In the world of Indian fashion retail, the word ‘planning’ has undergone a radical transformation. What used to be a stable three-year strategy has been compressed by AI and ever-changing consumer needs into a relentless 12-to-18-month sprint. The session, ‘How retail leaders scale amid constant change’ at the India Fashion Forum 2026, brought some of the industry’s most heavy-hitting COOs and CBOs to strip away the corporate jargon and talk about the high-stakes calls that actually move the needle: How retailers scale amid constant change.
The panel of experts included:
- Abhishek Raj, COO, Lacoste India;
- Kiruba Devi, COO, Zivame;
- Prateek Chaturvedi, Retail Director, Neemans;
- Uplaksh Tewary, COO, Campus Shoes;
- Vipul Mathur, CBO, New Businesses, Raymond Lifestyle, and
- Yashesh Mukhi, Founder, Chupps Footwear
The session was moderated by Vivek Sandhwar, COO, Being Human Clothing.
The ‘Quietly Proud’ Decisions That Defined 2025
Vivek Sandhwar opened the session, bypassing typical corporate highlights. He asked all the panelists about one decision they’ve made in the last 12 to 18 months that they are ‘quietly proud’ of.
Reimagining a 100-Year-Old Giant: Vipul Mathur (Raymond Lifestyle) highlighted the friction of introducing e-commerce to a heritage brand:
“I introduced Home and Ethnic verticals into e-commerce at Raymond. It was a 100-year-old company, hugely profit-making and monopolistic, and this idea was initially hated. There was a huge internal battle because of what Raymond represents in the consumer’s mind. But the business is now multiplying—not just by percentage growth, but in real volume. The satisfaction comes from knowing the consumer love was always there; we just had to be brave enough to cater to it.”
Marketplace & General Trade: Uplaksh Tewary detailed a three-pronged success story:
“Reviving our General Trade business was a big achievement. It is the backbone of our organisation, even if it doesn’t always get the credit. We pivoted our entire online business from an 80/20 ‘outright’ model to an 80/20 ‘marketplace’ model. Outright business gives you the instant gratification of big revenue on the books, but converting to a ‘pair-by-pair’ marketplace model is what is giving us infrastructure-led benefits today.”
Premiumising Without the Price Shock: Yashesh Mukhi on balancing capital discipline with product innovation:
“We invested heavily in premiumising materials—using premium foam and making the product completely biodegradable. We also chose to go deep into General Trade early on rather than just staying online. This channel balance allowed us to scale without having to sink massive capital into brand building.”
Shattering the Metro Myth: Abhishek Raj explained on the surprising appetite of Tier 2 India,
“We took the collective decision to expand outside solid metro territories into Tier 1 and 2 cities. We were pleasantly surprised. The myth that only Delhi or Mumbai can consume high-end fashion is gone; smaller cities are consuming at high rates, often at full price. We also expanded through organised MBOs to maintain brand representation while reaching these new geographies.”
The Excel Trap: Costs You Should Never Cut
Sandhwar posed a pointed question to Kiruba Devi:
“What is that one cost that looks great to be removed on an Excel sheet, but kills your execution in reality?”
Kiruba says, “Anything to do with technology is expensive, and it looks very enticing to cut. You might think, ‘We know the model, why don’t we just run it on Excel or take a shortcut?’ But cutting the tools we use for consumer penetration or buying is a massive mistake. It looks like a saving on paper, but it creates a massive operational shock the moment it’s gone.”
She also talks about the danger of ‘Revenue per Employee’ metrics. “We often talk about revenue per employee, but that is a very difficult metric to read in isolation. When you make headcount calls based solely on those numbers, it hits you hard within a couple of weeks. You realise very quickly that you’ve gutted your execution capability.”
The CFO vs. The Channel: Strategic Discipline in Scaling
Sandhwar shifted the focus to Uplaksh Tewary, noting that for a listed entity like Campus Shoes, the pressure to ‘clean up’ costs is constant.
Tewary noted, “I have never seen an organisation die because of low inventory, but I’ve seen many die because of excess. We’ve reduced our aging in certain channels by 70% over the last two years by strictly defining our exposure. We’ve taken the hard call to accept slightly lower growth if it means protecting our working capital.”
Structure Must Match Velocity: A common mistake in scaling is keeping a ‘growth-phase’ structure during a ‘consolidation’ phase. “There were months we opened 30 stores, and months we opened seven. The question is: has the structure evolved? We often build for ‘Expansion X’ but find ourselves at half that speed. You must constantly re-engineer roles to ensure the organisation remains relevant to its current pace, not its past ambitions,” he said further.
Balancing Speed with Seamless Omnichannel Execution
When asked what are the key challenges or pressure points brands encounter in retail operations, especially as a new-age organisation prioritising speed and scale.
Prateek Chaturvedi, from Neemans explained, “The foremost challenge lies in ensuring alignment and clarity between leadership and frontline teams. Often, strategies defined in boardrooms fail to translate effectively at the ground level, especially in fast-paced growth environments. The second challenge is maintaining process compliance and SOP consistency. Finally, these gaps often lead to frontline fatigue and demotivation, as teams struggle with unclear direction and constant follow-ups, ultimately impacting overall efficiency and morale.”
“A critical factor in scaling successfully is having the right team structure—people who clearly understand the vision and are both willing and capable of executing it. Every individual in the organisation must be aligned to the same growth journey; otherwise, internal resistance can slow down or even derail execution over time. Strong leadership and the right talent are essential to avoid such friction.
Equally important is empowering teams with decision-making authority. When people are trusted and empowered, it fosters accountability and ownership. In contrast, overly centralised decision-making can hinder agility, as teams become dependent rather than proactive, impacting long-term organisational success,” said Tewary.
Underrated Capabilities in Building New Businesses
When building new businesses within an existing large organisation, certain critical capabilities are often underestimated by leaders. When asked to highlight those points, Vipul Mathur stated, “A key challenge is building strong internal conviction that new initiatives can succeed just as legacy businesses once did. The real constraint is not capital, resources, or even consumer acceptance, but belief within the organisation. Driving this confidence requires significant time and effort from senior leadership, particularly in managing stakeholders. While there is openness to trying new ideas, uncertainty around outcomes, timelines, and investments often slows momentum and becomes the most underestimated hurdle.”
For Chupps Footwear, the turning point came with a personal experience, when a major order was cancelled. “This led to a strategic shift—expanding teams, investing in technology, and strengthening systems. We implemented an ERP, adopted new tools, and set up an in-house innovation centre instead of relying on third parties. These changes have significantly improved our capabilities, enabling us to confidently handle and execute larger orders, and better prepare the business for scalable, long-term growth,” said Mukhi.
As a legacy brand like Lacoste, the need to evolve has never been more critical, points Raj. “Agility and speed in decision-making and in executing must become central to how we operate. It is equally important to foster a culture of trust by not discouraging those who bring forward ideas or challenges. While outcomes may vary, the focus should be on enabling progress, because meaningful transformation now is not optional, but essential,” he concluded.
