Industry overview
What is shaping retail
Retailers and D2C brands compete across stores, apps and marketplaces. Store experience, availability and convenience decide where shoppers go next.
- Shoppers move freely between online and offline
- Store experience is a key differentiator
- Loyalty programmes and personalisation drive repeat
Client background
A pharmacy retail chain, working in Gujarat & Rajasthan. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A pharmacy retail chain
- Sector
- Retail
- Team engaged
- Finance & Accounts
- Services
- Virtual CFO services, MIS & financial reporting, Budgeting & financial forecasting
Client challenge
The pharmacy chain was opening new stores quickly, but the owners could not see which stores were profitable after rent, staff and inventory costs. Cash was tight despite growing sales. Suppliers were also offering better terms to competitors with larger volumes, and the owners did not know how to negotiate from a position of evidence.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: store-level profitability for a growing retail chain.
- Establish accurate, reconciled numbers management can rely on.
- Put a reporting and compliance rhythm in place that runs on time.
Target audience
Scope: 60 stores.
Audiences we typically reach in retail
ShoppersStore staff and managersOnline customersLoyalty membersFranchisees
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Gujarat & Rajasthan. Market: India. 60 stores covered.
- India
Research methodology
A structured finance engagement: review the current process, set up controls, run the routine and report.
- 1Brief
- 2Store P&L
- 3Expansion modelling
- 4Insight
Our virtual CFO built monthly profit and loss reports for each store, reviewed inventory levels and supplier terms, and created a financial model for evaluating new locations. Monthly review meetings with the owners compared each store against targets, and the expansion model tested rent, staffing and sales assumptions for new sites.
Virtual CFO servicesMIS & financial reportingBudgeting & financial forecasting
Sampling strategy
- Every ledger, entity and transaction stream in scope was covered, with sample-based checks during review.
Data collection
- Source documents, bank statements and ledgers were collected through a secure shared workspace.
Data quality & validation
- Maker-checker review on all entries
- Bank and ledger reconciliations
- Client approval before every filing or report
- Supporting documents kept for every figure
Data analysis
- Variance analysis against budget and prior periods
- Ratio and trend analysis
- Cash-flow view for management
Key findings
- Two loss-making stores were restructured, inventory levels were reduced and expansion focused on store formats that had proven profitable.
Store-level numbers made expansion decisions smarter.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: store-level numbers made expansion decisions smarter.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: two loss-making stores were restructured, inventory levels were reduced and expansion focused on store formats that had proven profitable.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The chain also negotiated improved payment terms with key distributors using its new purchase data.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Monthly MIS pack and reconciled books
- Compliance calendar and filings
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how do shoppers move between channels?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.