When Kishore Biyani learnt Big Bazaar crowd management from Tirupati temple

Kishore Biyani was speaking on Nikhil Kamath's podcast.

Kishore Biyani, the founder of Future Group, is a well-known name in the Indian retail industry. He has been instrumental in shaping the retail landscape of India through his innovative ideas and business strategies. Recently, in a podcast with Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath, Udaan’s Sujeet Kumar, and Meesho’s Vidit Aatrey, he shared his experiences and lessons learned while managing Big Bazaar, a chain of retail stores under Future Retail.

Biyani talked about how he went to the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh to understand how to manage crowds. He wanted to learn how the temple authorities handle the huge influx of devotees and apply those lessons to his own business.

“When we used to get huge crowds in Big Bazaar stores, we went to Tirupati temple to understand how to manage crowds," he said adding that the management at the temple premises is “unbelievable”.

“For the last 15 years, every six months we do a Bharat darshan and record every societal change happening in the country,” he added. “You can learn from everywhere,” he said.

He added that Sarvana stores in Chennai, where they sold everything at one place, was his first retail store experience where he got inspiration from for Big Bazaar.

In the trailer of the podcast, Kamath called Biyani the “OG of commerce” and the “Godfather of Indian Retail.”

Big Bazaar was known for offering products at highly discounted prices, which was made possible by directly sourcing the products from manufacturers and giving the benefit of lowered margins to the customers. The business model worked well, and the company gradually grew to reach 250 stores across 125 cities in India.

However, the growing ecommerce penetration within the country, lack of funds, rising debt, and other factors proved to be detrimental for the business. The pandemic further pushed the company into debt, and Biyani later sold his business to the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail for Rs 24,713 crore.

Biyani also emphasized the importance of profitability. He said that "life is not very complicated" and that profitability comes first. This is a lesson that every business owner should keep in mind. In the pursuit of growth and expansion, it is easy to lose sight of profitability.

The podcast episode highlights the challenges and opportunities in the Indian retail industry. Biyani's story is a testament to the fact that innovation and adaptation are the keys to success in any business.