Smart is as smart does: HyperCITY shows its mojo

HyperCITY’s just launched a 49,000 sq. ft. store in Noida at Logix City Center, the third such store to come up in Delhi-NCR. About seven months ago, HyperCITY launched its first store in Delhi-NCR at Noida’s Garden Galleria mall and added another in Janakpuri, West Delhi in January. It now has plans to expand in NCR with more stores in Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram in the near future.
What caught Progressive Grocer’s attention though, at the new Noida store, was the new look of the store that connoted space, convenience, and freshness without compromising on value.
HyperCITY seems to have re-positioned itself with a new look and positioning statement, which is quite against the trend of retailers chasing the discount retailing model.
Over the past couple of years, HyperCITY has done a pretty good job in taking its stores on 
the route to profitability and higher store-level efficiency. The objective now is to build on the groundwork of recent years and ensure store profitability in the days ahead.
With overall profitability within sight, HyperCITY is looking to hit the sweet spot with consumers, producers and vendors starting with a tagline that says it all – Something Fresh Everyday.
Progressive Grocer caught up with HyperCITY’s newly appointed CEO Ramesh Menon and discussed his plans and vision for taking the company forward with his colleague, VP Marketing, Visual Merchandising & Loyalty, Manoj Jain.
While HyperCITY is partnering with marquee FMCG names for advanced category management at its stores, it is also allying with hundreds of smaller vendors to participate in stocking its stores and for providing a uniquely rich assortment. This is a critical brand differentiator of HyperCITY.
Food and Grocery forms the bulk of the merchandising at HyperCITY Retail. About 40 per cent of its store space is typically allocated to Food & Grocery. As such the category contributes above 50 per cent of the overall business of HyperCITY, the balance coming from other categories such as Apparel & Footwear, Homecare, Home Needs & Appliances, etc.
With about 5 million customers under its loyalty programme and about 1.8 million customers who visit HyperCITY stores every month, the focus of the retailer is to drive deeper and broader engagement with its customers and be able to serve them 24×7.
Apart from the Big Daddies of technology, HyperCITY is also working with many smaller tech- entrepreneurs and start-ups to cobble together its technology architecture for transforming into a truly smart retailer.
HyperCITY is developing its omni-channel capability not for just flexing its technology superiority but to serve its catchment, its customers and its loyalty base with greater dedication and service. It is not about making tall claims and promises but about its ability to reach its defined customer base and be accessible to them always.
(Read exhaustive interview with Manoj Jain in June issue of Progressive Grocer)