Planet M: Full-On Entertainment!
Planet M: Full-On Entertainment!

Sanjay Karwa, CEO at Planet M Retail Ltd, has taken entertainment to a new level. Under his guidance Planet M has reached new heights with expanding merchandise (that includes apparel, gaming consoles, mobile phones and gift items), stores and foot prints. Excerpts from his interview with Sahiba Sachdev…

 

Sahiba Sachdev (SS): Give us an insight into your company.

 

Sanjay Karwa (SK): Planet M has a footprint in over 35 cities in India, which includes many tier II and tier III cities like Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam, Dehradun, Jaipur, Raipur, Mohali, Indore and currently has 210 operating stores across India.

 

SS: The parent company Videocon has changed the colour of its logo, has Planet M followed suit?

 

SK: We have moved from Black as colour to Yellow. Yellow is a bright and a more youthful colour and is a perfect representation for the young at heart. It has added great zest to the look and feel of our stores. Our logo continues to remain the same as it’s an ideal expression of the products we retail.

 

SS: How much do you think display of a store matters in your category?

 

SK: Organised retail is largely about display and experience. It is this feature that brings distinction between organised and unorganised retail. Many products that we retail are impulse products. These certainly require a good display to be sold off.

 

SS: Who chooses the music that has been displayed in your stores? Who decides the store display?

 

SK: This is mutually decided by the Category Team at the Head Office and Store Team on field.

 

SS: Referring to the launch of the “KAOS” T-shirts, what inspired the move?

 

SK: Planet M T-Shirts are one of the tools of brand building for us. This category has a direct connect with our target audiences, who are related to music and entertainment. Our T-shirts have seen a good take-off and fan following despite us not being an apparel shopping destination.

 

SS: As Datacom telecom services have been launched by Videocon, are Datacom SIM being offered at Planet M as part of any promotional strategy? What other promotional strategies do you employ?

 

SK: We have consumer offers that are ongoing at various circles through the month. Our aim is to develop a sustained relation with customers. For instance in Punjab if you buy a VMS SIM, you get an SMS pack or STD pack free.

 

SS: Planet M has expanded its product portfolio and added gaming consoles, fashion accessories and apparel. How has it changed your customer base and business?

 

SK: The categories that we have added on have been taken into consideration after sensing the changing requirements of our customers. We are attempting to provide our customers a complete range of entertainment led products under one roof. Adding categories has helped us gain new customers and sustain existing customers.

 

SS: Are your stores company owned or franchised? If franchised, who is your master franchisee and what are the requirements (area and investment) to open a franchised Planet M store?

 

SK: Most of our stores are company owned. We are however planning to take the franchisee route. To take up a Planet M franchisee one needs to have minimum 500sq ft of area in a good location, should be financially sound, and should have passion for music/telecom business.

 

We also have flagship stores which have the area of 2000 plus sq ft and super stores which have the area of 1000-1500 sq ft. We don’t have a master franchisee concept.

 

SS: How much does selling phones, clothing and other merchandise contribute to your overall revenue?

 

SK: Retailing mobiles contributes a significant portion of our top line since an average mobile cost is heavy. Gaming and other related categories are growing in terms of market acceptability and requirement. We see them contributing heavily to top line as time moves.

 

SS: What are your expansion plans?

SK: In terms of size, we plan to expand up to a massive 500 retail stores in the next two years. Also, taking into account the lifestyle changes of our customers, we are planning to go digital in the near future. Gaming is going to be the main focus area.

 

 

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