Vishnu

Valueprix is a neighborhood grocery brand that serves c.2,000 customers in Kochi, India. In 7 years, it grew from one 2500sqft store to add 3 mini stores, ~500sqft each, exclusively placed inside multi-apartment communities. We differentiated from competition mainly by sourcing a curated assortment of products (imported fruits, beverages, organic vegetables), by providing a reliable, customized home delivery service, and cutting costs by implementing AI-powered inventory demand forecasting.

During the initial years, responsibilities included everything from billing, sales, and home delivery, as well as managing working capital. Post COVID, by effective delegation of duties, I oversaw full P&L ownership, store operations, pricing, supplier negotiations, hiring, managed a 14-member team, and set strategy. I also designed inventory and replenishment processes and led our Covid-era pivot to tech-enabled home delivery.

Achievements
• Led a 4-outlet retail operation (2,000+ customers, ~4000sq ft, 14-member team) with full P&L ownership.
• Cut operating costs by 45% (2019–21) by removing central warehousing, deploying JIT inventory and AI-based demand forecasting.
• Trimmed supplier-credit exposure from ~90% to 38% permanently by leveraging FY20-21 sales fuelled by the COVID pandemic.
• Raised Gross Margin to 17.5% (+2.5 p.p.) by utilizing advance-cash discounts for ~70% of procurement and in-store monetization.
• Doubled customer base by delivering 245K+ orders during COVID (8 months, 0 cancellations) under a new Target Operating Model.
• Introduced 2 new SKUs monthly by integrating customer wish-list data collected via mobile app, WhatsApp, in-store surveys
• Refinanced ₹2.0M OD exposure with 0% interest chit funds (KSFE) while staying within risk & liquidity thresholds during transition.
• Maintained a rolling cash forecast to meet payments (supplier, salary, loan servicing) and triggered corrective actions on shortages.
• Redesigned Procure-to-Pay protocols, implemented strict supplier rules & ensured 4-way match (PO, GRN, Invoice, quality control).
• Used makeshift rafts during Kerala’s 2018 Level 3 flood disaster to ensure grocery deliveries to affected households.

Environmental Sustainability Measures
• Reduced total fixed costs by 26% by transitioning the flagship 2500 sqft store to 100% rooftop solar energy.
• Lowered delivery costs by 12% by replacing delivery bags with customer basket rotation & switching to rental EV scooters.
• Achieved net-zero waste output by recycling plastic & cardboard and redirecting organic waste as feed to a local dairy.