Shopping at a single location can save both time and money
Super Saravana Stores is a one-stop shopping destination in Chennai, offering an extensive range of clothing, accessories, and household items at unbeatable prices. This showroom has evolved into a customer’s paradise, featuring diverse products catering to the entire family’s needs. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, Managing Director Sabapathy Rajaratnam discusses the stores’ unique shopping experience, product sourcing, staff training, promotions, and expansion plans.
There is a general feeling that people are buying more online after the pandemic. Are you seeing the same trend at your stores?
It seems that people are utilising both online and offline shopping methods, depending on their individual needs and preferences. When time is limited, they tend to shop online, but for certain products and categories, customers primarily visit showrooms for their purchases.
Customers do use online apps to stay informed about sales or promotions while shopping in-store. We are witnessing a trend where a specific segment of shoppers engages in both online and offline shopping, depending on the accessibility of the store and the convenience of visiting it. For these shoppers, visiting a physical store serves as both a shopping and entertainment experience, which they enjoy doing with family and friends.
Can you tell us about the history of Super Saravana Stores and how it has evolved over the years?
Super Saravana Stores’ journey began in 1969, initially focusing on selling vessels. Over time, the store expanded its offerings based on customer inquiries and market trends, eventually incorporating textiles, appliances, furniture, and more. Today, Super Saravana Stores boasts a diverse range of products across 33+ categories, from Furniture to Grocery jewellery, textiles, appliances.
From 1969 until 2010, Super Saravana Stores operated as a single store. In 2010, a second showroom was opened in Purasawalkam Chennai’s central business district. Subsequently, more locations were established: one in the southern part of Chennai in Chrompet, near the airport; another near the other side of the airport in Porur. Most recently, in December 2022, a new store was opened in the Tier 2 city of Madurai, which caters to the central region of Tamil Nadu. This latest store is located in Madurai.
How do you ensure the quality of the textiles and clothing that you offer to customers at such affordable prices?
Super Saravana Stores Procures its products from various manufacturing centres across India, including Ludhiana, Surat, Tiruppur, Salem, Coimbatore, Karur, Erode, and Delhi. Over the past 50 years, the entity has established strong relationships with suppliers and manufacturers, ensuring high-quality products for its customers.
The purchasing process involves a curation by the purchase team, who work closely with suppliers to obtain the right product lines. All products are sent to a central warehouse, where a quality check is performed before they are dispatched to the showrooms. At the showrooms, there is an additional quality checkpoint before products are displayed. This standard operating procedure (SOP) has been in place for over 50 years, ensuring consistent product quality.
Coordination and collaboration between the floor team, purchase team, management team, suppliers, and manufacturers are crucial for maintaining the desired pricing and product availability. This cooperative approach ensures a win-win situation for both the end customer and the manufacturer.
A key aspect of Super Saravana Stores’ success is the involvement of the ownership team – led by Founder Mr. Rajaratnam Shanmugasundaram and Managing Director Mr. Sabapathy Rajaratnam & Mr. Roshan Sree Ratnam, Mr. Yogesh Sree Ratnam – in the curation of product lines, pricing, and quality control. This hands-on approach has been passed down through generations and continues to be overseen by the family, ensuring that the high standards and quality of Super Saravana Stores are maintained throughout the years.
What is the process for selecting the range of clothing and textiles offered at your Stores?
The product selection process at Super Saravana Stores is focused on customer appeal. To determine which products have a strong pull factor in the market, the team analyses street markets and sourcing markets to identify current trends. Based on this analysis, the selection criteria are established, ensuring that the store’s offerings align with customer preferences and demands.
The team responsible for this process is highly experienced, with members having over two decades of expertise in the industry. They work together to stay informed about the latest market trends, using this knowledge to continuously update and refine the product selection at Super Saravana Stores.
How do you keep up with the latest fashion trends and ensure that your products are fashionable and up-to-date?
The process of staying updated with the latest market trends at Super Saravana Stores involves continuous supplier meetings, sourcing team meetings, and market visits across different regions of the country. This ongoing 365-day process ensures that the store’s offerings are always in line with current trends.
The team behind this process is consistently travelling to various markets, showrooms, and streets to identify and pick up on emerging trends. Based on their observations, they curate a selection of fashion and trend products tailored to the specific market where each showroom is located. This approach ensures that the products available at Super Saravana Stores are always up-to-date and in sync with the current market demands and seasonal trends.
Can you tell us about any unique or special collections that Super Saravana Stores offers for weddings or other special occasions?
Weddings are always special occasions, and post-COVID, there has been a significant increase in wedding-related purchases throughout the year. Super Saravana Stores serves as a one-stop-shop for all wedding needs, offering a wide range of products, including textiles, utensils, furniture, and jewellery—all at affordable prices and in line with current fashion trends.
Customers can conveniently shop for everything they need for a wedding in one place, saving both time and money. Based on auspicious dates and the availability of family members, brides, and grooms, shoppers can find a variety of items suited to their needs. From traditional kanjivaram silk sarees to the latest fine jewellery designs, wedding shopping at Super Saravana Stores is a special experience for customers, catering to their diverse needs and preferences.
What is your USP? What sets Super Saravana Stores apart from other retail chains in South India?
Our primary USP is offering a wide variety of products under one roof, making it a convenient shopping destination for customers who visit with family members or groups of friends. Our stores also feature a specially curated line of designer collections for events like sangeet ceremony and other special occasions, catering to the wedding market.
We focus on building trust with our customers and adapt quickly to their needs. As a professionally run family-managed business, we can make and implement decisions rapidly. If a customer is searching for a product that is not currently available, we make an effort to provide it and potentially expand that category. Starting with just one category, today, we offer 33+ categories, including groceries, fruits, vegetables, textiles, clothing, kitchen and home appliances, electronics, mobiles, and more.
Customers appreciate the convenience of shopping at a single location where they can save both time and money. Additionally, the shopping experience is seen as a form of entertainment. Super Saravana Stores operates as a self-service format, allowing customers to shop at their own pace without salespeople disturbing them. This combination of convenience, time and money savings, and a comfortable shopping environment are key factors that contribute to our stores’ success and appeal to customers.
How do you ensure that customers are satisfied with their purchases and their overall shopping experience at Super Saravana Stores?
At Super Saravana Stores, the management team, led by Founder Mr. Rajaratnam Shanmugasundaram the Managing Director Mr. Sabapathy Rajaratnam and the next generation leaders Mr. Roshan Sree Ratnam and Mr. Yogesh Sree Ratnam , place a strong emphasis on listening and learning from customers. They spend considerable time on the sales floor, observing customer behaviour and interacting with the floor team to better understand their needs.
By focusing on areas such as customer traffic management, product placement, time and cost savings, and product selection, the store continuously improves and adapts its offerings and services. The management team ensures that both new and existing staff members are consistently updated on market trends, technology, and customer preferences.
This commitment to fostering development and staying informed about the market allows Super Saravana Stores to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction and create a comfortable shopping experience for its customers.
Where do you source all the sarees and clothing items that you sell in your stores?
Sarees and clothing items sold at Super Saravana Stores are sourced entirely from within India. There are various manufacturing clusters that specialise in producing different types of sarees and garments. Some notable locations include Salem, Coimbatore, Madurai and Karur in Tamil Nadu. Other states from where we source are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, and Gujarat.
These manufacturing centres have been producing sarees and textiles for generations, evolving from handloom and silk weaving to mechanised looms, and now to super-fast water jet looms. While embracing modern technology, they also maintain and uphold the age-old traditions and cultural aspects of their craft. Since India is rich in textile and clothing manufacturing, visiting these clusters to source products for the store is a rewarding experience as new creations are constantly being developed.
How do you train and educate your staff to provide excellent customer service and product knowledge?
The majority of Super Saravana Stores’ staff, around 90 per cent, comes from rural backgrounds across different parts of the country. New team members receive an initial induction and orientation programme lasting a couple of days, followed by on-the-job training. Each new staff member is assigned a mentor on the sales floor, and the mentorship programme ensures that they learn the dos and don’ts and SOPs from experienced colleagues.
Staff members engage in candid communication with customers rather than adhering to a formal approach. This fosters trust and comfort between the employees and customers, resulting in satisfied and happy shoppers. Nowadays, customers themselves are more informed about products, and their expectations for product knowledge from staff are lower, especially in a self-service format.
For specific product knowledge inquiries, trained promoters from the supplier base or experienced senior staff members are available in each showroom to provide assistance and fulfil customer needs. This approach ensures that customers receive the necessary support and information while maintaining a comfortable shopping environment.
Are there any upcoming promotions or events at Super Saravana Stores?
During the current summer season, Super Saravana Stores is focusing on encouraging children to play outdoors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, children had to rely on mobile devices and gadgets for education, which increased their screen time. As a result, outdoor play has become less common.
To promote outdoor play, Super Saravana Stores is running a special promotion. With every purchase of ₹1,500 and above, customers will receive free outdoor sports articles, depending on their bill value. These items can be used by children to engage in outdoor activities and play. This promotion is specifically designed to encourage children to spend more time outdoors and enjoy physical activities during the summer season.
What are the new plans in terms of expansion at Super Saravana Stores?
Super Saravana Stores has been gradually expanding, opening a new showroom approximately every three to four years since 2010. The COVID-19 pandemic caused some delay, but we recently opened our largest showroom in Dec 2022, which is considered by many to be the largest in the country.
Our management takes a measured approach to expansion, focusing on stabilising the new showroom before moving on to the next step. We have a 10-year long-term plan in place for further growth, which will be shared with the media at the appropriate time. This strategy ensures that Super Saravana Stores can continue to expand while maintaining the quality and customer experience we are known for.
