba$aar The F!r-a& and O.nershi# S&r"%&"re Apna Bazaar stores were essentially established as con%enience stores, i.e., stores in con%enient locations stocking limited ranges of household goods and groceries C. As years went by, Apna Bazaar graduated from a chain of con%enience stores to a retail chain which was operating stores of %arying sizes under different classifications, see 01hibit >. (he ownership pattern of Apna Bazaar could be classified as follows7 &ompany 8wned, &ompany 8perated 9&8&8:7 ,ere the ownership of stores lay completely with &AR3 trust, which in%ested in and operated the stores. Apna Bazaar &8&8 stores were strictly Medium and Mega stores 6artnership 3tores 963:7 ,ere the ownership of the stores lay jointly with &AR3 trust and pri%ate partners both of which in%ested e!ually and operated the stores jointly. 5ranchise 3tores 953:7 ,ere the ownership of the stores lay solely with the franchisee and the stores were run jointly by &AR3 trust and the franchisee. 6artnerships were formed and franchise arrangements made for the smaller formats of Apna Bazaar, namely ,ome and Mini formats. (his was done essentially to penetrate the rural market. (he norms for partners and franchisees could be enumerated as follows A7 *nitial in%estment of B3= 2### to 2##### by partner D franchisee based on size of store and number of members in the partnership. 3ubse!uent appointment of a -coordinator- from partner D franchisee side. &AR3 trust would help partners D franchisees in obtaining 4o%ernment licenses, billing machines, furnitureFs and fi1tures, weighing machines and other infrastructural facilities.
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5ood grains and other edible items would be tested for purity, cleaned, packed by &AR3 trust and sent to coordinator D Apna Bazaar store 6romotional material, pass+books and bill+books would be pro%ided by &AR3 trust directly to coordinators. &oordinatorship would be transferrable D terminated within the parametres of &AR3 trust rules.

A#na Ba$aar B"siness E'e-en&s G*ndia is a price sensiti%e country and !uite likely good bargains and promotions catch their fancy. (his tend is seen across all classes of consumers. ,ere price dri%es sales. 5or *ndians getting %alue brans for lesser price enhances the shopping e1perienceH 'ong before Rajshree B"yin) Apna Bazaar procured all branded products from their respecti%e manufacturers. As it grew in terms of number of stores, Apna Bazaar could source branded items at lower prices, i.e., at higher margins, the benefits of which were passed on to the consumers as lower priced products. 0dible commodities like pulses, rice, spices were sourced from local D international markets based on where they were a%ailable in best !uality and lowest prices. 6ulses, locally called dal, which are the most important part of *ndian cuisine, were imported from Burma and other 3outh 0ast Asian countries. 6igeon 6ea 9Arhar D (oor same in *ndia. Buying from international markets was managed by agents appointed by Apna Bazaar for this purpose. S&!ra)e and s"##'y %hain !#era&i!ns (he entire country was di%ided into ) Jones, namely IorthK*, IorthK**, 3outhK*, 3outhK**, 0astK*, 0astK**, <estK* and <estK**. 0ach Jone had a dedicated warehouse. (he biggest of these warehouses was situated on the Iagarjuna 3agar Road in the city of ,yderabad, in 3outhK* zone and it co%ered an area of /" acres. Across the country, Apna Bazaar had a storage capacity spread o%er /## acres land 2. 0dible commodities, grocery items and pri%ate labels of Apna Bazaar were transported to the warehouses pri%ately by the
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a%e,

irector, client solutions of the Ieilsen company )in *ndia said

these words Apna Bazaar had instinctly grasped this fact.

al: was imported

from Burma and Malaysia because it cost Apna Bazaar only one fourth the price of the

concerned %endors D agents. Branded products, especially consumer durables were deli%ered to the warehouse by the respecti%e companiesF distribution arrangements. istribution of products from the zonal warehouses to stores was done by &AR3 trust %ehicles. Apna Bazaar obser%ed strict procedures such as aeration and usage of disinfectants to ensure preser%ation of grocery and edible commodities. &ommodities with low shelf life like tamarind, an integral part of 3outh *ndian cuisine, were stored in cold storage facilities a%ailable within each zonal warehouse/#. (he supply chain operations of Apna Bazaar followed the concept of planned in%entory management which was based on the store+wise, category+wise, product+wise consumption pattern of the consumers. 3tock to each store within urban definition was replenished e%ery > days. 3tock to e%ery store within semi+urban definition was replenished weekly and similarly stock to each rural store was replenished fortnightly. 3o, in%entory in the stores was stocked as per its classification and replenished accordingly. /"a'i&y Ass"ran%e 3ince Apna Bazaar procured a lot of grocery items as well as edible commodities, maintaining their !uality was of paramount importance. (o ensure this, all grocery products that were brought into the warehouse were separated and cleaned both manually and mechanically. <ith respect to edible commodities, !uality was ensured because e%ery zonal warehouse had best+of+the+art laboratory manned by competent technicians where these food items were checked for adherence to a number of parametres, which are as follows, before they were packed to be sent to stores // Moisture content D ryness Iutrition %alue Assessment of shelf life Adulteration

Apna Bazaar ensured adherence to 4o%ernment norms pertaining to !uality of all its products and rigorously followed the guidelines of Agmark, 0&8 MARK, ,A'' MARK and B.0.0. MARK3, see 01hibit $. 6ost lab testing all edible commodities whether li!uids, semi+solids, powders or solids were packed using the most modern packing procedures.

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Re&ai' O#era&i!ns Phi'!s!#hy G(he middle class segment of the *ndian population, i.e., the broad group of people who fall, socio+economically, between the working class and the upper class /", forms the biggest consumer group for Apna Bazaar. <ith their purchasing capacity, they are the backbone of the *ndian retailing industryH/> (he guiding parametres for retail operation of Apna Bazaar, as laid down by Mr. Reddy are as follows7 6reference to *ndian middle class (he stores must be located %ery near to them Reasonable prices D %alue for money Luality merchandise A%ailability of goods D (imely deli%ery of goods

Rea' Es&a&e Real estate re!uirements for &8&8 stores of Apna Bazaar were taken care of by ad%ertising for the same in leading %ernacular and national dailies of the zone where such re!uirements arose. 5or partnership and franchise stores, the responsibility to identify and select the right store and location with the partners and franchisee respecti%ely. *n either conte1t, the parametres that decided in fa%our of a store location were as follows/$7 01isting real estate rentals Ieighbouring outlets D &ompetition stores 6opulation density *ncome groups 6arking 3pace 9for medium ; mega formats: Access from all corners of the catchment 5rontage 0asy address 9for home and mini formats:

ue to its growing size and reputation, Apna Bazaar commanded a strong position in the retail real estate market and was able to get the best deal with property owners in terms of rentals.
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E-#'!yees (o ensure that all employees of Apna Bazaar li%ed up to Mr. Reddy-s philosophy, the minimum educational !ualification of each super%isor 9team lead: was set as a high school diploma. All employees were trained in customer ser%ice. All Apna Bazaar stores conducted periodic training sessions which moti%ated the staff to %olunteer to deli%er the *0es&- customer ser%ice. Mer%handisin) Apna Bazaar ensured that the merchandise its stores carried, either branded or commodities were of the topmost !uality. applicable !uality related norms/@. 1a'"e added ser,i%es Apna Bazaar stores pro%ided to its customers a number of %alue added ser%ices which ha%e been instrumental, o%er the years, in building customer satisfaction and loyalty. (he most notable of such ser%ices are as follows7 &onsumer grie%ance cell7 0%ery Apna Bazaar store had a dedicated consumer grie%ance cell which was used by consumers to lodge complaints against products or ser%ices which they were using. 3uch grie%ances with ade!uately taken up in consumer courts and redressed. &on%enience Eoints7 0%ery Apna Bazaar store had a bill payment counter established within its premises. &onsumers could pay their telephone, electricity and water bills through these counters as also book tra%el tickets, cooking gas, etc. -&onsumer Rights- library7 (he head office of Apna Bazaar housed a well stocked library comprising latest book and journals pertaining to consumer welfare. &ustomers were encouraged to %isit the library and learn more about their rights as consumers. In&erna&i!na' O#era&i!ns Apna Bazaar operated stores in "A countries other than *ndia. *t had $# stores in B3A, ># stores in BK and $#M stores in the African continent apart from stores in Mauritius, 3ingapore and Malaysia/C. H"-an Res!"r%es G(oday we ha%e 2,)$" branches with 2"### employees in *ndia. By the year "##@, we had
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epending on the size of the store, Apna Bazaar

dealt in more than ",##,### products, all of which were lab tested and adhered to

clocked a turno%er of B3= @.AC billion. (he reason behind the success was the fact that we ha%e brought in professionals with a human touch into our business. (his human element not only helps businesses run better but also become a bigger success stories.H /A (hus opined Mr. Reddy at the *ndian Retail 5orum, "#// organised by *mages Retail 4roup at Bombay. (he opinion was a clear indicator of the importance Mr. Reddy ga%e to human resources. 0mployee focus has been the motto of Apna Bazaar. (hey were empowered to contribute to organisation-s growth. As a company policy, Apna Bazaar employed the ne1t of kin of e1isting employees upon their retirements or untimely deaths. (he fresh recruits knew %ery little about retail but under the tutelage of e1perienced super%isors and their belief in the company policies of !uality assurance and customer ser%ice, learnt the trade soon and e1celled. According to Mr. Reddy, Apna Bazaar initiated some employee friendly policies which helped the organisation to garner employee loyalty. Bnder one such initiati%e, if there was a function in an employee-s family, then all items D merchandise were gi%en to the family free of cost. Bnder another such initiati%e, on the occasion of wedding of an employee-s child the manga)sutra 9sacred thread of marital union, adorn with a gold pendant, worn by ,indu womenN comparable with the wedding ring of the western world: was gifted to the bride by the management of Apna Bazaar. (he employees of Apna Bazaar were so dedicated to their jobs that there were times when personal relationships were established between them and customers and they were in%ited to family functions of customers. Another aspect that is indicati%e of e1cellent human resource management policies of Apna Bazaar is that compared with a global rate of attrition of /"? in retail, Apna Bazaar had an attrition rate of just #.A?./) Mar(e&in) As a practice, Apna Bazaar did not employ dedicated marketing staff. (his was because marketing as a function, within the organisation, had lesser priority when compared with real estate, stock buying and staff training. Marketing and promotional tools employed by Apna Bazaar included print ad%ertisements, direct mailers, coupons ; %ouchers and in+store displays. irect mailers, and brochures were dropped into the letter bo1es of customers and
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promotional leaflets were distributed as inserts in local newspapers and magazines. &oupons and %ouchers were distributed or posted to customers to accelerate the number of shopping trips to the stores. 6ublic relations acti%ities like seminars on consumer rights related issues, press releases and charity sponsorships were managed by branch managers within their local communities. Pri%in) According to Mr. Reddy, the most prominent reason for the e1ceptional growth of Apna Bazaar was its pricing which was the lowest from all its competitors in organised as well as unorganised retail trade. (he reasons cited by Mr. Reddy for achie%ing such low prices can be enumerated as follows7 Buying merchandise directly from the producers thereby eliminating middlemen and bringing down prices Buying in large !uantities from %endors which ensured higher margins and hence lower prices 3ince Apna Bazaar was run by &AR3, a charitable trust, it got e1emption from the 4o%ernment of *ndia in *ncome and 3ales (a1es (he benefits accrued by Apna Bazaar based on the abo%e, were passed on to its customers as7 Merchandise priced at lower than the Ma1imum Retail 6rice 9MR6: 6romotional acti%ities iscounts and offers

8ne such episode that Mr. Reddy often remembers where he had been able to pass on price benefits to his customers is as follows7 *n /2)A, Mr. Reddy, had purchased merchandise from the erstwhile ,industan 'e%er 'imited 9,'':, the largest 5M&4 player in *ndia, worth B3= "." million and transported it to Apna Bazaar-s zonal warehouse in ,yderabad in /A bogeys of a goods train. ,'' sold this merchandise to Apna Bazaar at a discount of /)? which in+turn sold it to its customers at a discount of /"? on MR6. (he prices at which customers were purchasing ,'' goods from Apna Bazaar were lower than prices at which ,'' stockists sold the merchandise to retailers in the state of Andhra 6radesh. (his episode sparked a protest from ,'' stockists who shut down their business resulting in the non+a%ailability of ,'' goods in the open,

unorganised market. (he shutdown lasted for A days before representati%es from ,'' came and handled the situation. De%'ine *n "##@, the 4o%ernment of *ndia passed an order which re!uired charitable trusts and societies to function within some prescribed limits, especially with respect to turno%er. 3ince Apna Bazaar was established and operated under the aegis of &AR3, a charitable trust, it had to stop all its business acti%ities. &AR3 has filed litigation along with many other affected by the 4o%ernment order in the 3upreme &ourt of *ndia, where the matter is sub judice. *n the meantime, all functioning stores of Apna Bazaar across the country were transferred to cooperati%e societies run by state 4o%ernments, where most of them continue to make profits and the share of Apna Bazaar is being deposited with the 3upreme &ourt of *ndia /2. As of date, Apna Bazaar-s legal battle with the 4o%ernment is going on. Mr. Reddy is optimistic that in the coming months the %erdict should be out and hopefully in his fa%our. ,e has great plans to take Apna Bazaar again to heights of success. ,owe%er, the retail landscape has changed significantly o%er the last decade and owing to this Mr. Reddy will ha%e to unlearn his understanding of retail and redifine his strategies and business models to take up the challenges that lie ahead.

1* Mr. Mandadi +rishna ,eddy" -ounder" Apna Bazaar

E2HIBITS 1. 4rowth of Modern Retail (rade o%er the years

+etail ,eg&ents 4lothing, textiles 5 fashion a''essories 8ewellery 9at'hes :ootwear ;ealth 5 beauty 'are ser<i'es /har&a'eut i'al ser<i'es 4onsu&er durables, ho&e applian'es 5 e=uip&ents %oble handsets, a''essories 5 ser<i'es ;o&e 5 offi'e i&pro<e&e nt :ood 5 gro'ery -ut of ho&e 0'atering2 ser<i'es >oo?s, &usi' 5 gifts @ntertain& ent

-rganised .rade in /er'entage 012 2))4 13.6 2.) 3*.6 25.) 6.) 2))5 15.! 2.3 43.5 3).3 .6 2))6 1!.* 2.! 45.6 3 .! 1).6 2)) 22. 3.3 4!.* 4!.4 14.3 2))! 3 67 67 67 42.3 67 2))* 31.2 4.6 62.5 66.2 1*.5 2)1) 33.) 4.* 62.! 6*.3 2).3 2)11 36.1 5.2 63.! 3. 21.2

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5 -igures 6ot A!ai)ab)e 3ource7 1ndia ,etai) ,eport7s8" %&&9 and %&''" pub)ished by 1mages ,etai) :roup

". 4rowth of Apna Bazaar o%er the years 9in (urno%er, Io. 8f Branches and Io. 8f 0mployees: Pear /2)$ /22# "### "##@ (urno%er 9in B3=: /A2 /.$> billion $.>) billion @.AC billion Io. of Branches / "$>" C2>/ 2)$" Io. of 0mployees " "#@## A")C" 2"2"/

3ource7 1nformation pro!ided by Mr. Mandadi +rishna ,eddy" -ounder" Apna Bazaar

>. &lassification of Apna Bazaar stores based on area &lassification ,ome Apna Bazaar Mini Apna Bazaar Medium Apna Bazaar Mega Apna Bazaar
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$. Luality certifications and their meanings Luality &ertification Agmark escription A certification mark employed on agricultural products in *ndia assuring that they conform to a set of standards appro%ed by the Dire torate of Mar=eting and 1nspe tion , an agency of the 4o%ernment of *ndia *ssued to jewellery manufacturers D retailers as a certification of purity and authenticity of jewellery. *ssued by the Bureau of *ndian 3tandards 9B*3: A ccertification mark issued by the B*3 to products conforming to a set of standards aimed at the least impact on the ecosystem
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,allmark

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