Make in India- Promise and Potential
Promise and Potential: Shivani Lorai is a Business Consultant with specialist exposure to Business Development and Market Entry Strategies for retail brands.
The emerging markets suffered a dramatic burst in 2013 and India’s growth rate had fallen to its lowest level in a decade and international investors got cold feet shifting their interest to risk free opportunities. Tagged as one of the so-called ‘Fragile Five’ alongside the other four BRICS Nations,Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, India was on the brink of severe economic duress. The leaders of India’s 1.2 billion citizens start looking into what does it take to succeed and escape the severity of economic failure.
A timely response to a critical situation, Make in India initiative was launched in September 2014. Part of a wider set of nation-building initiatives, was created to transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub .
Shivani Lorai is a Business Consultant with specialist exposure to Business Development and Market Entry Strategies for retail brands. With over 18 years of sales, marketing and strategy roles across IT, Hospitality, Real Estate and Media industries, Shivani’s well-rounded experience has enabled numerous brands to upscale their market reach, customer engagement and hone strategic advantages.
Pride and Promise -India is a pool of extraordinary talent
Most recently, Shivani has played a key role in the leadership team for the Fashion Retail vertical at India’s largest retail media company. While being instrumental in delivering 40% YoY growth over three consecutive fiscals at the organisation, she has also gathered rich expertise on Fashion Marketing & Distribution, Food Retail, Retail Technology, In-Store Experience and Brand Entry Strategy.
Armed with an extensive understanding of and robust connection to India’s fashion and food retail sectors, Shivani is well-placed to counsel fashion and food retail companies on entry and expansion strategies for India and across international markets such as the UK, EU, Israel and USA.
We reached out to Shivani, who shared her perspective on India’s Promise and Potential and it’s commitment to growth. This is what Shivani shared with us:
What is the story behind your passion?
Home to one of world’s fastest growing economies and the world’s youngest population, India is a market replete with opportunity, but also great complexity. Modern retail formats currently account for less than 10% of the overall retail sector, reflecting the tremendous untapped potential for domestic and international consumer brands. With technology profoundly transforming shopping behaviours and retail experiences, brands are in need of granulated insights on local market shifts and aspirations. Given the pace of ongoing economic, technological and societal changes, consumer-facing brands cannot afford to overlook real-time market intelligence on local consumption trends, challenges and opportunities.
On the other side and concurrently, the Indian government’s powerful ‘Make in India’ initiative is rapidly remaking the country into a world-class manufacturing and sourcing hub. However, while international majors across industries are increasingly looking to benefit from India’s investment-friendly policies, converting opportunity into sustainable businesses requires deep knowledge of the complex Indian market. And that is where we come in.
What do you offer?
Successfully setting foot in a new market is a challenging proposition for any business at any time, but the challenges India presents are unique, complex and multifaceted. Often compared to the EU in terms of its diversity and dynamism, India is several distinct markets in one. Successful navigation of these intricacies can only come through deep local market intelligence, resulting in accurate, swift decision-making and strategy development. Our service portfolio offers:
- Analysing brands’ needs/expectations from their business frameworks
- Licensing, manufacturing, franchising, liaison advisory and support
- Identifying and finalising deals with channel partners
- Distribution network development with local partners
- Setting up legal, financial and HR infrastructure
Why you?
Being a boutique retail advisory outfit, we excel in delivering personalised client services. Unencumbered by trappings of a large organisation, our turnaround times are agile and high responsive to clients’ unique needs. Our no-frills approach and execution cuts to the chase and delivers information and solutions uniquely tailored for each client, much faster than the industry average. And, needless to mention, our lean infrastructure also enables a low cost burden on clients’ budgets.
What is the genesis of your inspiration?
New York-headquartered Authentic Brands Group LLC. Founded less than a decade ago in 2010, this brand development and marketing powerhouse is already a 9 billion USD company. With a focus on providing brands with the sharpest marketing tools in the shortest possible time frames, it’s stunning growth is testament to the need for – and the power of – actionable market intelligence.
