When ‘Sindbad the Sailor’ returned from his voyages, he narrated his endeavors and sold his collections from his expedition in the market. Little did he know that one day this process would turn out to be a game changer in the face of industrialization and give rise to the retail industry. That set out a hawk to the land of opportunities, India.
The Indian market, summarized as the land of high complexities in terms of wide geography and distinct consumer preferences varying by each region necessitated the need for localization. It was thus beaming its potential for retail Industry and quickly caught up in the economy by contributing about 10% of the GDP
In the 1990s, the canvas of Indian economy portrayed the turmoil of financial imbalance with the depreciation of Indian rupee projecting an interrogative art on the future of the Indian retail industry. The odds summed up stating that labor productivity was very less compared to their peers. Also, the lack of infrastructure denied India from stepping on to the pedestal of the global economy and eventually leading to rising inflation.
The renaissance of Indian Retail Industry arrived with the laws allowing FDI. Attracting big players it also gave Indians a glimpse of a global village. However, the vision for indigenous market reign was still incomplete, until 1994 when a boy at his early 20s decided to revamp the retail industry singlehandedly and thus began the realm of Derby.
Vijay Kapoor, a first generation entrepreneur gratified the Indian retail industry by narrowing the gap of trade capital and consumerism in opposite directions. There opened the doors for the next big thing in the retail industry in India, The E-Commerce Industry.
“Money is an amazing by-product but a point of focus, by making others successful in your business process, you will eventually become successful” - Vijay Kapoor.
With ever-growing market size, the competitors are dueling using offline as well online platforms giving birth to e-commerce, steering Indian economy into a digital arena and not sweating on the need of real estates to strengthen the retail world.
India, on the forefront with favorable demographics, entry of Derby opened a dimension increasing urbanization and creating a need for Indian products, letting Indian retail sector glimpse global market by pushing over geographical and financial boundaries.
Hyper-networking is the new black of industrialization. Vijay Kapoor added the cherry on top. He let innovation and business grow hand in hand by setting by multiple chains and outlets coupled with design studios to provide distinct and trend-setting fashion across the nation. Data and technology hold the potential to redefine the future of retail business both online as well as offline that makes training and development of labor and management for higher retail productivity need of the hour.
Leading by example, Vijay Kapoor envisioned a goal of creating a lineage of 1000 entrepreneurs by 2025, leading to a brighter sun shining over Indian Retail Industry and Employment sector.
Derby echoes by being an epitome to the world by emphasizing on freedom of fashion and success, not by establishing a network of customers instead, a community of believers contributing to all spheres of life. Having said –
“Success comes to those who happily celebrate the success of others”.