Vinod Sawhny, president and chief operating officer, Bharti Retail talks to Forbes India about the retail business, learnings so far and also what it is like to partner a biggie like Walmart
Bharti Retail has had a slow start. How far have you reached?
We have been around for 16 months now. We believed in “go slow but be sure”. We wanted to get our model right. We had begun our work before 2007 in terms of consumer research etc.
In what way did it help to have Walmart as a partner?
Once we signed up with Walmart, they helped us [figure out] things like the science behind retailing, how to modularise the stores, and how things are laid out. While a few things are standard all over the world little nuances vary in terms of how women shop etc.
What is Bharthi Retail’s differentiator in the market? Why should a consumer come to your store?
There are three or four things [among] our differentiating strategy: We wanted to be the most trusted leaders and offer the lowest prices as a retailer. We will not just promise but also deliver. So our prices at the retail store are two to seven percent cheaper than other retail stores and it’s a promise. We have the plank of best price and we follow that.