Ahad Retail Ventures: Fuelling New India’s Retail Success Story

The Retail Industry is in a disruption phase globally. In India, the share of organized retail business is expected to touch approx twenty per cent by 2020 and the Indian E-commerce Industry is likely to touch a hundred billion US Dollars mark. With the consumers becoming more aware and spoilt with opportunities, the future belongs to those who are able to define and cater to the long term needs of the consumers with product & fashion-oriented benefits. Catering to these new-age customers who want services and brands at the snap of a finger or rather click of a cursor is Ahad Retail Ventures.

Ahad Retail Ventures is delivering excellent franchising services to international brands as well as best real estate and consulting services to local, and offshore clients. The following excerpt showcases how they have been doing it.

Kindly brief us about your company and its inception story.

Ahad Retail Ventures was formed with humble beginnings in 1978 at Bangalore through the efforts of Mr. Ifthikar Saleem a Bangalore based entrepreneur. He initially started with Dolphin Stores at High Streets of Bangalore and over the years slowly evolved into what we are today. Ahad Retail Ventures today is a Core member of the ‘Retailers Association of India’ and has over 100 employees on its payroll with an unrivaled experience of partnering with over 40 International and premium brands over the years. Today we facilitate retail for brands including Creyate Custom Clothing (U.S. Polo), Delsey Paris), Fab Alley & Indya, Flying Machine, Ed Hardy, The Children’s Place and many more across high Streets, Malls & Luxury Malls. With an enviable and conspicuous presence in Bangalore,

Brief us about the Founder/CEO and his/her contribution towards the upliftment of the company.

Mr. Ifthikar is a reputable Indian Retailer and Realtor. He is a seasoned expert in the industry with over four decades of experience in Retail and Real Estate industry. He has received a plethora of awards and critical acclaim for his immense contribution to the Industry including Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award, Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award, Nations Pride of the Millennium Award, A listing in the 100 Most Influential Retail Leaders. Under his watch and leadership, Ahad Retail is on the verge of ushering in a renaissance in the industry.

What are the distinct products and services provided by the company?

1. Delivering excellent franchising services to international brands
2. At Ahad Retail, our local and offshore clients receive the best real estate and consulting services.
3. We develop a brilliant strategy that takes care of location, kind of store and its chain, selling, in-store experience, sales and after-sales services for your products and to be sure it’s one huge success. In all an end to end retail service.

What are the company’s/CEO’s view about the current opportunities and challenges in the Retail Industry?

Globally the retail Industry in a disruption phase. In India, the share of organized retail business is expected to touch approx 20% by 2020 and the Indian E-commerce Industry is likely to touch 125$-150$ Billion. With the consumers becoming more aware and spoilt with opportunities the future belongs to those who are very clearly able to define and cater to the long term needs of the consumers with product & fashion oriented benefits. The unorganized retail sector however continues to stay a challenge and an opportunity. Indian Retail drew 1300 Cr of Investment in 2018 and Indian retail is coming of age with many new Indian Retail houses learning from the international markets.

How is the company incorporating technological advancement for offering better solutions? Please mention awards received, if any.

Our back-end operations were recently moved onto a custom built cloud system allowing us to streamline our process and resulting in better efficiency and effectiveness in management. Ahad Retail Ventures has also been using technology across for CRM, Social Media Marketing, Partner Management, as well as vendor management. All of these IT adoptions has helped us stay in pace with the industry. We have also adopted Omni channel across few of our stores through our business partners and this has certainly helped us improve our performance and top line.

How does the company keep employees motivated and handles it’s societal responsibility?

Ahad Retail Ventures is an equal and social employer. We are compliant with all necessary labor rules and regulations of the government. Our employees are our assets we treat them with respect and dignity and enable them to achieve their career ambitions. We also ensure that the employees engage in regular mentoring and feedback sessions to continually improve themselves and ensure our customers get the best in class service.

What would be your advice for the budding startups and entrepreneurs in the industry?

Stay focused on the profit. Focus on Sustainable growth. Stay Bootstrapped. Contribute to the society.

Brief us about the company’s future perspectives.

Ahad Retail Ventures is currently at a very exciting phase in the growth story. We have evolved and repositioned ourselves as a premium & luxury retailer in the market over the years and the future looks bright and beautiful for our esteemed clientele. We are growing and actively evaluating opportunities that are aligned with our business plans and our vision.