Visual Merchandising and Retail Design – July 2019

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Rajendra Raje, Director, Lotus

O

ffering a diverse range of world-

famous brands like Apple, Samsung,

Sony, LG, Philips, Videocon, Dell,

Lenovo, Panasonic, HP, Nikon, Canon,

Whirlpool, Hitachi all under one roof, Lotus

has achieved remarkable success in its

journey of just 19 years. “We started our

first store in 2000 which was followed by

two more stores in Indore. The first store

from Indore was in 2009 and after that we

ventured to different cities - Bhopal, Ujjain

& Raipur,” says Rajendra Raje, Director, Lotus.

Having established its presence in 7 cities

with 14 stores, Lotus plans to add another

store to its kitty by opening a new outlet

in Bhilai. The store size of the outlets varies

from 8000 sq ft to 15,000 sq ft.

One of the most important aspects behind

the success of Lotus has been its customer

centric approach. “We deliver what

customer wants. We have always believed in

the concept of 4C’s - Comfort, Convenience,

Choice, Care. Later we added two more

C’s in our offerings - Competitiveness,

Commitment,” explains Raje.

Riding high on the ‘6 C’s’ of success

In terms of space and ambience, Lotus

stores are comparatively bigger and

brighter in size than any other electronics

store. The huge space of the showrooms

enables customers to get better visibility

and feel of the products in one place.

In terms of store design and visual

merchandising, Rajendra Raje believes, “It is

important to keep up with the recent trends

of in-store design, new technology and

visual merchandising. We try to provide a

good shopping experience to consumer in

Popularly considered the one-stop-destination for quality electronic products in central India, Lotus, launched

on 5th April, 2000, is driven by the concept of 6C’s- Comfort, Convenience, Choice, Care, Competitiveness and

Commitment.

terms of ambience and quality of interaction

we have. This is where dynamic signages

and store aesthetics play a huge role.”

This is also where the role of VM becomes

important. As Raje points out, electronics

is a segment where the frequency of

consumer purchases is not that high. So

while setting up a shop is easy, sustaining

it is difficult. Hence, there is a need for

professional agencies to partner with

for mutual business gain and growth.

“There are not many experts in visual

merchandising in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. VM

is an ongoing activity and there is a need for

more professional VM agencies in Indore. If

we prosper, the agency we partner with also

grows,” says Raje.

The emergence of E-commerce has also

brought in a few challenges to brick and

mortar retailing of electronics, but the

overall consumer buying has not been

influenced much in this market. Raje sums it

up thus, “Shopping is an experience in itself

that no digital device or online portal can

provide. However, E-commerce has thrown

a challenge in terms of the pricing. But then

end of the day, the customer will look at the

overall package, and not just the price.” l

Lotus

July 2019