Industry Visit to Westside and Landmark

An industry visit to Westside and Landmark Storeswas organized on 28 October for PGDM Batch (2017–19). Both the stores come under the aegis of Trent, a brand which is part of the prestigious Tata Group. The visit was organized by Professor EktaRastogi and coordinated by the store head of Westside Mr. Syed Fahad Ali.

Trent operates Westside, one of the many growing retail chains in India and Landmark, a bookstore chain with brick-and-mortar stores across the country. Westside has created a niche for its brand of merchandise, following a rapidly evolving retailscenario. Currently, the company has 82stores measuring 15000–30000 square feet across 46 cities.

The objectives of the visit:

• To get an understanding of visual merchandising
• To assess the various parameters that influence a buyer to shop at a retail store
• To understand the importance of Customer Relationship Management in the success of any business
• To understand a range of conceptsincluding shrinkage, retail layout, and trading area

The visit instilled key learning among the students including:

• Information about brands like Oak & Keel, Zuba, Utsa, Bombay Paisley, Studio West, LOV, and more
• Permissible shrinkage: .28 % of stock
• Shrinkage is always measured on cost
• Retail is all about how you manage your staff
• Unique selling proposition of Westside: No advertising and selling cost
• Westside believes:Satisfied customer is the best advertisement
• Customer relationship strategy of Westside:word of mouth and membership cards
• Retail is a dynamic business
• Giving of classy gifts to customers is a tradition at Westside
• Landmark alone contributes to 25% of the total business
• The store deals in books, toys, sports items, games, play stations, electronic gadgets, stationery, and similar items

The visit has immensely contributed in making concepts related to Retail Sales, Visual Merchandising, and Customer Relationship Management clearer to students. Overall the visit to Westside was a remarkable experience which studentswill cherish for a long time.