How the Raymond group realized its in-store omnichannel potential

‍Overview

Raymond Group is a renowned Indian branded fabric & fashion retailer with over 10+ brands and 700 retail outlets pan-India. With a portfolio brands such as Park Avenue, ColorPlus, Raymond RTW, Parx, Ethnix, and more, Raymond is already a big household name in the Indian market. With changing tides, the group sought a tech partner which not only worked closely to figure out the gaps in the sales process, with all the partner brands but also ensured a better customer experience. Entered Fynd in a small partnership with 20 Raymond RTW and ColorPlus stores.

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A new concept

Raymond did a pilot of Fynd Store with 20 stores and 2 brands, Raymond RTW & ColorPlus. The initial idea was to ensure these stores adopt omnichannel, and we replicate the learnings across the other stores. However, there were certain challenges in introducing new technology at these stores due to:

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• Orthodox way of working at retail stores
• Less awareness of the potential of omnichannel of the ground level

Fynd integrated the inventory of all these stores, made a custom domain that appealed to the brand’s voice, and began operations. 

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Initial hiccups

While the idea of omnichannel felt fascinating, it wasn’t backed by a smooth inventory flow. Stores had trouble searching for a product on the Fynd Store application. PNRs (product not reflecting) became a regular norm. There was not much push from the manager’s end because everything was new for them. Cancellations were at an all-time high because fulfilling stores did not know how to process a single order in case of splitting of an ATV orders (i.e. orders that come in bundles due to BOGO or other promotions). Fynd Account Managers (AMs) & Customer Success Managers (CSMs) played a crucial role in the initial days by ensuring a personal approach for every order and for every store.

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Pandemic & growth of omnichannel

Raymonds realized that omnichannel is a crucial part of the post-pandemic world. Even with the slow success of previous stores, Fynd was handed over 200+ stores from 7 brands: Park Avenue, Parx, Colorplus, Raymond RTW, Ethnix, Styleplay, Parx Women. 

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Now was the time for the entire Raymond Group Area Sales Managers & Regional Sales Managers (ASMs and RMs) to work together with Fynd Account & Customer Success Managers (AMs and CSMs) to ensure success on omnichannel. The brand heads recognized the success of Fynd Store in the West & South regions which was then replicated in other zones. Fynd was also included in the store SOPs—ordering know-how, order processing, ad hoc escalations were all part of the store playbook. 

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Structured approach → Sustainable results

Stores inherently realized that Fynd Store was a part of their day-to-day store operations. Packing hours, cancellation %, placed to pick-up hours, prepaid order % were all tracked along with the Fynd Store targets at all the stores. 

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App activity report shared by the Fynd team was a good indicator of the store-wise adoption of Fynd Store. No. of app opens, app open to order ratio were tracked daily by the Raymond team ASMs.

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Raymond's team realized that replicating the success of omnichannel is a network effect. Key performing stores were identified pan-India and they were celebrated locally within their network. This ensured that the staff of performing stores communicated their learnings to their fellow store staff on how to leverage Fynd Store. 

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This network effect was a major driver in the adoption. Soon stores that were participating in omnichannel activities became familiar faces in driving sales across the Raymond Group brands.

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Leveraging other avenues to sell

Raymond’s custom domains for home shopping

Raymond's team leveraged Fynd’s unique capability to create region & category-wise real-time digital catalogs—which work like pseudo-brand microsites. This enabled the brand to gain traction on social media, and ultimately gain new customers. 

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Cross-selling and home shopping made easy with Fynd

Most of the stores in Raymond’s brands are based in tier 2&3 cities. With limited stock comes limited avenues to sell. Fynd was already connecting the inventory of different brand stores. This gave stores an opportunity to upsell and cross-sell to their customers. ColorPlus was soon selling the stock of Park Avenue and vice versa. Raymond RTW stores had the inventory of Ethnix to sell during the wedding season. This cross leveraging of inventory across sub-brands empowered them to sell more than the limited options that were allotted to them. 

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Summing it all up

Formulating and then driving the omnichannel strategy with umbrella partner brands is never easy. Fynd Account Managers, along with the Customer Success Managers allotted to every store ensured that every store gets a personalized experience in the adoption of new tech.

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It is important to work backward—from what the brand needs to what we can offer. Hence the role of the Account Manager becomes important in the success of each brand. Reach out to us at brands@fynd.com to know how you can become omnichannel inclusive. 

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