Book retailing---Adding new chapters in Retailing!!!

In the late 1980s ,an engineering student set aside his degree mid way and landed up with a job in Landmark book stores in Madras(now Chennai).He thought he would be continuing with the job for all the three months and who knew that he was the man behind to build one of the India's most successful bookstore chains---R.Sriram , the former founder CEO of Crossword;India's biggest book retailer.Sriram says:"Book retailing had served, underserved and unserved customers.We saw a huge opportunity in trhe underserved and unserved segments." Sivaraman Balakrishnan,marketing head,Crosswords points that any consumer irrespective of his location will be treated with the same shopping experince.

There were times when books were sold through small outlets leading to an experience similar to that of buying drugs from a medicinal stores.So the ground to be covered was large and had huge potential.The national chain had to be reinvented and remarketed to change the perception of the consumers.Sriram was fortunate enough to found a backer for the concept who gave the seed capital and real estate(space for the store) in Mumbai.The name was Crosswords as it signifies fun and learning.But a numerologist said that the name was unlucy;Sriram suggested the dropping of 's' and so came the Crossword.Crossword was founded in 1992 by Mr R. Sriram and Ms K. Anita along with a young team from India Book House Limited and the first Crossword store opened on 15th October 1992 at Mahalaxmi, Mumbai.

Desired to deliver a unique shopping experience to the consumers --appealed mothers and children on the front.It came with the concept of dedicating a scetion only for the children.This risk ultimately paid off and contributed about 35%of the sales.The strategy of placing the sections in different places in the store was a new and innovative idea keeping in mind the customers they want to target during their walk in the store.The concept of book reading sessions by the kids was also introduced.It was the first bookstore that provided seating spaces for its customers to sit and read the books with no questions asked on the times spent by them.To make their customers spent more time,Cross word came up with the idea of setting up a coffee store within the outlet.And on the customer's bill,it offered a new term and condition which is unique:'Books once sold WILL be taken back'.Over the years they added to many more innovations to satisfy their customers.

All this summed up in creating a brand experience that could be solely associated with the brand.Crossword has grown to 52 stores today over 12 cities, with a mix of company owned and franchised stores.Currently, Crossword Bookstores Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary Company of Shopper’s Stop Ltd – India’s leading department store chain. Success has come as a result of shared passion and commitment for customers & business which resulted in one of the bigges brand in the world of book retailing---Crossword.

Posted By:Jaspreet