IndiaRetailing brings you a series in which we highlight the brand icons in India’s thriving fashion and lifestyle industry. Today, the spotlight is on Shitanshu Jhunjhunwalla
Bengaluru: No business can survive for long without a vision; even if it does, it would be susceptible to every disruption and upheaval that generally comes in its business cycle. It needs a leader who has the capacity to translate, create that vision, or make it clearer and turn it into reality. The very essence of leadership is having a vision in the first place. Moreover, as you can’t blow an uncertain trumpet, it should be clearly articulated so that they can manage and lead people. A team led by a visionary leader with a clear direction knows what it can achieve and how far it can go.
In this special feature, IndiaRetailing highlights the brand icons in India’s thriving fashion and lifestyle industry. Today, the spotlight is on…
Shitanshu Jhunjhunwalla
Director, Turtle
Education
BSc in Industrial engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA
Career history
• Future supply chain Limited (Mumbai)
• Essar Telecom retail Limited (Mumbai)
• Turtle Limited, Kolkata
Role and responsibilities
• Spearheading the D2C
• Sales and marketing verticals
Strengths & weaknesses
Strengths:
• Creative thinking
• Global citizen
• Strategy
• Team building
• Trendspotting
• Data science
Weakness:
• Impulsive
Aspirations you want to fulfill
Establish a family legacy in the fashion business in India by drawing inspiration from European fashion houses.
Game-changing retail technologies
Setting closer to market cycle – replenishment models
• Data-driven assortment plans
• Consumer insights from CRM
Skills that helped you succeed
• Ability to think abstract has been the underlying key to my successful endeavors so far. Turtle is a creativity-led organization. Creative thinking is at the core.
• The knowledge base in TOC – Theory of Constraints.
On the future of industry
Shopping in a brick-and-mortar store is no longer driven by necessity; it’s driven by a sense of discovery and the excitement of finding and experiencing something new.
So an experiential retail store that exceeds expectations should be one of the industry’s prime focal investment zones.
Seamless or omni-commerce where the distribution is the sales point but the brand experience is through the website and the EBO – The Phygital Experience.
Any role model in the industry
Amancio Ortega, Phil Knight, Harvard Schultz Rakesh Biyani and definitely my father – Sanjay Jhunjhunwalla
Learning from your career
• Learn to be patient
• Write down the insights
• Let the mind wander
• Challenge the norm
Life mantra
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
This article first appeared in IMAGES Group’s Business of Fashion Magazine March 2023 issue.
