There is real power in truly being local. Having the right products sourced from local communities speaks to powerful macro trends around freshness and sustainability. Retailers, large and small, are focusing on attempts to get local, really local, as the following cases demonstrate.

Fab India (New Delhi – India)

A powerful blend of India’s traditional crafts and techniques, contemporary designs, rural artisans, urban markets and an inclusive model of capitalism.

India has a very strong heritage of handcrafted products. Artisans form the backbone of India’s rural economy, and the handicraft industry is the second-largest employment generator in villages after agriculture. There are an estimated 20 million artisans across the country.

Fab India is India’s largest private platform for products that are made from traditional techniques, skills and hand-based processes. The retailer links over 90,000 craft based rural artisans to modern urban markets, thereby creating a base for skilled, sustainable rural employment, and preserving India’s traditional handicrafts in the process.

The retailer has three different formats for brick and mortar stores and an online presence, which delivers worldwide. The three stores are Premium (located in metropolitan and Tier I cities, carrying the full range of merchandise, including furniture), Concept (smaller footprint stores, with select merchandise across categories) and Regular (present in Tier II and III cities, with a product mix focused on clothing and accessories).

Their in-store look is defined by ‘everything natural’, with natural wood, stone flooring and a mix of colors. All of the garments are dyed with natural and organic dyes, and represent a vibrant mix of colours and hues.

Fab India’s approach to supply chain management for its retail stores and inclusive capitalism is unique. The model is especially relevant to developing countries, linking rural artisans with urban markets (potentially across the world). The key differentiators and wins for Fab India’s model have been:

Enabling it to create 90,000 sustainable rural jobs across India
Direct interface with artisans, who are shareholders in the business
Closer to sourcing – shortening the supply chain, better quality and pricing
Access to modern techniques to improve productivity and contemporary designs, across a range of product segments
An international platform through brick & mortar and e-commerce enabled front end

Yoghurt Barn (Utrecht – Netherlands)

A unique eco-friendly retail concept that offers fresh, customized yogurt directly from local farmers.

The Netherlands ranks number one in yogurt consumption within Europe. Yogurt is an everyday affordable product, and many Dutch eat it almost daily (and are very price conscious). Consumer trends like individualization and conscious living demand customization possibilities and environmentally friendly retail concepts offering organic products.

Yoghurt Barn offers:

Every day and affordable products made special
Customized foods (choose your type of yogurt, toppings, etc.)
A concept that is entirely environmentally friendly (packaging, store interior, energy, etc.)
Organic foods from local farmers (yogurts are delivered 48 hours after production)
Free Wi-Fi (lots of energy spots)

Yoghurt Barn has turned an everyday affordable product into a fun and creative experience, produced and presented with passion. It takes conscious retailing to the extreme by striving to offer 100% organic products in an entirely eco-friendly store. The concept proves it is possible to combine convenience with experience. Whatever your shopping goal, ‘fast food,’ cozy lunching or working, it is all possible at Yoghurt Barn.

Conclusion

The consumer’s desire to become better educated and more demanding about the products they consume brings significant advantages to retailers that adopt sustainable and environmentally-friendly business practices. A retailer that supports their local community can become a reputable leader that is sure to be rewarded with loyal customers who share the same values.

About Retail Innovations 9

Retail lnnovations 9 is J.C. Williams Group’s and Ebeltoft Group’s (www.ebeltoftgroup.com) latest compilation of leading edge innovation, highlighting individual ideas and the key themes that emerge from studying the whole.

This edition features 54 of the best innovation cases from 23 countries and pinpoints the nine global innovation trends.

To obtain a copy of this publication, send an email with your name, company name, and telephone number to info@jcwg.com.

Real Estate & Community Master Planning

Your vision for a thriving business is integral to any economic infrastructure; your customers are at the centre of all planning and decisions. Creating a clear and concise roadmap that factors every facet of the customers’ experience is crucial for success. Your plan must consider vendors, tenants, landlords, developers, government agencies, and other facilities that your retail space will benefit or affect. Your collaboration with the JCWG team will ensure a detailed master plan that includes clear objectives supported by extensive research that considers every component of your business community.

Resources and Techniques:

Retail demand calculations
Trade area analysis
Market gaps and opportunities
Zoning and space requirements
Retail supply audits
Trade area psychographics and demographics
Pedestrian and traffic counts

Expert Witness & Advisory Services

There are many moving parts in a customer-centric business, and you may encounter legal setbacks and disputes at any stage of your business journey. Your collaboration with the JCWG team will provide you with expert reports and testimony in trials and hearings while advising legal counsel to ensure that you have the necessary resources required to manage and support litigation impacting every aspect of your case.

Resources and Techniques:

Discovery
Expert report preparation
Trial testimony
Business strategy review
Determination of damages

Concept Development & Space Planning

Concept Development services include background research, branding, right-sizing, capital budgeting all the way to detail design. JCWG can work from an idea or join a design process to enlighten, validate and support implementation. A vacant property can also be best filled from a concept development exercise.

It may be your idea, our research results, or both. Once a potential retail concept is identified is needs to be developed and validated. The JCWG team has the capacity to develop the concept characteristics from aesthetic & functional planning, design standards, location requirements, capital requirement and validation through demand, trade area and benchmarking analysis.

Resources and Techniques:

Functional planning and programming
Concept design and development of design standards
Detailed design services including base building requirements
Marketing plan and strategy execution
Management and staffing selection
Tenant mix and product curation
Short term and long term KPI definition and monitoring
Operational audits
Expertise sourcing and partnering
Site selection, design development and project enduring, operations human resources, start up inventories, and capital costing
Physical programming and concept design

Branding & Marketing

Winning brand equity must happen on so many platforms in today’s retail world with a consistent message and quantifiable return. JCWG understands comprehensive internal and external brand messaging that identifies the uniqueness and market advantage of a retail busines. Your collaboration with the JCWG team will strengthen your marketing strategy to build stronger connections with your audience through your brand.

Resources and Techniques:

Brand assessments
Unique selling proposition, noble purpose, and differentiation authentication
Brand and marketing implementation
Communications plans
Insightful transition to row market share from research
Customer feedback and product evaluation

Research & Insights

The amount of data available to customer-centric businesses can be overwhelming. Understanding the metrics’ influence on strategy is imperative to success. An experienced eye can save a lot of time and misguided investment to provide relevant and actionable insights.

The JCWG project team collaborative approach provides access to unparalleled experience to mine and capitalize on.

Resources and Techniques:

Custom market studies and benchmarking
Market sounding and listening
Case studies
Global resources through our International partners, The Ebeltoft Group
Demand assessment and market share analysis
Daytime population data, tracking, and analyzing where consumers are and when
Quantitative consumer data gathering, both published and unpublished, from various external sources and our personal database gathered from industry projects
Qualitative data gathering and insights
Interviews (consumer and executive), focus groups, online surveys, and social listening
Employee and customer motivational metrics
Research validation and interpretation to insights

Retail Strategy

JCWG supports retail-related businesses with a proprietary approach that is based on a strategic model developed through nearly 50 years of experience guiding clients. Retail strategy must translate vision into a plan which addresses the client’s resources to implement. JCWG focuses on delivering strategies with vision and is supported by a ‘nuts and bolts’ approach to operationalizing. JCWG applies strategic thinking processes and market research to develop or revitalize your strategy.

Resources and Techniques:

Definition and prioritization of client goals, needs and wants
Thought starter and results oriented workshops to enhance planning team input and integration of JCWG research and expertise
Current situation snapshot, trade area analysis, market gap, and competitive audits (physical and digital)
Tenant and product curation, clustering, and right sizing
Tailored processes to match client cultural, operational, and financial needs
Productivity metrics and comparisons
Active, fun, and energized learning, sharing, and strategizing experiences
Financial modelling incorporating research findings
Risk analysis and mitigation
Threat and opportunity analysis
Omnichannel platform harmonization
Stakeholder and financing approval support

Retail Innovations 9: Global Retail Trends 2013 Part 6—Hyper Local

Fab India (New Delhi – India)

Yoghurt Barn (Utrecht – Netherlands)

Conclusion

About Retail Innovations 9

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