INTERNSHIP REPORT OF BUYING PROCESS FOLLOWED IN EASYBUY

INTERNSHIP REPORT OF
BUYING PROCESS FOLLOWED IN EASYBUY

SUBMITTED BY:

RISHIKESH JADHAV
MASTER OF FASHION MANAGEMENT(II)

SUBMITTED TO:

KALYAN REDDY
CATEGORY HEAD MEN’S TESS

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 INTERNSHIP REPORT OF BUYING PROCESS FOLLOWED IN EASYBUY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and assistance from
many people and I’m extremely privileged to have got this all along the completion of my
project. All that I have done is only due to such supervision and assistance and I would not
forget to thank them.

I respect and thank my industry mentor Mr. Kalyan Reddy Yeruva for providing me an
opportunity to do the internship at Landmark Group and giving me all support and guidance,
which made me complete the same duly. I am extremely thankful to him for providing me
support and guidance despite his busy schedule.

I am thankful to all my faculty members, friends and family who were always there for
constantly inspiring me to carry out this internship. I owe my wholehearted thanks and
appreciation to the entire employee of the industry for their cooperation and assistance during
the course of my internship.

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CHAPTER 1

1.1 INTRODUCTION:

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

Landmark Grow began with one store in Bahrain in 1973 and has grown to become one of the
largest retail and hospitality conglomerates in the Middle East, Africa, and India, with over
55,000 employees, 2300 outlets, and over 30 million sales., retail space spread across 21
countries. Mr. Micky Jagtiani founded the organisation with the philosophy of "Creating
Exceptional Value for the Lives We Touch." Landmark Group has recently expanded into
South East Asia, with stores in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Landmark Group began operations in India in 1999 with its first Lifestyle Store in Chennai.
In just two decades, the Group now has grown from a single store in 1909 to eight businesses
with over 500 locations in 90 cities and over 24,000 employees. Lifestyle, Max, Easybuy,
Splash, Home Centre, Spar Hypermarket, Fun City, and Krispy Kreme are examples of
Landmark Group companies in India. With a strong emphasis on the product, process, and
people. Landmark Group businesses are at the forefront of their respective industries.
delighting customers and making a positive difference in their lives. A visionary, dynamic and
hands-on leadership guides Landmark every step of the way. At
Landmark Group they promise to L.E.A.D with integrity in everything they do, i.e. - Listen,
Empower, Adapt and Deliver.

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INTRODUCTION TO EASYBUY:

Easybuy is the new private label value format from Landmarks Group. Launched in September
2014 with the objective to create a complete family fashion destination in Tier 2 and Metro
Suburbs, the format is targeted at the middle-class Indian customer. Our vision is to become
the trendsetter for the aspirational Navbharat"middle class Families who are seeking "super
styles “at *super prices" and it’s made easy through Easybuy.

Easybuy is the new value retail format conceptualised and launched for India from Landmark
Group. Easybuy was launched in September 2014 with end aim to make fashion affordable for
the huge population of India who live in small tours which we call Navbharat’’-Easybuy
promises
super styles" at "super prices" offering more than 1000 styles Easybuy bas curated regional
merchandise and over 1,000 styles in menswear, womenswear, kids wear, ethnic wear,
footwear and accessories, within the price band of Ps. 69 to Rs.600 from Rs 60 to Rs 609.
The product range is trendy with integrated design & colour palette of the season and at the
same time appeal to the local sensibilities through appropriate styling. Easybuy also ensures
quality at par to international standards given strong sourcing expertise from Landmark group.
To male this vision a reality, Easybuy has embarked on a franchisee business model with store
size of 5000-6000 sq. It’s in high streets and malls across the country. Currently, Easybuy has
116 states across India including 60 exclusive stores and 56 shop-in shop stores at select SPAR
hypermarkets. Easybuy aims to open 166 stores by 2022 across India.

LISTEN, EMPOWER, ADAPT & DELIVER

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Since 1973, the Group has created great brands that are market leaders, built strong partnerships
and delivered exceptional value to customers. The Landmark Group celebrates the recognition
it has received for excellence of its customer service and leadership team.
A natural evolution of the Landmark Happiness Movement, Sustainability Report is a step
towards reinstating the company's values and moving ahead on its journey to create a
sustainable business for their people and environment.

MISSION, VISION AND METHODOLOGY

MISSION

Value through ideas' is the central nerve of this brand's system and vision. Think, Create and
Lead is the corporate culture which is guided by their vision. In this dynamic world, values of
products, services and corporations are incessantly changing the real value for customers can
only be created by constantly defining the ways of doing new things or the same things better
while being social and Environmental and eco-friendly.
So, the only way for Easybuy to create value for customers is by -Think Create Lead" concept.
Employees are their key in achieving the vision with sincerity and fun to be the most preferred
'Family value brand' for the aspirational "Navbharat" through profitable channel partners and
stakeholders delivering quality and convenient shopping experience through "Super style &
Super PRICE’.

VISION

To reach 1000 crore - through cluster-based expansion, focusing on district headquarter and
value catchments across 200+ stores. Be India's fastest growing family valve brand' that
Navbharat consumers perceive credibility for style, quality and price. To be the best company
to work with, chosen by clients. To be amongst the top organisations known for their
commitment and effectiveness.
METHODOLOGY

Assist » Plan Design» Implement Manage » Audit

Easybuy promises its patrons total commitment and constant attention. The proven way that

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contributes towards this goal is the company's proprietary *APDIMA'' methodology. APDIMA
is an open and Reliable methodology working at the premise of multiple customer interactions.
It enables continuous interactions with the company’s valued customers - right from conceptual
analysis to planning, solution designing, implementation, post - implementation management
and regular audits of investment protection and ROI. APDIMA thus builds in a tremendous
sense of personal attention, adding value to the company’s services.

CHAPTER-2

2.1 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF EASYBUY

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FUNCTIONING OF VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS RELATED TO

BUYING

There are various departments related to buying in which everyone works in a well outcooled
way to make sure the process flow is smooth and on time.

BUYING DEPARTMENT

Retailers and buyers for retail stores (retail purchasing) focused all of their buying efforts on
the selection of merchandise items they felt their consumers would appreciate and purchase
beginning about the turn of the century and continuing for many years. These were product-
focused buyers. It was called subjective retailing since the consumer made a purchase based
on his or her own personal preferences for customers' likes and dislikes. In recent years, the
consumer movement (consumerism) has compelled businesses to shift their purchasing efforts
from subjective to objective. Before making a purchasing decision, the chop must now assess
the clients' likes and dislikes. The buyer must be customer-focused.
The retail industry has entered a new era of merchandise promotion. A buyer in the retail
business is someone who chooses what will be stroked in a store based on his or her forecasts
of what will be popular among the customers. Retail buyers can use store records and previous
experience market representatives and agents, periodicals, competitors, suggestions, industry
listings, trade shows, documentaries and predictions to predict and buy what their customers
want from their stores for that particular season. Buyers have an important role in retail
companies, not least because it's up to them to establish the retailer’s positioning statement
through their selection of acceptable products and services. As a result, the buyer’s contribution
to the retailer’s success is significant and they must possess a variety of abilities and talents not
the least of which is the capacity to detect, interpret and meet customer needs and wants.
Various attempts have been made to identity the necessary abilities of a successful buyer, and
talents such as market and numerical analysis, negotiating, and communication have been
recognised. Once the type of merchandise or range of products has been determined, the
merchandiser's next task is to plan the right assortment. He or she can forecast the amount of
money needed for a certain selling season or term and set budgets. This involves evaluating
consumer demand for each product category while accounting for economics, trends, and
predicted changes in the competitive and retailing environment. These specifications are
communicated to purchasers of various product types, who use them to develop their own
purchasing strategy. The merchandiser must research the buying habits of the target audience.
The buying behaviour helps to understand their peculiarities in purchasing, such as the
frequency of purchase for a given product, the location from which they prefer to buy, the

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occasions for which they buy, preferred price ranges, special or salient features of the product
they seek quantities purchased in a single purchase, and so on. The merchandiser can determine
the variety of merchandise for the concerned target segment by having a thorough awareness
of the target consumers and the Quirks

Step 1: Sell through analysis

During the season sale through is calculated every 15 day and is written in front of every style.
It helps the buyer to check which styles are doing well the photo master in which the sell
through
Its written is divided into gender, category and sub category. It is done on the basis of
1 Fit
2 Colour
3) MRP
4) Pattern
5) Fabric

Step 2: Market Analysis

The buying team and area sales manager constantly keep an eye on the trends and on the
competitors offering and their sales. This is done in the entire season and this helped
them in the buying season.

Step 3: Sales plan

In this buyer's set the target on the basis of past performance, market, and the new government
rules. Once the range is finalised then on select range NIP is fixed in every style according their
perceived on the basis of production cost. Then the buying and the commercial department
decided the final MIRP of styles.

Step 4: Making of Buy plan

Buy plan is made on the basis of options, depth, quantity and OTB

Step 5: Range Selections Grading

Easybuy has its own stores as well as there are Franchisee contracts. For them there is a trade
show that happens for around 7 days where the individual business partners come to place the
order for the coming season They give the grades for every style and orders are finalized and
punched. Once the range is finalised then on selected range. The buying team grade each style
as
A-, A-, B+, B-, C, D, E, F, G. H It is done on the basis of price, location, and past sales.

Step 6: Buying as per Buy plan

Then the buying team buy the styles as their budget and orders are punched.
Step 7: The analysis of sizes is dome so that each style should have all the style in every store.
Step 8: Order upload and submit buy for production

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• DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS IN EASYBUY

➢ FINANCE

A ticket is raised by the buyer after negotiation with the vendor with respect to the cost and the
margin on the product they are going to make. The vendor registration form is prepared online
wherein all compliances are entered like CST, tar, etc. Soon after this a vendor code is
generated and sent to the data entry operator. For every order PO (Purchase order) is prepared.
Once the order is composite according to the PO, all the garments are scanned and entered by
the vendor in the ports. After that, the goods are shipped. A waybill is raised or the vendor
submitting the goods information to the government. A good recent note is prepared and the
shipment is done to the concerned warehouse. This is being taken care of by RDC (Distribution
centre) in charge from the warehouse, inventory is issued to the stores which are taken care of
by executive inventory. The final option plan is decided by the planner but the budget is
planned by the finance team based on which the OTB is made. This budget is again divided
into the division, group, department, class, sub-class, and category.

If the vendor is not registered in MSME-Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, then
the payment is done within two days of generating the goods receipt note. In the case of a
registered vendor, payment should be made within 45 days of generating GRN as per
government rules since they require working capital for their functioning. Other than this the
Finance department also takes care of capital expenses, management information system like
P&L, OT, stock & sales, etc, and operating expenses. The final option plan is decided by the
planner but the budget is planned by the finance team based on which OTB is made. The budget
is again divided into the division, group, department, class, sub-class and category.

➢ SUPPLY CHAIN
There are a total of three warehouses of Easy Buy one located at Ghaziabad, Kolkata and the
other at Bangalore. Base stock required for a season is given by the planner to the buyer. The
buyers then identify the vendor as per the requirement and finance team to raise the purchase
order. Two types of stock are being handled by the supply chain department: pre-allocated and
replenishment stock. The stocks supplied by the vendor are checked by the quality assurance
team and then it is picked by the transport coordinator. All the details such as packing invoice
etc are given to the coordinator. As the vendor to whom the order is placed is confined to one
region, a transporter is assigned to pick up the goods from the vendor. PO numbers are the
same for both the warehouses.
Turn over time agreement is made with the transporter. Turn over time is the time taken for a
consignment from origin to destination. Supply chain department keeps a track on this whole
process and informs the buyer. In case if there is a delay or if the stock is not reached before
the season launched then the buyer could address the issue and find out the reason behind it.

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Once The goods are received in the warehouse, the documents are matched. Incurred register
note is documented.
Consignment is also measured. Even the box number is verified. In case of any-deviation or
difference, the transporter is informed the same and asked to check the lorry receipt. GRN is
written and shipment is scanned to know whether it is pre-allocated or for replenishment. It
then the container number and store code are given Replenishment stocks are kept put away.
Put away is the process wherein each garment is scanned and kept in respective scanned bins.
All these details are entered into the warehouse management system. Once the stock for a
particular product is liquidated or if few pieces are sold then transfer Order is being released
by the planning team and those garments are replaced from the warehouse. The software
automatically releases transfer orders once the garment is sold. Picking is done by the
warehouse.
Tagging is done whereas in security tags are attached to the garments to be delivered to the
spar stores. Shipment is handed over to the transport after tagging. An agreement is being done
between transporter and warehouse about the time of delivery: which is considered to be 2 days
more of the time. The time span is generally called turnaround time. This way the transporters
are monitored Parallel to the activity inventory management: is done in a warehouse. Every
day the cycle count is done which is otherwise known as perpetual inventory:
This means the stock is scanned to see whether the stock is matching with the concerned bin
and matches with the information updated in the system. Once our 6months end to end cycle
count is done. The warehouse is owned by the company but managed by the third part: in order
to reduce risk. They share a contract for a period of I pear. All the in-house training will be
given by the company to nurture the manpower. Apart from these various events & activities
are organised by the HR team for the employees in the warehouse. Monthly monitoring of
warehouse expenses is done by company management.

➢ DESIGN
The process is as follows-
1.Kick start meeting (Buyer & Planner) (Past season data)
2.Pre-concept presentation
• WGSN commercial trend and a short brief about the upcoming season" story inspiration
● Online benchmarks and brand research
3.Market visit and survey (Sample purchased)
4.Concept Final story presentation

Each story includes: -

● Inspiration Board
● Colour Board
● Print and Graphics Design
● Textile Direction
● Look Board
● Trim Direction

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Spring-2 story: Summer- 2 stories, Autumn-2 stories (I casual story and 1 festive story),
Winter-
2 stories.
5.Final colour palette finalisation
6.Mill week + Trim Supplier week (Designer & Buyer)
7.Sample burying budget is set
8. Line sheet submissions
9.RFP (Range Fashion Preview Presentation by Design, Buying, and Planning)
10.Techpack Submission

If a story is strong then they design 60% for the first story and 40% of another story.
For the measurement chart, they take from lifestyle, max which has already been
established. For a brand, a research benchmark is being set. For ex-in men's wear
category for a t-shirt they have to create a signature look like Jack & Jones, Flying
Machine, Next and River Island. For semi-formals, they have to create a signature look
like Peter England, Espirit, and Arrow. For 8-14 yrs boys HEN, Gap and UCB

➢ BUYING
During each season plan, the entire range is put in master. There are five categories which are
divided into basic and essentials. Easy Buy men’s wear has the highest contribution of 36.4%.
Here from scratch, the design presentation is being done for the upcoming season. This whole
process of OTB, Range planning is done 6 months prior to the season launch. After the design,
colour and. The silhouette is finalised then the range plan is done. In this case, a few samples
from the market or online mediums are picked to analyse the design or trend going on in the
market. The reason being in Easy Buy the product which is in its maturity stage is being
designed and sold. In range planning. Planner and HOD decide which product will work well
and grade them accordingly. The grades are A+ which carries point 5. A which carries point 4,
B which carries point 3. They decide whether there should be any changes in colour, design or
silhouette. After the necessary changes to the aeroplane, again the final range is developed.
Then the next step is sampling.
For ex- for T-shirts the vendor who is competent or specialised enough is given the order that
PO is released for it and for other products the game process is being followed. Then as the
export house works, they first make the proto sample. The buyer and design team checks it if
it is the same or requires any changes. Once it is up to the specification the buyer gives go
ahead to the vendor for bulk production. For deciding the quantity past season sales data is
considered. And based on the rating of the particular product also the quantity matters. Also,
pricewise quantity is decided like for a T-shirt of NIRP 249 - will have more depth than the T-
shirt of NRP 329/- The product which does not sell is discarded totally. Costing is done by the
buyer only after the range plan is Finalised. And the costing is different for different vendors
due to the margin as it differs from vendor to vendor. Transportation cost is not given to the
vendor as it is provided by the company itself. Also, the buyer keeps track of when the order is
forged, when cutting is done, sewing and packaging so they can question the vendor if there’s

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any delay. 90 days before the launch the vendor should be given the order because they have
to make the bookings and need to make the samples.

➢ PLANNING

The function of planning is broadly divided into two main areas - First across the
supply chain and operations, second with respect to buying and merchandising.
Planners are responsible for making OTB, analysing weekly & daily sales report,
monitoring the stock of every store, offers and discounts to provide capacity planning.
As per store sq.ft and sell through analysis. They even play a major role in
understanding which product performed well as per season and help the designers to
choose the right theme for next season.

Assortment planning is also done by planners. All Fortnight meetings are conducted to
understand the overall business. Store feedback is taken to know the target customers.
Competitor study is also done to understand what offers and ranges they are providing
to their customer in order to make changes or stay ahead of them. When it comes to
stock management every division has a planner who grades the store as per the
contribution they make, accordingly, the quantity, number of options and depth is
defined for each store. The division m Easybuy is ladies ethnic wear and western wear,
kid’s boys & girls, infants, menswear, footwear, and accessories. For every division,
there are planners who take care of all the activities to be carried out pre, in and ou-
season. The main function of planning is to make sure that sell through is achieved.

The planner gives data to the buying analysing previous season sale for the development
of range and procuring garments. They provide the sale mix to the project team so that
according to the percentage they divide the total sq ft of the store into the different
division as per sale mix. From buy value, the quantity to be procured is decided. Buying
team gives an average cost of product per season, the planning team analyses the last
year performance. Define budget into Stores. Provide stock based on sales. A large part
of the planning is to control costs. He she must be able to forecast sales figures and
inventory requirements for each location. This requires a periodic inventory analysis
for each store and using the analysis coupled with sales figures to determine the optimal
stock levels. This analysis is used to determine how much of each product or brand
should be ordered for each store when it should be delivered and encourages ordering
protocols to optimise store stock to build sales figures without overstocking.

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➢ VISUAL MERCHANDISING

VM is one of the final stages in the process of setting up a retail store which customers
would then find attractive and appealing. A visual merchandiser sets the store and its
merchandise in such a way as to reflect the image a store wants to reflect. The way a
store is presented should show and reflect the principles that underpin the store's image.
VM is the way in which to display goods for sale in the most attractive manner, with
the end purpose of making a sale. If it does not sell, it is not visual merchandising. A
visual merchandiser is very creative and artistic, has an incredible eye for colour and
texture, and has fashion-forward ideas and style. They ultimately try to see the product
through the eyes of the customer will see it then they walk into a store. They want it to
look intriguing enough for that customer to buy it.

➢ OPERATIONS

Managing a retail store is a complex and diverse assignment, so retail operations

managers are expected to do a little bit of everything. Primary job duties include
managing employees, and this can include scheduling shifts, conducting training
sessions and managing conflicts between staff members other personnel, management
tasks may be: conducting interviews, hiring employees and bolding performance
review. Retail operations managers are also responsible for the upkeep of the store
itself. Arranging displays, determining the store's layout and doing constant inventory
analysis are standard tasks associated with the job. Retail operations are a very much
important department or Function in retailing. The responsibilities of retail operations
are to take care of the processes inside the store like billing, cleanliness to the training
of the staff with the help of HR and ensure timely pulling and replenishment.

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➢ OVERVIEW OF BUYING CALENDAR AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF

VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS

- Men’s wear
- Season - Winter
- Trading days - 87 days (from 10th oct to 27th dec)
- Season launch date - 10 oct
- RFP (Range First Review)
- Evaluate the performance of each product against the performance of the total
range. That's to ensure that you have a range of products that match the needs of
your customers.
- During this analysis, you can evaluate if you should keep a product in the range,
replace it, or remove it. By replacing or removing any products that are not selling
as expected, you can give more space on the shelf to your top-performing products.
- Depth Working - we give rating of the product on the basis of their performance -
A+, A, AND B. and purchase accordingly.
- NOD - Number of days
- No. of days of a product in a store
- PI - Performance Indicator
- ROI - Sale mix
- GRN Mix
- Techpack - After techpack we have to release the order.
- Vendor Booking - vendor card to QA team
- RDC - For split
- We have to 3 stores and we distribute our products according to the demands

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- Picture for Planogram to VM

- OTB Planner

➢ LEARNING OUTCOMES –

- I have done a market survey on men’s tshirts to find the various gap between Easy
buy t-shirts and various other brands such as Zudio, Max, Pantaloons, Zara,
Superdry, H&M, lifestyle, Jack n Jones and Levis
- I have developed the Tech-pack for Men’s t-shirts, sweat shirts and Hoodies. Which
includes all the detail regarding the vendor, style of product, colour, location,
seasons, Trims, specification about measurement, Gsm and image of the garment.
- I have also worked on the chest prints of Men’s t-shirts for the basics and essentials.
In which the designer and buying head had reviewed the design and have given the
approval for the design’s.
- I have also studied the overall department in the Easybuy which are connected to
the Buying and merchandising department.
- I have also taken the follow up from the vendor regarding the goods that were begin
produce in their industry.
- I have made a master sheet with and have given the style no. to the product.
- I was part of RFP meeting in which products were tagged according to their
performance and they were given a rating like A+, A and B.
- The Good PI (performance indicator) product was carried forward for the next
season.
- I have also attended the courier and have taken the samples for the PP approval and
Fit approval. And if the PP is approved then the garment is been sealed and is been
sent to the vendor. And if PP is not then the garment is sent back to the vendor by
adding the various comments.

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