Discover the inspiring story of Damodar Mall, the man behind the success of Reliance Smart Bazar. Supermarketwala shares the journey of how he transformed the grocery retail industry in India.

👇 About the Guest

Damodar Mall is the Chief Executive Officer of the Grocery Retail Business at Reliance Retail.

An IIT-Bombay and IIM-Bangalore alumnus, Damodar worked in Sales and brand roles at Unilever prior to founding a retail venture that went on to become the DMart supermarket chain. He was then with Future Group in various leadership roles and was part of Kishore Biyani’s core team.

Damodar’s book SupermarketWala: Secrets to Wining Consumer India, provides business insights for shaping consumer business and modern retail, in India. His recently published second book Be a SupermarketWala is a business primer for supermarket entrepreneurs.

👇 Key Highlights

✅ Embracing entrepreneurial spirit within a corporate setting

- Initiating innovative projects outside of designated roles

- Enjoying the entrepreneurial journey amidst corporate structure

✅ Seizing opportunities and scaling up smart Bazaar stores

- A specialist's input led to the ambition of launching 200 stores in a year, creating a separate pipeline for growth.

- The journey from the launch of the first Smart Bazaar store in 2016 to reaching the thousandth store in 2025 was described as an impressive accomplishment.

✅ Modernizing home consumption of coconut water

- Identifying inefficiencies and efforts in obtaining and consuming coconut water

- Plans to modernize packaging and create brand loyalty through form and feature changes

✅ Accelerate your plans and tap into the large domestic market in India

- India's increasing purchasing power and desire for branded products present a lucrative opportunity for global players

- Large corporations have flourished by upgrading and marketing hair oil products in the domestic market

✅ Reliance focusing on consumption opportunities in India

- Expanding through various channels like physical stores, e-commerce, quick Commerce, and outlet malls

- Involvement in creating new brands and empowering mom and pop stores for a unique consumption mix

👇 Timestamps

[00:00] Introduction

[00:52] Entrepreneurial Journey : Damodar Mall

[07:04] Successfully implemented changes in stores

[09:24] Scaling up smart bazaar stores

[14:33] Coconut water

[17:09] Brands simplify the act of choosing for consumers

[21:48] Culture & Incomes.

[24:19] Supermarkets vs Kirana Stores

[29:02] Strawberries and Dry fruits

[31:18] Key to business success in India

[35:55] Tap into the large domestic market in India

[38:28] Indian consumer behavior trends

[43:26] Fusing Indian retail and digital access

[45:57] Reliance focusing on consumption opportunities in India

[50:40] Consumer behavior varies across different retail channels

[53:02] Simplicity and customer connection

👇Connect with Damodar

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damodarmall/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supermarketwala_

Twitter: https://x.com/supermarketwala

👇 Connect with Rodrigo and Something Bigger

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