Lifestyle is one of the region’s most high-profile retail groups, a UAE-grown brand with a range of global labels across beauty, home décor, home, gifting, and fashion.
CEO Ruban Shanmugarajah brings decades of experience to his most challenging role to date. As COO of Babyshop, his ‘Retail is Detail’ leadership style was instrumental in driving Babyshop’s upward trajectory and his experience of the high street to the urban mall gave him insight that has allowed him to steer Lifestyle through today’s challenging climate. Â
In terms of what’s happened this year, what have been the most significant changes for retail?
The lockdown of stores, implementation of hygiene measures, and social distancing norms have had an impact on retail and ultimately the future of retail. Consumer habits are changing, and we are adapting to stay ahead.
We brought together the best of technology to strengthen supply chain and make our business future ready by creating a fully-automated Mega Distribution Centre at JAFZA to strengthen our supply chain and build a facility that can serve as a logistics and distribution hub for the region. We have ramped up our e-commerce capabilities and digital initiatives.
Our mission is to always stay connected and up to speed to support the business and our people by taking proactive measures and constantly building operational efficiencies, across offices, stores and warehouses.
How must retail evolve and innovate?
The retail industry in the region continues to be vibrant, fast-changing and challenging, which keeps us on our toes. We are seeing significant change in consumer habits; many of these will be permanent, hence the industry must evolve to stay relevant. Consumers in the region are exposed to many of the global trends and therefore they constantly seek best value in terms of quality and price.
High internet penetration, especially in KSA, has led to high awareness of global trends. This coupled with an increased number of the population going into the workforce will see increase in demand in the short to medium term. An increased number of e-commerce platforms have also emerged; in the long run I believe consumers will oscillate towards those they can relate to and trust and most importantly to those providing seamless customer experience, this will be vital to engage Gen Z generation.
As a leader, what was your own experience of leading through this crisis?Â
In leadership crisis is inevitable, however, if I’m brutally honest nothing had prepared me for COVID-19 and the subsequent challenges we faced across the retail industry as we were faced with the prospect of all of our stores across the GCC being closed at one stage.
Those days in lockdown really forced one to carefully review the business model, our customer proposition whilst charting a course for the best way to respond and bounce back.
During these crises, as a leader you need to remain calm, resilient, realistic about the scope of the problem and cognizant of the impact it is having on the team. My takeaway during any crisis is that as leaders we need to remain calm and optimistic, yet decisive and goal orientated. Always put a priority on people’s wellbeing, listen to their fears, create a sense of cooperation and community. Facing tough situations is difficult, however if teams can remain strong and calm, once they come out on the other side of the crisis, they are likely to be stronger.
Do you see opportunity at this time?
I see a lot of opportunity for Lifestyle post COVID-19. I believe the beauty industry will be one of the first to bounce back. Social distancing and the need to wear face masks has meant less demand for colour cosmetics. GCC consumers are one of the highest consumers of beauty and I believe lip colour and foundation are likely to see a sharp rebound once we have mass deployment of vaccines. As we come out of the pandemic, I foresee other strands, such as skincare over indexing in growth against global trends.
We have a significant Home Décor business, which has seen increase in consumption as many of us are spending more time at home and are looking for unique décor items to enhance our living space. We have seen a real need to bring to the market unique, trend led décor pieces that reflect the Arab heritage and taste levels, in order to fuel this growth we will be investing in design capabilities to stay ahead of the latest trends.
Sustainable luxury and sustainable practices in this industry is a high-profile issue. Can the industry have an impact? Is it something you aspire to at Lifestyle?
I believe beauty in the region will shift towards being more consumer driven, with consumers demanding greater desire for green products and more natural ingredients. At Lifestyle we are in the process of introducing a range of conscious beauty within the new Centrepoint store we will be opening in Dubai mall in December this year, this will comprise of the 4 pillars of 1) Clean -free from key harmful ingredients like parabens 2) Vegan 3) Cruelty free -not tested on animals 4) sustainable – use recyclable or recycled packaging.
Hundreds of global brands are curated under one roof at the UAE-grown multibrand store
What’s the creative direction for the brand?
Lifestyle’s mission is to be the female brand of choice for young and aspiring women across the GCC. This generation is tech savvy, highly informed and selective on what consumes their attention and money. Therefore, creativity and innovation will be part of Lifestyle’s DNA in order for us to be a relevant and desired retail destination for the young women of today. With this in mind, Lifestyle continues to drive expression of the female voice, exploring the worlds of beauty, skincare, stationery, fashion and home décor through trends, colours and expressions.
As a leader, you’ve first-hand experience of climbing up the ladder – what do you think is important in terms of making a path for those that come after you, especially for leadership demographics that are under-represented such as women?
I have been very fortunate to grow within Landmark Group, demonstrating that there is no real substitute for hard work, dedication and being honest to your business. I’m acutely aware that retail is a people’s business and one where the primary responsibility of a CEO is to grow leaders from within, especially female leaders.
As a brand that is serving the needs of the fast-evolving woman of today, it is imperative we closely understand her needs, and no one understands a woman better than a woman!
We are working hard to identify bright, young females to join our business across the GCC, with a view to closely nurture them to senior leadership positions in the coming years ahead. Nothing gives me greater pleasure then seeing people grow up the ladder and go onto achieve within the organization.
Retail around the world is changing – how must retailers respond to trends?
The retail landscape and beauty specifically has changed dramatically over the past nine months, and it remains to be seen if the industry will return to the trends of the pre-COVID-19 period. Consumers think differently and this applies to how they look at beauty, so it is imperative retailers listen.
How have you changed your retail model to accommodate social distancing and make stores COVID-19 secure?
Customers and staff health and safety has been and will continue to be our number one priority, with this in mind we have taken strict measures to comply with all directives from government and local health authorities. We have suspended all in store services including beauty makeovers and masterclasses.
We are investing in virtual capabilities within our color cosmetic department, such that consumers can digitally try on make up before making a purchasing decision. We have increased the supplies of hand sanitizing for staff and customers alike within our stores.
We have re-trained all of our staff on the improved hygiene standards expected as well as the need to maintain social distancing when engaging customers. All employees are advised to stay at home if they are not feeling well.
Traditional retail is changing faster than ever before
What characteristics must leaders exhibit in 2020 and beyond?
In my opinion, the top five skills all leaders must demonstrate to succeed should be communication. Every vision, plan or a great strategy would be in vain if a leader cannot clearly articulate and galvanize the teams to move towards the set objective, therefore communication becomes the most important tool in any successful leaders tool kit.
Secondly, listening actively. Leadership can often be defined as the art of motivating others, but the art of motivating requires much more than charm offensive to get people going. To succeed in leading others, you need to know your team, motivate them whilst building trust.
This is when active listening becomes a critical leadership skill.
Empathy is another key skill that leaders need to have in order to lead effectively. It’s all about one’s ability to connect and influence people to act, you can only do that if you can connect with your teams at a basic level emotionally. An empathetic leader will always be able to create a team that is engaged, loyal, happier and are able to work much better together.
Next, resilience is of vital importance. Industries today are constantly getting disrupted, and leaders must find opportunities in disruption. The true test of a leader is not how they perform during the good times but rather how they display emotional strength, courage, and professionalism during the most trying times.
Finally, risk taking ability. You need to dare to be different to win and have the confidence to emotionally be resilient to withstand people telling you that your idea will not work.
Do you think malls are doing enough to support their tenants, and if you could make any changes what would they be?
Mall management are quite aware of how difficult the situation is on-ground. To bring shoppers back to the brick-and-mortar setting once they’ve gone online has proven quite tough.
Losing a shopper to an online retailer means that footfall to the mall in general would reduce. However, in-store experiences so far have been irreplaceable, therefore transforming these offerings which could include interactive competitions, performances, etc. can play a major role in retaining shoppers.
Even though, these tactics might not necessarily lead to direct sales but would definitely encourage visitors to go inside, elevating the brand’s presence. As we navigate through these challenging times, I believe the best way forward is collaboration that will be mutually beneficial to both mall owners and retail operators.
Do you think the mall environment is the main model for retail in the region? What alternatives are there?
The role of the mall environment has shifted, shaped by the recent trends which include changing demographics, emergence of the digital native and increased urbanisation which means more people living in smaller spaces and a welcome need for public spaces to socialise. In this environment, malls are no longer primarily about just shopping, it’s much more than that!
Customer evolution coupled with the rise of digital technologies has led to an e-commerce boom. We have implemented a flexible model which supports a continued shift from what was predominantly a mall-based business toward a more diversified model that includes digital and customer personalisation.
How key is ecommerce in the group?
Even before the onset of Covid-19, e-commerce as a channel was super critical to Lifestyle and the Landmark Group at large, the pandemic and the subsequent lock down of our store estate only strengthened our belief in the need to focus and invest in this channel. Our proposition is to be a leading omni channel retailer, giving customers the choice to choose the channel they use to engage with the brand 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Â