Jay Gupta - The Loot India

TUESDAY, 12 APRIL 2011 00:00 DARE PEOPLE - INSPIRING 50 ENTREPRENEURS - 2011

Delivering complete customer satisfaction has always been the motto of this entrepreneur. Jay Guptas chain of multi-brand discount stores is now one of the most successful stores in the retail chain today. During his college days Jay stumbled upon an article in a magazine which stated chain of hotels, banks and retail as evergreen businesses. He opted for retail, initially to get into the garment and footwear business and pursued his dreams by opening some multi-brand outlets. Soon displeasure set into him for not being able to provide the customer with a complete satisfactory shopping experience.

The customers wanted variety. He then opened some exclusive brand outlets of Adidas, Weekender, Color Plus etc. The stores received a good number of footfalls but conversions were still quite low. After a lot of pondering he came up with an idea of opening factory outlets and with this the conversions drastically increased but the customer was still unhappy with the poor after sales service, no exchange, shabby shopping conditions etc. The main aim was customer satisfaction and to provide a delightful shopping experience to them and with this thought The Loot was born!

Jay Gupta,

The Loot (India) Private Ltd.

The conceptualization of the multi brand discount store occurred in 2004. It was well accepted and supported by both the customers and business associates. Soon there was multiplication of stores and the chain today has 150 stores (300000 square feet built up) throughout the country. Hailing from the small town of Raxaur located at the border at Nepal, Jay spent his childhood in Darjeeling. Right from his early years he revealed a fine business sense that transferred into an adamant goal to start his own company. He now has experience in working with almost all the brands of the country. He realized the need to bring on board professionals to run The Loot and did so by recruiting some of the best talents in the retail industry. In a mission to portray The Loot as a value retail store rather than a discount store, Jay works by one motto of Life is always tough, but one can make it easier by sharing ones dreams and creating co-dreamers to move up on the success path. Along with the employees even the partners like Levis, Lee, Wrangler, Spykar, Reebok, Adidas etc have played an important role in building up the brand. With Bollywood actor Gulshan Grover as the brand ambassador, the Loot has spread its visibility in smaller towns. There are challenges faced by the creative team to inform the people about the concept and USPs of The Loot which has been successfully managed by the marketing team. We have strongly followed being thematic in in-store communication. Ambiance plays a pivotal role in positioning of The Loot store. As soon as one enters he/she will realize the difference between an ordinary factory outlet/ seconds store and The Loot store in terms of the entire shopping experience, says Jay. It has set an amusing theme to the store by having trial rooms which look like a prison, complementing the theme of The Loot. Outside this is the Ramp, on which people can model and show-off their newly adorned clothes. This Ramp also has the creative of the barcode slashed with The Loot logo stating that they destroy the original prices

creating new discounted rates for customers. The Grab your weapon box is an innovative box embedded in the floor of the store right near the entrance which denotes that they give the customers the license to loot- Go grab your weapon and Loot. Todays customer does not look for mere shopping, but an entire process of comfort; friendly sales executives, appropriate lighting, proper stacking of the merchandise, after sales service leads to ultimate customer satisfaction and loyalty, explains Jay.

Fact Sheet
Name of the Founder:

Jay Gupta Education: Graduate from S.I.E.S College Company: The Loot (India) Private Ltd. Year of inception: 2004 Product/Services: Retail- multibrand discount stores selling garments, footwear and accessories for men, women & kids Key Clients: Young generation and other consumers Motto: Lets loot, drive, deliver and enjoy! Vision: Next door most loved global discount retailer Top line: Not Available Bottom-line: Not Available YoY Growth: 60% Investors: We are looking towards funding with the help of private equity/ IPO. IPO: Not Public Expansion Plans: To propel the growth of the company and to move to the next level. The Loot has invested skilfully in IT. The company focus is also on personnel training and great emphasis is being laid on preparing the backend to take growth to about 200 stores by June 2011. A modern fully equipped and technologically upgraded warehouse has been set up at Bhiwandi, which can accommodate about 8-10 lacs pieces of merchandise to meet the growing demand of the expansion Biggest Failure: The Loot has faced issues such as to building a competent team for growth and development and clearing internal and external misconceptions about the concept of The Loot. Particularly in convincing the consumers about the quality of the merchandise and convincing them that they are not dealing in seconds /defectives etc but original surplus product stores

Business Milestones Five years into the making, The Loot has been rapidly expanding and set up 100 stores 2009 The Loot bags four prestigious awards - Star Entrepreneur Award, Young Retail Achiever of the Year Award, Star Youth Achiever Award, Pioneering efforts in Retail Concept Creation Award - 2009 The Loot launched its first Shop-in-Shop format in Mumbai - 2010