With 15 long years of association with In-Store Asia, one of the leading fixture manufacturers in India, Renam, has many crowns to wear today. Renam is the only Indian member of Gobal In-store Communication (GIC) and has been instrumental in establishing globally best benchmark in retail fixture production. Today, Renam has a sizeable export share and has recently dabbled into retail design business as well.
Ragesh Bhatia, Director Renam, © Renam
Renam was formed in 2016 and became the leading fixture company in just the first year of operations. How did you manage to pull this off?
This was not what we had planned or expected at all, but when people with a passion and experience come together things just explode. With the retail boom in India, brands looking to grow were actively seeking out partners with infrastructure and processes and our merger created a company perfect for this. With the merger we also came on board with some decade old client relationships that allowed us to build a strong base or growth. It has been a roller coaster ride though, and we have had huge challenges at every step – what has helped us to get through is determination, a positive attitude and some amazing people on the team.
What is unique about your company and what does it stand for?
Everything we do is centered around our clients. Our growth, our infrastructure, the team profile, etc are carved on the basis of the changes in the market. We strive to be a dependable partner to the companies we work with. What unique is that we are quick to adapt, scale and change as needed. Setting up a new unit for a project including renting space, buying machines and building a team in 15 days could only be possible in Renam. What is even more interesting is that we don’t believe in sales projections or setting growth targets – just focusing on each client each project and delivering it to the best of our ability.
© Renam
How did you begin exports and why do you strongly believe that India is the next hub of fixture production in the world?
We launched in Vegas at Globalshop, and had no idea what to expect from the world market having done only some POS exports to neighbouring countries. It was encouraging but we understood that results would take some time and tremendous efforts. Our plans got a boost when CEO of a huge European store fitting company, post his visit to our plant, remarked, “this is exactly what we do – only bigger.” So we kept pushing for 3 years and we are beginning to find good ground. A host of factors contribute to this belief on India’s story. The US – China trade war is catalyzing this process but also growth of modern retail in India is making brands aware of the Indian manufacturers. Further the infrastructure and capabilities of manufacturers is growing in what was until recently an unorganized sector. We also have a huge technically qualified work force – as we work with the West, we will be able to rapidly scale up our share in the Global markets.
You represent India at the GIC (Global In Store Communication). How has this helped you and your clients?
Brands want to provide a uniform experience to customers across the globe – GIC allows us to extend our capabilities across 15 countries ensuring a seamless experience for the brands with a single point of contact. The companies that represent each country come with decades of retail experience and are leaders in their countries. The annual conference where we share best practices keeps us abreast of the latest in retail trends and technologies across the globe to offer our clients back home. At the moment, we are also trying to replicate solutions that have worked in South America to similar clients back in India.
© Renam
What are the next steps for Renam?
As mentioned earlier, we strongly believe in the India story and will drive towards better processes and infrastructure for global clients. Further, the future is all about shopper experiences and will not be limited to conventional retail. Therefore, the obvious progression was to set up Renam Spaces which, besides providing retail design consulting will lead the way in experiential design and actively exploit technology to enrich the shopper experiences.
How would you place yourself in the global fixture manufacturer’s map, in terms of production, product quality and safety measurements?
While pitching for orders to North America and Europe, where quality and safety are absolute pre-requisites – we know that we have to be at par with any other supplier from around the world. In terms of scale, we are building up steadily. Over the past 3 years, we have worked very hard to be top of mind of anyone who is looking to source outside China.
© Renam
Keeping your long association with in-store asia in mind, what kind of platform has it proven for accelerating your business as well as in brand proposition?
We have been associated with in-store asia for the last 15 years and it was the only platform to establish our visibility for a long time. The show is a gathering for everyone in the industry and is a wonderful place for networking with old as well as new clients. Specially during our association with the show for the past 3 years has definitely elevated the way we are perceived In India and overseas. Now, we are excited to see Messe Duesseldorf and brand Euroshop bringing new opportunities to the 2020 show.
Author: Satarupa Chakraborty, Senior Manager – Conferences & PR, Messe Düsseldorf India Pvt. Ltd.
