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 Siddharth Bindra
New Delhi: 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…
Siddharth Bindra
Managing Director, BIBA Fashion Limited
Education
After finishing his schooling from Mayo College, Ajmer, he did his M. Com from Sydenham College, Mumbai.
Career history and experience
Siddharth joined the family business in 1997 to convert the ‘home-grown’ product to a national ‘brand’, capitalizing on the retail boom in the country. In a country where ethnic wear was predominantly unorganized, it has been Siddharth’s keen understanding of the Indian consumer and of the prevalent retail scenario, which has transformed BIBA into the country’s most loved ethnic wear brand.
Strengths
• Persistence and creativity blended with pace of decision making have helped in my journey so far.
• I have a curious and creative mind-set that has helped me in looking at things differently.
Weakness
I would not say it is a weakness but, yes, I like to stay connected with my work.
Aspirations you want to fulfill
To dress women across the globe in Indian attire.
Game changing retail technologies according to you
The retail industry has already undergone significant transformation in the last decade as prominent retail brands invested heavily in digital transformation. Retailers have no option but to continue investing in new technologies and stay ahead of the curve. According to me, below are the three game changing retail technologies that is transforming the industry:
1. Seamless omnichannel experience and in- store immersive experiences-
In the realm of retail, omnichannel is the newest trendy term. While ecommerce has already proven its power, Big Data is beginning to catch up, and India’s retail business is still mostly unaware of omnichannel.
2. AI and ML-based merchandising solutions-
The fashion industry has been able to use AI in a variety of creative ways, thanks to the collection of data from the Internet and social media, including gaining insight into rapidly changing fashion trends, determining what consumers want, assisting in the design process, and gathering data on important characteristics of competing fashion lines and price points.
3. Personalized marketing solutions–
Personalization is now becoming the core driver for companies to do their marketing and get a deeper understanding of behavioural patterns and customer propensity, analysis capabilities to feed that information into easy-to use dashboards.
Lessons learned over the years
As I started from the grassroots level, I would say that the biggest lesson is to be a keen observer, know what your consumers want, value their feedback, and tie that feedback into strategy and then follow it through. The second biggest lesson for me is to build strong relationships and have a partnership mindset across the ecosystem.
Your take on the future of industry
I think these are very exciting times with the Indian economy pegged to be a $5 trillion in 2025 and a $10 trillion by 2035.
If you had to pen down your top 3 learnings from your career
Dare to dream, staying focused through the course with passion unlimited are the key learnings from my career so far.
Life mantra
I think one of the mantras I believe in is “The Greatest Failure is not to try”.
This article first appeared in IMAGES Group’s Business of Fashion Magazine March 2023 issue.
