MeRetailNews sat down with the CEO of Giordano ME, Ishwar Chugani, to learn more about the company’s journey to success, expansion plans and challenges ahead.
Founded in Hong Kong in 1981, Giordano International is growing, and today represents one of the world’s leading international apparel retailers for men, women, and children.
The beginning
Mr Chugani grew up in a family of merchants. His grandfather migrated to the Philippines from Hyderabad, a former part of India, in 1924 and set up a chain of retail stores.
He became familiar with the fundamentals of retail at a very young age, spending time in his family’s stores during weekends and school holidays, learning the ropes of the business and interacting with customers.
While in university, Mr Chugani was not sure what career path to pursue.
During his junior and senior years, Mr Chugani dabbled in the family business and joined his uncle in managing the largest family amusement centre in the Philippines from 1977 to 1979.
“However, something inside me always wanted more. I was always looking for new challenges and adventures,” says Mr Chugani casting his mind back. And his wish was fulfilled.
In 1979, he was invited by the Al Ghurair family in Dubai to set up Sindbad’s Wonderland at Al Ghurair Centre in Dubai – the first multi-format large shopping mall in the region.
In 1992, they established a franchise of Giordano for the Middle East.
In 2006, Mr Chugani was fortunate to join Giordano International’s Management Committee, which is accountable to the Board for implementing its business strategies and day-to-day operations of the group’s global business.
Six years later, they entered into a mutually acceptable agreement with local partners to take over the ownership of the Middle East business.
Currently, Mr Chugani heads the group’s business in the Middle East, India, Africa, Central Asia and Europe.
Giordano brand and what makes a good merchant
The Giordano brand operates 2,000 stores across 35 countries and looks with particular interest at emerging markets in Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia to further exploit the brand’s growth potential.
“The pillars of success for Giordano are rooted in its Quality, Knowledge, Innovation, Service and Simplicity (Q.K.I.S.S.). Additionally, our global success is also because we target all categories of people from different groups and backgrounds,” says Mr Chugani.
For Mr Chugani, the company embodies the contemporary lifestyle choices – “simplicity in design and quality in substance”.
To date, Giordano International operates 2000 stores across 35 countries in Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia, operating 255 owned and franchised stores across the region.
In the past six months, the group has launched locations across Malaysia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Mauritius and India.
“We have aggressive plans to open more stores across all existing and new markets. Along with brick-and-mortar stores, the brand is aggressively building its online business which is recording double-digit year-on-year growth,” said Mr Chugani.
Speaking about its path to success in the region, Mr Chugani shares that some strong local brands and a few global retailers in the market made it easier for Giordano to get strategic locations.
The GCC region has all the ingredients to support the growing retail market.
“We are fortunate to be in a very resilient and dynamic market. The GCC’s geographical location, especially the UAE as an international hub, will always be an asset and the continuous influx of regional and international tourism will keep feeding the growth.”
When situations change, retailers must quickly reevaluate current strategies and build on the strengths that have served them well in the past. Retailers need to decide what they are good at and what they stand for and then make sure that every aspect of their operation reflects that proposition, advises Mr Chugani.
“As retailers, we need to go back to basics to make shopping enjoyable and make sure factors such as customer service, health and safety, price point as well technology integration are taken care of so that a customer’s in-store experience is as seamless as possible. Today’s customers expect no less.
“In our business, it is essential to have a ‘merchant ‘mindset and not a ‘corporate ‘way of thinking”‘, points out Mr Chigani.
For Giordano’s CEO, what sets a good merchant apart from the rest is his ability “get inside the skin” of their customers, identify with them, and have a second sense for the product that their customers desire”.
According to Mr Chugani’s philosophy, merchants should be proactive risk takers on the front end of a trend and must be determined to abandon a product even when the numbers say to keep reordering.
Challenges in the UAE and Saudi Arabia
Reflecting upon the daunting tasks facing the sector, Mr Chugani suggests that the ever-evolving market dynamics, customer buying patterns, customer loyalty, rising costs of doing business and the emergence and growth of online shopping could all prove challenging in the coming years, Mr Chugani suggests.
“The retailers that will survive and thrive are those that understand their customers – and know what services they will value in-store. There is no single magic formula that works for all retailers.
Thus, the way forward for retailers is to realise the paramount importance of connecting with consumers:
“The future of retail will be built around the experience economy, where what you sell is less important than how you sell it. Forget about product differentiation – the future of retail will be all about distinct experiences – create one, and you will establish a long-term relationship with your customers.”
Mr Chugani emphasises that, to stay on top of the game, Giordano will need to continuously innovate, bring in product developments, engage with customers, use technology to bring in change and provide value at all times.
These challenges will also throw out opportunities to the discerning retailer who is flexible and willing to adapt to changes.
Over the years, Giordano had to face strong competition and a host of market challenges but kept on expanding resiliently, added Mr Chugani.
“Giordano’s culture is that ultimate competitive advantage. Competitors can steal your products or services or even key employees. However, they cannot steal a great company culture.”
In his 45 years in retail, Mr Chugani learned the key to survival is not assets, funds, systems or processes – it is ‘PEOPLE and their ATTITUDES’.
Role of the digital and sustainable in the company
Recent years evidently saw the acceleration of digital gains — and experts say this growth is only going to continue in the near future. Online shopping will rule supreme in the foreseeable future, particularly for fashion purchases, as consumers are still uneasy about in-store shopping. In the last three years, shoppers will also have acquired new hard-to-ditch digital habits.
“We are confident that retailers can bring back the brick-and-mortar experience to customers by live-streaming their in-store activities. They can curate customer-generated content, encourage peer-to-peer recommendations on social media as well as introduce special features such as virtual one-on-one appointments through their mobile apps. What is more, as the pandemic accelerates the shift to digitalisation, it has created an environment in which augmented reality and other innovations that support customer personalisation and engagement can thrive,” underscores Mr Chugani.
Mr Chugani’s s team is also committed to creating a positive impact in the communities where they conduct business and supporting charitable organisations and causes.
For example, as part of its CSR programme GIFT, the company has recently partnered with creative hub Mawaheb to give its students the opportunity to showcase their artistic talent.
Students from Mawaheb’s Dubai Art Studio for adults with special needs were asked to interpret the theme ‘World Without Strangers’ and to commemorate Giordano’s 30 years in the region.
“Our Social Responsibility Statement is a simple and concise statement of our values, intentions, and expectations. The statement serves as the foundation for us to monitor and improve our performance considering changes in local laws and regulations, trade practices and our risk assessment.”
There is also a social side to this transformation. As the digital age gave rise to a new era of accountability — the world’s expectations and the customer’s expectations of big corporates started to shift on a daily basis.
“Contemporary consumers are not only interested to know what companies are offering them but would also like to know how companies are serving society and how they are giving back to the community,” concludes Mr Chugani.
