<p>The last few months have been daunting for all of us as the whole world came to a grinding halt to battle one of the most challenging humanitarian crisis of the century. The coronavirus has been the ultimate test of resilience for millions of people across the globe. Coping with the sudden shutdown of the economy was extremely detrimental and now finding ways to re-start is a great challenge while safeguarding health and safety of all stakeholders.</p>.<p>Covid-19 has been the one of its kind test for CEOs and no experience of dealing with past crises is coming in handy to deal with the evolving situation. The immediate impact of this pandemic and its aftermath, which is yet to be fully seen, has derailed the entire economy and human life posing serious existential questions that need thorough introspection, logical re-calibration and prudent decisions to attain long term sustainability of organisations and its stakeholders.</p>.<p>Raymond as an organization, in its formidable journey of 95 years has weathered many storms during the course of its existence from license raj to liberalisation and has come out<br />strong of all crises. During the last three months, we have taken business decisions that are in the best interest of Raymond. We are once again geared up to manoeuvre through the<br />tough times with our renewed agility and our core strengths along with our deep rooted values of Trust, Excellence and Quality.</p>.<p><strong>Rolling up the shutters</strong></p>.<p>As Indian economy is gradually opening up, we have started re-opening our stores and 1000+ Raymond stores are now open for business. It’s also heartening to see that our loyal<br />consumers are waiting for our shops to resume business. Reviving consumption is critical to restart the economic engine. Creating a safe shopping experience is indeed pivotal and we have laid out detailed guidelines to ensure that all necessary precautions are undertaken to help customers to shop at our stores with the confidence. Store sanitisation, temperature checks at entry with infrared thermometers, alcohol sanitizers, face masks, hand gloves and monitoring entry and exit of each customer are part of the standard operating procedure in locations our stores have opened.</p>.<p>Store managers are encouraged appointments for customers especially during peak hours and services like Tailoring & MTM in advance over call in order to avoid large group of customers in the store. We are ensuring all garments are sanitised and ironed and are left for 24 hours untouched, even the garments post trial are being sanitized and steam ironed. Trial rooms are also sanitized after every customer visit. Though the operational store count varies now everyday due to sporadic lockdowns, we are trying our best to reach our consumers. Reopening of the economy entails significant challenges on a daily basis that need quick resolution to maintain momentum.</p>.<p><strong>Revving up for the New Normal</strong></p>.<p>The current pandemic has rewritten the rules for business with consumer behaviour changing by the day and we see the rising thrust on digital. This increased pace of digital adoption will open up new business avenues for the inherent potential of our nation. Of course, there will be a fine balance of Brick & Mortar retail that will be required to sustain business in the Textile and Apparel category wherein consumers still believe in experiencing the product quality through touch and feel. The raging pandemic has challenged the nomenclature that India has been accustomed to. In due course of time, the transformation ushered in by adversity will guide into economic opportunity for our nation.</p>.<p><em><span class="italic">(The writer is Chairman and Managing Director, Raymond)</span></em></p>
<p>The last few months have been daunting for all of us as the whole world came to a grinding halt to battle one of the most challenging humanitarian crisis of the century. The coronavirus has been the ultimate test of resilience for millions of people across the globe. Coping with the sudden shutdown of the economy was extremely detrimental and now finding ways to re-start is a great challenge while safeguarding health and safety of all stakeholders.</p>.<p>Covid-19 has been the one of its kind test for CEOs and no experience of dealing with past crises is coming in handy to deal with the evolving situation. The immediate impact of this pandemic and its aftermath, which is yet to be fully seen, has derailed the entire economy and human life posing serious existential questions that need thorough introspection, logical re-calibration and prudent decisions to attain long term sustainability of organisations and its stakeholders.</p>.<p>Raymond as an organization, in its formidable journey of 95 years has weathered many storms during the course of its existence from license raj to liberalisation and has come out<br />strong of all crises. During the last three months, we have taken business decisions that are in the best interest of Raymond. We are once again geared up to manoeuvre through the<br />tough times with our renewed agility and our core strengths along with our deep rooted values of Trust, Excellence and Quality.</p>.<p><strong>Rolling up the shutters</strong></p>.<p>As Indian economy is gradually opening up, we have started re-opening our stores and 1000+ Raymond stores are now open for business. It’s also heartening to see that our loyal<br />consumers are waiting for our shops to resume business. Reviving consumption is critical to restart the economic engine. Creating a safe shopping experience is indeed pivotal and we have laid out detailed guidelines to ensure that all necessary precautions are undertaken to help customers to shop at our stores with the confidence. Store sanitisation, temperature checks at entry with infrared thermometers, alcohol sanitizers, face masks, hand gloves and monitoring entry and exit of each customer are part of the standard operating procedure in locations our stores have opened.</p>.<p>Store managers are encouraged appointments for customers especially during peak hours and services like Tailoring & MTM in advance over call in order to avoid large group of customers in the store. We are ensuring all garments are sanitised and ironed and are left for 24 hours untouched, even the garments post trial are being sanitized and steam ironed. Trial rooms are also sanitized after every customer visit. Though the operational store count varies now everyday due to sporadic lockdowns, we are trying our best to reach our consumers. Reopening of the economy entails significant challenges on a daily basis that need quick resolution to maintain momentum.</p>.<p><strong>Revving up for the New Normal</strong></p>.<p>The current pandemic has rewritten the rules for business with consumer behaviour changing by the day and we see the rising thrust on digital. This increased pace of digital adoption will open up new business avenues for the inherent potential of our nation. Of course, there will be a fine balance of Brick & Mortar retail that will be required to sustain business in the Textile and Apparel category wherein consumers still believe in experiencing the product quality through touch and feel. The raging pandemic has challenged the nomenclature that India has been accustomed to. In due course of time, the transformation ushered in by adversity will guide into economic opportunity for our nation.</p>.<p><em><span class="italic">(The writer is Chairman and Managing Director, Raymond)</span></em></p>