Retail Association of India:
Strengthening the retail sector in India
The Retailers Association of India (RAI) is now going from strength to strength with its vision to develop practices and processes to help organised retailing prosper in the country. RAI is the body that encourages, develops, facilitates and supports retailers to become modern and adopt best practices that will delight customers. RAI has a three charter aim of Retail Development, Facilitation and Propagation.
The country's key retailers have been spearheading the growth of RAI. Founded with just 8 members in 2004, RAI has grown to cross the mark of 750 members in 2011. Talking about the inception, Kumar Rajagopalan, chief executive officer, RAI, says,
"Every association has been created because of the need of the hour and need of the time powered by a few people in the industry who otherwise are competitors but coming together and becoming collaborators to nurture a particular industry. The genesis of RAI stems from a similar philosophy. As consumerism in India was growing, retail too was witnessing an altogether new phase with new players coming in picture, modernization becoming need of the hour etc. There was no single body to represent the interest of retailers forget a ministry. That is what led to some of the retailers coming together and laying the foundation of RAI."
The thrust areas for RAI to be more effective to the retail community are Government Advocacy, Talent Development programs and Industry Creation Activities.
Advocacy:
Retail is still not accorded an industry status in India. RAI is in continuous dialogue with the Government for granting 'industry' status to retail. RAI strongly represents to the Government on various issues having adverse impact on the growth of Retail Industry in India.
RAI is focused on building talent for the retail sector by introducing meticulously designed educational programs, courses and interactive seminars. RAI's Talent Development programs have been spread across the lifecycle of retail employees. Various tie-ups for all levels of talent development in retail ensure that these are effective and sought after.
RAI has joined up with the Government of India's National Skill development Corporation (NSDC) to set up the Retail Sector Skill Council to focus on skill development for Retail industry sector. This is with the objective of bringing together all stakeholders to manage current and future skill needs of Retail sector.
To create a viable pool of retail talent, RAI has tied up with Timesjobs for an exclusive retail recruitment portal www.rai.timesjobs.com. The portal is available to RAI members at special rates. This should help in attracting talent from various industries into retail and also give viable opportunities for people employed in retail.
Industry Creation Activities:
Retail Technology Conclave (ReTechCon)
ReTechCon has become the largest event of its kind in the technology space and technology solution providers vie with one another and often together to provide sustainable solutions to grow the industry. ReTechCon is widely attended by delegates from the CEOs / CIOs and Business Heads of the Retail Industry
Retail Leadership Summit (RLS)
The Retail Leadership Summit (RLS) is a platform where Global Retail Business Leaders share their thoughts and best practices with Indian retailers. RLS aims to facilitate an opportunity for key decision makers and industry stakeholders in retail to interact with Leading Global Retailers.
Manning Modern Retail in India
To address the manpower challenges facing the retail industry and to chalk out concrete workable strategies and exchange ideas that will contribute to the enrichment of manpower and to the transformation of skills, Retailers Association of India, the industry body for organized retailing in India created a Retail Industry Forum for Meeting Manpower Needs, Manning Modern Retailing (MMR) on 2nd April 2007. Needless to say, the success of the event was such that it has become an annual feature of RAI.
Excellence in Store Operations (ESOPs)
Today's retailers face a number of challenges in delivering customer delight and maintaining customer loyalty. Having well-trained and knowledgeable employees using the right systems and processes can help give the cutting edge, one needs. Retailers Association of India as an ongoing activity organizes a 2 day Workshop on “Excellence in Store Operations”, which focuses on the means of achieving great retail performance by virtue of enhancing the store productivity and profitability.
International Affliations
RAI is a member of the Forum for International Retail Association Executives (FIRAE) of NRF, United States of America. The Forum for International Retail Association Executives seeks to promote the free exchange of information among national retail trade associations around the world and works to identify opportunities for cooperation in research and education. The FIRAE has members in Asia, Europe, South America and North America. RAI is the Indian member to this international forum that enables the transfer and exchange of best practices in retailing.
For more information:
Zainab Morbiwala
Retailers Association of India (RAI)
Tel: +91 22 28269527 - 29
Fax: +91 22 28269536
www.rai.net.in