Visual Merchandising Internship at United Colors of Benetton

Industry Internship Report 2019

Visual Merchandising Intern at Benetton India Pvt. Ltd.

Submitted by

Tanya Sinha

Department of Fashion Communication (2016-2020)

Submitted to

National Institute of Fashion Technology Mithapur farms, Patna, Bihar- 800001 Tel : (0612) 2340032, Fax : (0612) 2366835 Web : www.nift.ac.in

Published in the year of 2019.

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) (Ministry of Textiles, Government of India) Mithapur Farms, Patna, Bihar- 800001.

Tel- (0612) 2340032, 2366833/4 Fax- (0612) 2366835 Website: www.nift.ac.in/Patna Text and Images copyright BENETTON INDIA Pvt. Ltd./ NIFT This document originally submitted as a part of academic learning to NIFT, Patna is for academic purpose only.

The opinion expressed in the document is solely those of the author & NIFT does not bear any responsibility for the nature of its content.

Reproduction and distribution of this document in any form or any means, without permission of the institute is strictly prohibited.

Industry Mentor: Ms. Vasudha Malhotra Visual Merchandiser - Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. Academic Mentor: Mr. Deep Sagar Verma CC - FC Edited and designed by: Tanya Sinha (Batch: 2016-20) Email: tanya.sinha2671@nift.ac.in

Declaration

The work presented in this document is authentic and original and is the outcome of the Industry Internship done by me at Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. No portion of this work has been submitted for another degree or qualification to this institute or any other university or other institute of learning.

I also declare that the content of document is the product of my own work except to the extent that assistance from others in the project design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.

Student’s Name & Signature with date: Tanya Sinha Department of Fashion Communiaction (2016-20), National Institute of Fashion Technology, Patna

Certificate

This is to certify that this industry internship is carried out as a project in Visual Merchandising at Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. is a record of work completed by Tanya Sinha (BD/16/2671), a student of Bachelor of Design, Fashion Communication (2016-20), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Patna; during the period of June 3, 2019 to July 26, 2019. She represents an independent work and does not form the base for any previous work.

Place: Gurugram

Under the guidance of: Deep Sagar Verma CC-FC National Institute of Fashion Technology Patna

(External Jury Member)

(External Jury Member)

(External Jury Member)

Acknowledgement.

The success and final outcome of this industry internship project required a lot of guidance and assistance from many people and I am blessed to get this along the completion of my Project. All that I have done is only due to such guidance and assistance therefore; I would like to thank my college, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Patna that has given me a place to learn with practical experiences.

I am also thankful to Benetton India Pvt. Ltd, Gurugram for giving me an opportunity to do internship under the company. I would like to thank my industry mentor, Ms. Vasudha Malhotra (Visual Merchandiser) for encouraging, motivating and appreciating me and my work throughout the internship period. Her guidelines and feedback were very helpful.

Also, I would like to graditude my thanks to my college mentor cum CC, Mr. Deep Sagar Verma for his keen supervision throughout my internship period. My sincere thanks to my Graphic Design faculty, Mr. Hemant kumar and Visual Merchanding Faculty, Ms. Arushi Sinha for giving their knowledge to students.

I would also like to thank other Interns who positively worked with me on the projects assigned.

Tanya Sinha

Preface.

This industry internship report is a report of 8 weeks internship, concluded at Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. in the field of Visual Merchandising.

The report has covered with the brand’s introduction, its functionality, different departments that work together to maintain the brand identity, about visual merchandising, the flow and process of VM, the projects undertaken for the company, my learning and outcomes.

Thus, the report allows us to explore how a company works and what are the tasks a Visual Merchandiser need to cover. I hope this report will be beneficial and informative for reference.

Regards, Tanya Sinha

CONTENTS.

16

18

Introduction: About Internship Project Objective and deliverable of the project

United Colors of Benetton Overview of Company Profile

30

38

Benetton India Pvt. Ltd.

48

Departments in Benetton India

56

Visual Merchandising

Mockshop

60

66

Project 1

70 Project 3

Project 2

88 Learning and Experience

Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Introduction.

About Internship Project The industry internship is an internal part of the fashion communication course. It is intended to give students an appreciation and working knowledge of the industry. Students are provided with a guideline of methodology and deliverables due to which they gain appropriate and valuable experience and knowledge.

Objective and Deliverable of the project 1. The objective of this 8 weeks internship was to observe that how a industry works, what are the different departments and work flow of the organisation.

2. Students are supposed to choose an area of their interest like graphic design, styling, visual merchandisig, art direction etc. according to which they go for internship.

3. After entering in an organisation, they are supposed to work on projects, assigned by their company mentor, along with this they are required to learn and observe how a company works and about its different departments.

4. After the internship gets completed, students are required to make a report on their internship, need to explain it and tell about their experience and learnings.

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Introduction | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

A brief of Visual Merchandising Mannequins, window installations, and wall displays are all examples of ways visual merchandising is used to get a customer’s attention and guide their purchase decisions. If you’ve ever walked past or inside a retail store, then you have seen visual merchandising at work. So what is visual studies? While a person in visual studies may wear multiple hats, the general definition of visual merchandising is a marketing technique that employs the use of floor plans and three-dimensional displays to entice customers, project a positive store image, and maximize sales.

Visual merchandising begins on the outside of the store, often with attractive window displays, to entice the customer to come inside. Visual merchandising in the store, including interactive displays or seasonal decor, can be used to set a mood and introduce customers to new or featured products. The visual merchandiser will also consider in-store traffic flow patterns to identify the optimal placement of displays and new products.

Role in Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. Being a fashion communication student, I chose to do an Internship in the field of Visual Merchanding. I got a chance to work with United Colors of Benetton. I got an internship there as Visual Merchandising Intern. I chose to work there because it is a well established company and has a name in the market. I thought that I would to good experience in learning and truely, it was worth woking there. The deliverables I recieved from the mentor was to present the Autumn-Winter 19 collections graphically. I was introduced to a new software called Mockshop. All the work done on the Mockshop needs to get approved from the head of the Visual Merchandising and have to get implemented in the stores of India.

Cannaught Place, New Delhi store of UCB 17

Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

United Colors of Benetton.

About the Brand The Benetton Group was established in 1965 by the Benetton Family in Ponzano Veneto, Italy. The company’s promoters, the Benetton family, continue to have the largest stake in Benetton (about 67 per cent) through Edizione Holding, its investment holding company. Benetton’s Chairman, Luciano Benetton and Deputy Chairman, Alessandro Benetton, both belong to the promoter family.

Benetton’s key brands are United Colors of Benetton (UCB) for casual wear and Sisley for fashion wear. Benetton, one of the largest clothing manufacturers in Italy, has a global presence across 120 countries and more than 5,000 stores. Benetton entered the Indian market in 1991-92, as a 50:50 joint venture with the DCM Group in Delhi and launched its flagship label UCB. United Colors of Benetton is a leading brand in India. Its retail network is a mixture of company owned outlets and franchised stores. Benetton is one of the first international apparel brands to enter the country. The Group has demonstrated that through sharp product pricing and marketing communication that is in tune with consumer perceptions and willingness to pay a brand can grow extensively. Benetton’s USP is its ability to cater to different age, ethnic groups.

Benetton has a manufacturing unit in Gurgaon (Haryana) where almost 50% percent of the garments required for Indian stores are manufactured. The designs are selected from the global collection created by the product design and development team based in Italy.

Once the collection is ready, Benetton franchisees from all over the country assemble in Italy and select the products for their countries. Generally, placement of orders is done with the parent company. Presently the company has about 6500 stores worldwide in about 120 countries.

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United Colors of Benetton | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

The stores are managed by independent partners and generate a total turnover of about 2 billion euro’s worldwide. Their products include men’s wear, women’s wear, children’s wear, undergarments and they have slowly expanded into categories like Footwear, Perfumes, Eyewear, Bags, Scarves, Hats, Caps, travel Bags and Suitcases. Benetton can be associated with a clothing line that has a strong Italian character in its design and style.

Benetton Headquaters www.benettongroup.com Photgraphed by: Corrado Piccoli

Luciano Benetton: Co-founder Luciano Benetton is the cofounder of the Benetton Group, which he started in 1965 with his three siblings, Carlo, Gilberto and Giuliana.

He was Known for their colorful sweaters, Benetton won over parts of the world, opening its first store in Paris in 1969 and reaching New York in 1980.

The brand hit some turbulence at the turn of the century amid falling demand for its sweaters and has continued to struggle in recent years.

In 2018, 12 years after leaving and allowing outside managers to take on greater roles, Luciano returned to help revive the ailing company.

The clan has invested in Italian businesses including Atlantia, a highway infrastructure company that accounts for more than half their fortune.

Luciano Benetton

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Timeline

1960’s

1970’s

• The company was founded by the Luciano Benetton in 1965 whose sweaters had received a very good response in the local stores of Veneto region, Italy.

• Benetton opened its first store outside Italy, in Paris in 1969.

• Sisley entered group brand portfolio and Benetton group exported 60% of brand production.

1980’s

20

• The Group entered Formula One as sponsor of the Tyrrel team. Benetton Advertising won the “Grand Prix de la Publicite” in France. It is the first in a series of acknowledgments that together with critics and censorship, fosters debate in many countries around the world.

United Colors of Benetton | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

1990’s • Creation of “Colors”, a magazine, on sale in 40 countries and published in 4 languages.

• In 1994 “Fabrica” Benetton Group Communication research center was created.

• Benetton entered the Indian market in 1991-92, as a 50:50 joint venture with the DCM Group in Delhi and launched its flagship label UCB.

Early 2000’s • Benetton made its presence in 120 countries with 5,000 stores.

• Alessandro Benetton was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Group.

• In 2004, Benetton became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benetton Group, Italy.

• In 2004 the company also launched its own website Benetton.com which acts as virtual shopping Centre for its customers and a platform where the company can communicate their philosophy and ideas to the customers, stakeholders, suppliers and employees.

21

2014-15 • Launch of “On Canvas”, a new store concept that makes the product the real protagonist of the historic United Colors of Benetton brand.

First locations: Milan, Moscow and Berlin.

• New United Colors of Benetton campaign in support of UN Women, on the occasion of the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

• Benetton Group joins the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO). In taking this step, Benetton becomes the first European fashion company to gain membership – with associated member status – of the IWTO, further confirming the Group’s commitment to sustainability in the supply chain.

“EACH

YEAR,

PEOPLE ARE

CLOTHES. THEY ARE LOOKING EXPENSIVE,

BUT

“

STYLISH.

SEVERAL MILLION LOOKING FOR NEW THE FASHION AT CAN NOT BE TOO IT HAS TOO BE -LUCIANO BENETTON

Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Benetton Vision Benetton Group is one of the best-known fashion companies in the world, present in the most important markets in the world with a network of about 5,000 stores; a responsible group that plans for the future and lives in the present, with a watchful eye to the environment, to human dignity, and to a society in transformation.

The history of Benetton is built on innovation – seen in its bright colors, the revolution of the retail outlet, unique sales networks, and universal communications that have always been social talking points and aroused cultural debate – and now the firm has taken up the challenge of globalisation, with constant investments and a competent, flexible organisation that takes change in its stride.

The Group has a consolidated identity comprised of colour, authentic fashion, quality at democratic prices and passion for its work: these values are reflected in the strong, dynamic personality of the brands United Colors of Benetton and Sisley.

The development of the United Colors of Benetton sales network, which occupies prime positions in historic town centres and shopping centres, is supported by a significant programme of investments around the world. The stores exploit highly modular settings to create spaces in which the collections, their colours and design are always at the centre of attention, and are presented in a retail context that is increasingly attractive, dynamic and interactive.

The constant attention for new things impacts also in sector like logistics: the coordination centre in Castrette (Treviso, Italy) is in fact one of the most modern industrial logistics complexes in the clothing sector, serving the global retail network with great efficiency.

Benetton Group’s capacity to actively put down roots in the world and in society is also expressed through Fabrica, the Group’s communication research centre. The challenge of Fabrica is one of innovation and internationality: a way to join culture with industry through communication, which no longer takes only the traditional forms, but seeks to become a vehicle for the “intelligence” of an enterprise, through a range of means of expression.

Benetton Group is firmly projected into the international dimension, but it still maintains strong ties with its home area of Treviso and the Veneto region, particularly through the cultural activities of the Fondazione Benetton Studi e Ricerche, and a number of sports-centred projects.

From its focus on rugby to the historic Formula 1 victories, the Group’s sporting ethos proposes not only competitive excellence, but also a social dimension of meeting, sharing and physical well-being, which amongst other things leads thousands of young people to take up sports each year.

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United Colors of Benetton | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Benetton and Its Brands 1. United Colors of Benetton

2. Undercolors of Benetton

A global brand, and one of the most well known in the world, United Colors of Benetton has an international style that combines color, energy and practicality. The women’s wear, menswear, children’s wear and underwear collections offer a total look for every day, for work and for leisure, in the city and outdoors. The brand is broadening its horizons, expanding into new areas of merchandise from home collection to baby products, travel bags and new perfumes.

Under colors is an extension of the Benetton brand, featuring underwear, beachwear and sleepwear collections, as well as accessories for women, men and children. A wide selection of recurring basic colors is enriched every season with the latest trend.

Under colors is available in its own chain of stores which now has more than 500 locations in thirty countries and in selected Benetton Shops.

3. Sisley

This is the Group’s most trend-setting brand, at the forefront of fashion. Season after season, its bold, forceful collections full of fashion ideas set the trends for young, dynamic women and men.

Its creative artists and sales team concentrate their efforts on its image and on strong- impact advertising campaigns. Sisley is a brand with a strong personality: sexy, unconventional and with a powerfully contemporary aesthetic which makes it immediately identifiable and popular. The collections, echoing the values expressed by the brand, are always at the leading edge, attractive and attentive to details, style and quality.

4. Colors Magazine

Benetton communicates through its award winning Bi Monthly Magazine; Colors. It Is distributed in six bilingual editions in Europe, the United States, Latin America and Asia.

25

BENETTON DOES NOT BELIEVE IN PAID PROMOTION.

Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. is the head office of Benetton group located at Infocity, Gurugram, Haryana, India.

It has recieved the best place to work award in India beacuse of its fresh, comfortable, friendly and happening environment.

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Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Strength 1. Strong brand strenght due to its recognition all over the world 2. Best Quality of Fabric and merchandises 3. Strong brand awareness and recall 4. Visible and clear marketing campaigns 5. Effective chain of distribution channels and selling stores in all the geographies 6. A good variety of colors can be seen in its collection

Weakness 1. Stiff Competition, thus market share growth is limited due to intense competition 2. Bit expensive than other competitive brands 3. Comparatively lesser styles in terms of newer trends 4. Wider share for men which makes it difficult to attract the female customers

SWOT Analysis

Opportunity 1. Benetton India does not have its own website to cater Indian customers. It reaches customers through other online portals.

Thus online presence is definitely a worthy opportunity which the brand should try to hit upon 2. Huge market opportunities for the female sector

Threat 1. Increasing Yarn cost which will increase the manufacturing cost 2. Competitors in similar segments that make it difficult to retain customers.

3. Continuous surge in taxes and interest rates

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Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Competitors The major competitors of Benetton worldwide are Zara, H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, U.S. Polo, First Cry, Mother care and Gap. Van Huesen is also a competitor for Benetton becase of its formal section. In order to beat their competitors and meet customer preferences the R&D team of Benetton focuses a lot upon developing colors and designs to maintain its brands identity. These competitors have been selected as they have the same price line,and Benetton is bit expensive than the competitors, brands like Zara and H&M are fast fashion so they keep on bringing new collections in their stores with pocket- friendly budget, then due to high demand in women clothing the competition is tough in the market.

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Benetton India Company Structure.

Sameer Chhibber

Chief Financial Offier Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Chugh

Head of Human Resource Vivek Mukherjee

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Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Namrata Wakhloo

Abhik Saha

Vice President CSR

Director of Supply Chain

Chief Executive Officer Business Planning Samir Bhushan

Vice President Quality Assurance Sharad Malhotra

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Store Formats of Benetton In India In India, United Colors of Benetton work on two store formats. They are Large Store Format (Key Accounts) and Exclusive Brand Outlets, managed either by brand or franchisees. Large Format store department is also known as “key Accounts” reason being that in large format stores the partners with which it ties up are the key business contributors to the business. The key business partners are Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, Central, Iconic, Globus.

Business Model Business of UCB India has three different models, retail model (RT), management store (MC) and wholesale model (WS). Apart from these, there are five divisions of channel.

CHANNEL

EBO

MBO

LFS

INSTITUTIONAL SALES

FO

ECOMMERCE

DISTRIBUTION KEY ACCOUNTS OTHERS

EBO (Exclusive Brand Outlet)- EBO are the standalone stores of the brand.

MBO (Multi Brand Outlet)- Multi-brand retail comes in different formats like supermarket, hypermarket and departmental stores. It has further divisions of distribution and E-commerce.

Distribution channel includes all the distributors to whom the merchandize is sold, who further supply it to the MBOs. E-Commerce includes the various online shopping portals like Myntra, Amazon etc where UCB’s products are sold.

LFS (Large Format Stores)- These are like MBO’s but on a larger scale. These stores have large number of brands selling competing goods under one roof. It is further divided into key accounts section which consists of the top 3 partners in terms of contribution to the total sales (Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop and Central). The section classified as others includes the remaining partners with comparatively lesser contribution. (Pantaloons, Kapsons, Iconic, Globus & Lulu) FO (Factory Outlets)- Stores where the merchandize that is not sold is sent and further sold at slashed prices.

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Benetton India Pvt. Ltd. | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Departments In Benetton India.

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Departments in Benetton India | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Knits Woven Production

Accessories Menswear

Product

Womenswear Kidswear

Commercial

Buying Marketing

CEO (Mr. Sandeep Chugh)

HR

Visual Merchadising Sales

IT

Finance

Supply Chain

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Production Department The work of the production department begins after mood boards get prepared by the product design team. With the help of mood boards, color schemes are finalized and fabric sourcing are done accordingly.

For sourcing of fabric, the production team travels across India visiting different mills like Arvind Mills, Raymond’s, etc and select the fabric to be purchased according to the approved color palatte, quality of the garment and types of shirt or t-shirt required to produce.

When sourcing is done, the fabric is sent to the factories where manufacturing of products is undertaken. Different layers of fabric are allocated to the factories and different factories manufacture different categories of goods. Like one factory produces stripe shirts, another factory produces footwear. The Production team coordinates and take follow ups with the merchandisers and workers working in the factories.

Product Department Product department is an essential activity for firms competing in a global environment. This department is responsible for upcoming new collections. Both, the design and the Buying departments work hand in hand to give new styles and prints to the customers. It works according to the upcoming seasons i.e. Autumn/Winter and Spring/ Summer, Fall winter and Fall Summer.

The process followed by Product Department: 1. Research on the upcoming trends 2. Travel and observe to buy the samples 3. Mood boards are prepared 4. Presentation given to buyers which includes sketch review (within the company) 5. Tech pack is prepared which inlcudes details of the design 6. Final samples are prepared 7. After getting approved, Bulk order is forwaded to the company’s own factory or it gets outsourced They look over the forecast from WGSN and decide upon the themes, prints, graphics colors in accordance to their brand. When the concept is finalized, they initiate their development works inspired from the forecast. They communicate the same with the product department and accordingly they select the fabrics.

Tech packs are developed by the executive designers and are headed to sampling department. Sampling and designing department work to together to induce desired samples. There are many products whose inhouse production is possible is out sourced.

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Departments in Benetton India | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Buying Department Buying Department is a part of product team and commercial department. It works on gender basis i.e male, female and kids. The work is partially divided into three parts: In season activities - Basically, it is about how a season passes, partial launch takes place before the final launch. Then, they analyse the sales at different sales parametres, trends and stock. the sales get analysed within top sales, dispatch to store and merchandises related to design/theme. Once the final launch gets done, Inputs are sent to Visual Merchandising team for display.

Pre buying activities - This starts with season kick-off. Themes, key fabrics, graphics colors and all the fashion aesthethics are decided in this activity. Global travel happens to cover samples and sourcing.

Samples are tried to balance/ incorporate with the theme. Size Ratio, divides the store in different size levels according to the buying partners.

Option planning is done accroding to category, sub-category and prices. Option plan is sent by EBO buying team to Design team for sample development. Design team presents the sample to EBO team.

Then, range selection takes place.

Celebrity of the style needs to keep in mind while selecting the range.

Post buying activities - Trade show/ fashion show happens to exhibit the finalized samples to the company’s franchisee, store outlet partners along with the cost per merchandise. Also, Buying team starts their own sale. All the selected merchandises get ordered and then, supply chain and dispatching take place.

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

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Departments in Benetton India | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Marketing Team The marketing team is majorly responsible for driving the sales of the company. This team again takes care of three major activities i.e. marketing, loyalty and analytics. The team is completely responsible for designing the campaigns and schemes in order to pull more and more customers.

In UCB, digital marketing and PR are outsourced to two different agencies. Also, the brand never promotes its products rather takes up social causes and launch campaigns regarding the same.

The recent campaigns include #UnitedByVotes and #UnitedByDon’ts. The brand is very active on social media which is their primary platform for advertising. On an average of 4-5 days, they come up with one new post. Also, most of the posts on Instagram are on white/cream background.

Apart from social media, various events are conducted, influencers are contacted and also celebrity endorsements are done.

Sales Department There are two categories in sales department, LFS and EBO. LFS (Large Format Store): Category focus, expensive, convenient shoppping EBO (Exclusive Brand Outlet): Fashion oriented taste basically for women, brand’s identity in the market

LFS Department There are three categories under LFS department: Men, Women and Kids 1. LFS department receive the data from the partners via mail or portal. They use the portal for the data of LIFESTYLE, SHOPPERS STOP and CENTRAL; whereas, mail for others.

2. Partners do buy at PAN level and then it’s their decision to distribute the stock to their large format stores.

3. Partners work on the basis of SOR (sale or return). SOR means an arrangement by which a retailer (partners) pays only for good sold, returning those that are unsold to the manufacturer (UCB).Thus, the items which are left unsold, comes back to UCB and then from UCB it goes to the factory outlets or e-commerce websites.

UCB deals with 8 partners: Lifestyle- PAN

Shoppers Stop- PAN

Central- PAN

Pantaloons- PAN

Kapsons- North

Iconic- North

Globus- North

Lulu- South

Unsold Items---------Returns to UCB---------Send to factory outlet/warehouse/ecommerce sites 43

Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Supply- Chain Department The supply chain department is basically the entire chain of manufacturing and transferring the products to the warehouse. The products get dispatched from the waefore to the outlets and stores.

Before the buying process, all the orders are collateraled from all the stores across India. The Supply Chain team consolidates all the orders given by them and then upload them in their system using the software SAP. This is done to ensure that each and every data of the orders are with the company and they keep on updating the data. At this stage, the Supply Chain team interacts with the Buying team.

The orders are recorded store wise as each store gives different orders. Hence, before the orders data goes to the production department, the buying team reviews the entire order, checks whether the orders are meeting the MOQ (Meeting Order Quantity) and then approves the order to be given to the production team.

The commercial team helps the supply chain team in telling which store has to be replenished in which month. Different stores have different months in which it has to be replenished.

Whatever is not sold means whatever is left in the store is sent back to the warehouses.

From the warehouses these stocks are sent to the factory outlets where they are sold at further discounted prices. Apart from this, the Supply Chain Department maintains all the store openings and closure that happens, do inventory audits and also responsible for handling the imported styles.

E-Commerce Department A huge number of poplulation is inclined towards the technology and internet connectivity so, it is really important for any enterprise to have an online presence in order to get closer to its target audience. It is an Omni-channel retailer as it is present on various channels of communication to 44

Departments in Benetton India | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

the customers. The offers, way of communication, schemes and experience remain on all the channels.

The main aim of the retailer is to attract more and more customers through electronic commerce sites as well as making the access to the store easier for these customers. India is a country with a majority of younger population and the youth being so active electronically, has a huge market potential. The online site and the shopping applications on mobile phones greatly work on the basis of the deals that are provided there. There is always twenty percentage extra merchandise on these platforms because more number people visit the site rather than coming to the store.

Finance and Account Department The team takes care of all the financial processes involved in the company’s day to day work. They greatly take care of budget allocation to various departments and brands and it also takes care of various taxes that are involved in day to day processes. The team helps other teams to achieve clarity on parameters like where to spend, how much to spend and how to spend. This team helps other teams to remain under the budgets and not cross the allotted limits.

HR Department This is one of the core departments for working.

Every employee that is hired in the company has to go through several screenings and interviews.

Human resource Management is the department that conducts these screenings and interviews in order to get best of the best candidates for several positions in the company. It handles the entire hiring gamut of employees. It looks after all the paper work for the same including employee’s contracts, compensations, maintenance, etc.

It looks after the engagement activities. It also conducts reward and recognition programs for employees as well as the children of the employees. It also holds Retail Business Training (RBT) –live projects during EOSS on weekends i.e.

Saturday and Sunday.

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“The important

that you’ve

in the first place. have the passion to

thing is got to have ideas And you need to

“

implement them.

-LUCIANO BENETTON

Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Visual Merchandising.

What is Visual Merchandising?

Visual Merchandising is a strategy employed by retail stores to maximize sales with the help of floor plans and three-dimensional displays.

Mannequins, wall displays, and window installations all come under types of visual merchandising.

The process starts on the outside of the store with attractive window displays. This is used as a technique to entice customers into the store and, in turn, increase business. However, visual merchandising not limited to mannequins or window displays. A retail store can also use wall dÊcor or interactive displays to induce customers’ interest.

Importance Visual merchandising increases the visibility of the brand and also enhances brand loyalty. Today fashion and retail industries are employing the retail merchandising technique on a high scale. It is one of the most popular methods used to engage customers and has seen a high success rate in the past few years.

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Visual Merchandising | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Purpose of Visual Merchandising The success of the fashion industry is not only owed to the designing and manufacturing process.

Marketing is also an essential business technique which is prevalent in all industries today and it’s especially critical to the fashion business. More specifically, visual merchandising is a vital marketing technique in the fashion world. Read on to know more about this interesting marketing technique.

The purposes of visual merchandising are quite straightforward and aimed at bringing in profits for the retail store. Other purposes include: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

To increase sales by showing and promoting your merchandise; Make the display visually appealing to encourage customers to enter the store; Get the customer to pause and “shop” the selling floor; Use merchandising to enhance, establish and promote the store’s visual image; Improve customers’ shopping experience and entertain them; Educate customers about the use or accessorising of a merchandise.

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Key Elements Marketing techniques have certain elements that make them a successful tactic. Have a look at what makes up for the elements of visual merchandising: Paint the world! Have you ever wondered what appeals first to the human mind in a visual? It is the colour. A colour palette is the essence of a visual and sets the aura for the display by appealing to the viewers on a subconscious level. Since the colours in a display say a lot about the brand, they should, complement the brand and it’s specific colour scheme. Using one particular colour should be avoided, as too much of it might become overwhelming for the customers.

Landscapes and more: One of the best ways to capture customers’ attention is by including landscapes as a retail merchandising technique. Landscaping refers to the elevation of products, making it more noticeable. It should be noted that while landscaping, you must carefully choose the size and shape of the displayed merchandise. These details affect which part of the visual merchandise is highlighted due to the lighting.

Texture: A display can be enhanced with the help of contrast technique, which is known as texture.

A display can use textures to convey a message or meaning. While deciding on the texture, you must first analyse the mood or atmosphere you want to set for the display and then find a contrasting texture that supports it. This works wonders in seizing customers’ attention.

Storytelling: Storytelling has the ability to engage a customer for a long time. If you have seen cafes with visuals and dialogues on their wall, you must have noticed that a lot of customers pay attention to them. This is an effective merchandising technique and is widely used in various retail stores too.

Finishing Touch: Décor is the final nail in the wall for retail merchandising. The overall theme of the display is enhanced by the décor, without it being a distraction. It adds value to the display and holds customers’ attention. However, when implementing this element, the size, shape, and colour should be carefully picked.

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Visual Merchandising | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Essentials of Visual Merchandising Window displays: Ever heard of the term window shopping? Well, it originated from the idea of window displays. Themes are created for window displays to lure customers into the store. You can use window displays to make a lasting statement about your merchandise.

Shelf displays: Shelf displays come into focus after customers enter a store. You must strategise about what you want to show on the shelf display and how much shelf space a particular merchandise should get.

Stock displays: Stock displays are a great marketing spot for your featured and profitable products.

Generally, the end of aisles, also called “premium spaces� are used for stock displays to maximise the sale of profitable products and merchandise.

Visual merchandiser: This interesting profession helps to deliver visual concepts to promote retails brands. Professional visual merchandisers also can help create effective designs for stores.

Moreover, they know exactly what theme is perfect for your visual merchandising endeavour.

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Fixtures Benetton has its own style of fixtures. The fixtures are modified than the usual and common ones and have their own names. With time, fixtures are renovated and thus, there are three kinds of fixtures used by Benetton; named On canvas, Lissoni and Twins.

Recently new fixture has been launched in Benetton, called Lightroom fixture. Store at London, Paris have started to use this fixture. But, in India it will be lauched soon. It will be used in top 20 stores of Benetton India.

On canvas – Benetton has launched one of its latest global design concept, On Canvas. It is latest format which is currenty in use at top 20 stores of India. 80-90% of merchandise is kept in hanging (front /side). The fixtures are not visible when the merchandise is being placed. The sections are divided by a canvas on wall. On Canvas is a concept inspired by an artist’s space. Materials like ageing metal with exposed welding and joineries, steel, birch and teak wood and concrete have been carefully finished to retain the natural feel. To lessen carbon footprint, the store design uses energy efficient LED’s that consumes up to 90% lesser electricity is specially designed with 3000K color temperature providing unmatched depth of color and texture to the displayed merchandises.

Lissoni –This was designed by Piero Lissoni. It is a mix of wooden and metal fixtures. It gives more of a feel like a wardrobe arrangement. The store was renovated to pump in a fresh life to the slowly declining market. We believe that strength of the brand and ever evolving design parameter adapts to take on all sorts of competition and the organization expects that the renovation will again improve walk-in at the market for the experience of the store.

Twins – Walnut and white color fixtures are being used in such a format. there are panel walls fixtures type for display of the merchandise. The Twins store concept highlights the collection’s various themes through the use of appropriately separated spaces and a variety of materials and design elements. The walls in the women’s department are greyish teal, which makes the whitepainted partitions stand out, especially when displaying the colours of the United Colors of Benetton collections. The men’s department is in darker colours and divided into dedicated zones.

Lightroom (upcoming) – Include more whites and transparent fixtures. Spot lights will be inculcated in the fixture itself.

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Visual Merchandising | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

On Canvas

Lissoni

Lightroom

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Mannequin, Plants and Pebbles There are three kinds of Mannequin used in Benetton. They are: Busts, Bottom and Full Body parts.

The mannequin are made in such a way that they look like they are in movement. Mannequin’s face is never sighted at just front, either it will be looking at side or above or front.

Plants and pebbles are used in the stores to give the fresh and natural look. Real plants are used in top 20 stores of Benetton in India rest, use fake plants to give the same look and feel.

In every Benetton store, Mannnequins are arranged in cluster at the aisle-entrance of the store. Also, Mannequins are styled with the same theme’s collecetion. One theme cannot be styled with different themes. In case, the merchandise is not available at a particular store, then it can be replaced with foundation theme.

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Cluster arrangement of mannequins

Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Mockshop.

Mockshop is a software for directive translation to instore display. It has four sub softwares. They are: VR Import (where all the datas get linked with the help of excel sheet data and it easily gets uploaded on the software), VR range (all the collection range get segregated here) VR Shape (comes under VR range where color change, shape change, cropping and editing take place), VR Store (store, fixtures, tables can be customised; basically plannogram and wall layouts get prepared here) and VR Story Boards (It is same as PowerPoint presentation).

Uses of Mockshop Mockshop makes easy for the staffs at stores to undersatnd that what will be the layout of the store and what merchandises will be placed on the fixtures.

With MockShop all of product data is highly visual, making it easier to plan, manage and execute better collections for your store Create interactive 3D stores simply by dragging and dropping fixtures and products in MockShop’s powerful virtual environment MockShop’s automated planogram creation system makes it faster than ever to create beautiful, easy to follow fixture and store planograms After you’ve created a 3D store mockup and planogram, export merchandising directives that are more relevant to your stores

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Mockshop | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

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VR Import

VR Shape

An interactive visual database for merchandise • View and organize their entire ranges Week Summer Internship @ Benetton India Pvt. Ltd- Visual Merchandising Project • Analyze their ranges • Produce storyboards and range books in minutes 8-Week Summer Internship @ Benetton India Pvt. Ltd- Visual Merchandising Project

• Sample room’s imaging and importing tools helps to convert photos and CAD sketches into correctly scaled garment silhouettes 8-Week Summer Internship @ Benetton India 8-Week Visual Summer Merchandising Internship Project @ Benetton India Pvt.Pvt. Ltd-LtdVisual Merchandising Project Sample room‟s imaging importing tools helps Sample convert room‟s photos imaging CAD andand sketches importing tools correctly helps convert scaled photos andand CAD sketches intointo correctly scaled garment silhouettes. garment silhouettes.

Figure 19 Shape VR Shape Working Figure 19 VR Working

2.2.1 VR Shape

8-Week Summer Internship @ Benetton India Pvt. Ltd- Visual Merchandising Project Figure 20 Making garment ready for Store VR Store Figure 20 Making garment ready for VR

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, SHILLONG - 2018-20

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2.1 VR Shape

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, SHILLONG - 2018-20

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FASHION TECHNOLOGY, NATIONAL INSTITUTE SHILLONG OFOF - 2018-20 FASHION TECHNOLOGY, SHILLONG - 2018-20

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Figure 21 Mask Making

2.3 VR Store

– provide a complete visual guide to every fixture in the virtual store – show how shop floors should be merchandised – give foolproof instructions to shop floor staff – are generated automatically ‐ it‟s quick and easy to produce as many versions as required to cover every space grade of store

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Mockshop | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

VR Store

VR Storyboard

• Provides a complete visual guide to every • Presentation like format 8-Week Summer Internship @ Benetton India Pvt. Ltd- Visual Merchandising Project 8-Week Summer Internship @ Benetton India Pvt. Ltd- Visual Merchandising Project fixture in the virtual store • Makes easy to make a plannogram • Show how shop floors should be merchandised – give fulllproof instructions 2.42.4 VRVR Story Board Story Board to shop floor staff • Are generated automatically • It’s quick and @easy to India produce as many 8-Week Summer Internship Benetton Pvt. Ltd- Visual Merchandising Project versions as required to cover every space grade of store Making of Planogram

Pvt. Ltd- Visual Merchandising Project

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, SHILLONG - 2018-20

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, SHILLONG - 2018-20

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, SHILLONG - 2018-20

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Project 1:

Virtual Merchandise layout for stores.

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Project 1 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Deliverable: Using mockshop software, arrange a theme’s collection on fixture for store implementation on the basis of six principles of visual merchandising.

My Take: Researched about the six principles of visual merchandising.

The principles are: 1. CPS (Color Pattern and style balancing) 2. Zone Priority (Focal area and zone of reduced focus) 3. Pyramid (Balance and Gravity) 4. C2N (Two Colors and one Nuetral) 5. Key Styles (Focus Criteria) 6. Symmetry/ Assymetry (clarity of Symmentry and Assyemtry shelving) Used the principles, C2N and Balance to create a virtual layout.

Softwares used: Microsoft Excel, VR Import, VR Range, VR Shape and VR store

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Project 1 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Mockshop Layouts for the Theme, Work in Progress

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Planneogram of the Theme with style code

Store Implementation for the Theme, Work in Progress, Mumbai Store, men and women Collection

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Project 1 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Project 2:

Denim Collateral.

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Project 2 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Deliverable: A Denim Collateral with a catch line was to be designed for store signage.

My Take: First, I came up with few catch lines for the collateral. After getting finalized with two catch lines, I started to make rough sketches for layouts and drew my ideas on the paper.

I took the reference from the internet and past developed collateral for Benetton.

The catch lines are: 1. Catch the Denim Vibe 2. Deal with Denim Softwares used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop

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Project 2 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Finalised Denim Collateral will be used in the store

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Project 3:

AW 19 Themes.

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Project 3 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Deliverable: Cover page, Look Boards, Templates for AW 19 collections are to be made through graphics for presentations and look books.

My Take: Studied each and every theme, used key colors, rough layouts were made for each themes and sub topics. Created the graphics using a software. selected ones got finalised and the presentation got compiled.

For this, I took the key elements and key colors from each theme and used them in the graphics and layouts. Also, cut outs of the images have been taken and converted them in png format so that it can be easily used in the graphics.

Software used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop

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Selected Cover Page of look book

Theme 1: Rainbow Machine Collection “Rainbow” represents a vision shared by Luciano Benetton and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.

“Luciano and I are all about color”, says the French designer, who explains that the collection’s palette will be mainly based on the primary colors of the rainbow – yellow, red, green, blue – with some touches of black.

“Machine” is a tribute to Benetton’s great industrial tradition, its know-how and its one-of-a kind technological expertise. The runway will feature actual knitting machines in a set with enormous close-ups of products photographed by Oliviero Toscani.

The collection pays homage to original features of the brand – like the logo, the color element (particularly green), garment-dyed knitwear and a certain sporty, easy chic attitude – that, over the past 30 years, have made fashion history.

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Project 3 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Cover Page Variations

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Project 3 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Look Book

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Project 3 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Theme 2: Attacco Stagione Attacco Stagione collection will be delievered in September at Benetton stores of India.

This collection mainly has stripes (horizontal as well as vertical), thick coloured lines of hem, prints with UCB logo and solid primary colours.

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Cover Page Variations 79

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Look Boards 81

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Cover Page Variations 82

Project 3 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Look Boards

Theme 3: Beauty Cieli

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Beauty Cieli is the collection for women.

Floral prints and polka dots are the main motives in this collection.

Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Theme 4: Basico Basico is the foundation theme of Benetton. Plain tshirts, polo tshirts etc come under this theme.

This theme parallely delievered to the stores with any other theme every month.

Finalised cover page for Basico for look book

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Project 3 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Finalised cover page for work in progress for look book

Theme 4: Work In progress Work in Progress is the theme which has Camouflage prints as key print, also it has texts/ quotes prints with checks options too.

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Industry Internship Report 2019 | NIFT Patna | Benetton India

Theme 5: New Wave New Wave collection has patterns, checks, blocking, stripes, prints, floral prints, velvet textured fabric and typography.

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Project 3 | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

Finalised cover page for New Wave for look book

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Learning and Experience.

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Learning and Experience | Tanya Sinha | FC (2016-20)

This Internship helped me to grow personally and professionally as I got to know how an industry works.

I positively grew with knowledge in the field of Visual Merchandising. The environment of the company helped me how to develop in a professional field. My self esteem has enlightened with the work I’ve done for the company and my welfare.

My graphics and visual merchandising fields have filled with some more experiences in terms of work and knowledge as well. I got to know the whole process and flow of VM and whatever steps come under to complete a successful VM. Mockshop was totally a new software to me and thus I learned a new software.

It’s not just the work experience but, I have also made good contacts and have developed a healthy relationship with my Industry mentor. She thoroughly encouraged and appreciated me.

The overall experience working with Benetton group has enriched my knowledge and creative field as well.

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Bibliography.

Content

Primary Source Benetton India Pvt. Ltd, Head office, Gurugram, Haryana Secondary Source https://limcollege.edu/academics/what-isvisual-merchandising http://www.benettongroup.com/ media-press/image-gallery/corporate/ headquarters/ http://www.benettongroup.com/the-group/ profile/company-vision/ https://art8amby.wordpress. com/2011/07/09/united-colours-ofbenetton-fall-winter-2011-ad-campaign/ https://berlinsbi.com/blog/careeradvice/what-is-the-purpose-of-visualmerchandising/ http://www.retail4growth.com/projects/ benetton-launches-its-on-canvas-conceptin-bangalore-80-stores-to-take-up-thisconcept-by-2018-2882

Images

Photographed by Toskani, Benetton Group Copyright Benetton Group Photgraphed by Tanya Sinha www.benettongroup.com www.google.com