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The period between 2020 and 2021 was proved to be a challenge for everyone across industries. The retail industry, too, faced major roadblocks, with several business closing down after Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus at the time.
While speaking at the Kolkata Retail Summit at the Park Hotel on November 18, 2022, Wow! Momo Co-Founder and CEO Sagar Daryani congratulated retailers, mall developers, and service providers for uniting and having each other’s back during the pandemic. “Had malls not given retailers waives or retailers not adjusted with malls, we may have not had an event like this,” he said, while speaking to the crowd present.
Daryani added that before lockdowns were issued, he felt like he was on top of the world. However, once things shut, his world, too, came crashing down. “My screen was the only space of work. My teammates and I were depressed, anxious, and nervous about what was to come. Our revenue was 1/10th of what it was supposed to be. We had employees to pay. But we had to put on a brave front because we didn’t want our parents to worry,” he added.
Daryani said that while the business was at its worst, he and his team knew that it was time to survive, as adverse times were the best time to prove your mettle. “You can be scared and perish or take on the obstacles by its horns. Fortunately, we decided to do the latter and disrupted our traditional way of doing business.”
Prior to the pandemic, Wow! Momo earned less than 18 per cent as revenue from online purchases. Daryani and his team got into growth hacking with food aggregators such as Zomato and Swiggy. “We even had to alter the packing, as momos tend to get soggy if packaged, so we included holes in the boxes so that steam could escape. We also started selling momos for people who were ordering for only themselves,” he said, adding that this period saw a 9x growth in online business for the company.
Besides this, Daryani says that Wow! Momo teamed up with Café Coffee Day during the pandemic. “This way, we helped reduce rental burden and managed to get revenue for both.”
Wow! Momo also teamed up with leading FMCG brands to start Wow! Essentials that would deliver groceries to customer homes during the pandemic. Daryani said that by the end of 2020, the company had reached pre-COVID revenue numbers.
And then the delta wave happened.
During this time, Daryani along with other business leaders in the city founded Entrepreneurs of Kolkata, and amongst them raised money to bring in 357 ICU beds in a span of 30 days to ensure that people were taken care of. “We saw shortage of beds, and other challenges during the time. We lost loved ones, and many people are still suffering from the after-effects of the pandemic. Through Entrepreneurs of Kolkata, we teamed up and took on something bigger than us, and we also sought the help of the Government of India and the Indian Army,” he said
Entrepreneurs of Kolkata also set up a city-specific dashboard that would ensure that people were treated on a first-come-first-serve basis, rather than on the amount of influence that they had. “We also made it a point to not fire our employees during this time, and paid them their salaries at the end of every month. The hard work paid off, and today, we’re doing exceedingly well, with a low attrition rate. We also managed to double our employee count,” said Daryani.
Daryani’s story is one of thousands of stories that retailers have shared during the COVID-19 pandemic. The good news is that we’re on the road to recovery, and the only challenges being faced are the ever-evolving landscape of the retail industry. But Daryani isn’t fazed. “If we can take on COVID, we can take on anything.”
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