Pankaj Kumar : Innovating Retail Through Experience & Empathy
Pankaj Kumar
Chief Operating Officer
With a career spanning nearly three decades across the Pharmaceutical, Grocery, and Retail Industries, Pankaj Kumar’s journey is a testament to how customer centric thinking and hands-on leadership can transform organizations. At Wellness Forever, Pankaj now oversees an Omnichannel, hyperlocal ecosystem that integrates offline stores, e-commerce platforms, mobile apps, and web channels. This seamless blend of physical and digital operations has not only enhanced service delivery but also positioned the company at the forefront of modern retail innovation. Let’s hear from him.
What are the ways you find your experiences beneficial in your leadership as a COO currently?
My diverse experience gives me a 360-degree perspective that is invaluable as a COO. Strategically, having launched stores end-to-end, from site selection to concept-to commissioning, allows me to build robust growth plans.
I don’t just see a pharmacy; I envision a lifestyle store meeting community needs across medicines and FMCG. Operationally, I focus on three levers: Ambience, Availability, and Customer Service, which together create a memorable customer experience.
Managing large inventories and complex operations, such as 70,000 SKUs at Vishal Retail, honed my skills in P&L management, reducing shrinkage, and optimizing resources, essential for scaling 450+ stores at Wellness Forever. My retail background also enables seamless integration of
offline, e-commerce, and app channels.
From your experience, how do you lend your guidance to employees to meet the company’s goals, and how do you measure their progress?
My guidance focuses on Empowerment through Clarity, Capability, and Culture. I ensure absolute clarity on corporate goals, budgets, and individual contributions, defining growth expectations for every vertical. I lead Training and Development programs to equip employees with technical and soft skills, while fostering a motivating culture that encourages high performance.
Progress is measured holistically through financial and operational dashboards, dynamic role-based KPIs, and service delivery metrics such as customer satisfaction and query turn around.
I also track goal achievement against individual and team targets and ensure effective execution of training programs, enabling employees to enhance efficiency and contribute meaningfully to corporate objectives.
The work environment and responsibilities that a COO carries to make a business vision successful tends to cause a high degree of stress. How do you strike the right balance? Share with us your expertise in resolving complex issues.
Striking a balance is essential for sustainable success. I focus on Focus, Fitness, and Flow. Maintaining physical health keeps my mind sharp and energy vibrant, enabling me to manage stress across large teams and OmniChannel operations.
Music, particularly learning the flute, provides a state of flow that clears my mind and fuels creativity. To resolve complex issues, I rely on in-depth analysis to identify root causes, innovation to design disruptive solutions and inter-departmental coordination across Category, Logistics Commercial, Marketing, and HR to ensure seamless operations and complete customer satisfaction.
What is your anticipation on the market, going forward?
I anticipate a future where healthcare retail is fully digitized and hyper-localized, seamlessly merging physical and digital experiences. The market will evolve from simply selling medicines to offering a complete Health and Wellness ecosystem, with pharmacies becoming community hubs for preventive care, diagnostics, and chronic disease management.
From your experience, how do you lend your guidance to employees to meet the company’s goals, and how do you measure their progress?
My guidance focuses on Empowerment through Clarity, Capability, and Culture. I ensure absolute clarity on corporate goals, budgets, and individual contributions, defining growth expectations for every vertical. I lead Training and Development programs to equip employees with technical and soft skills, while fostering a motivating culture that encourages high performance.
Progress is measured holistically through financial and operational dashboards, dynamic role-based KPIs, and service delivery metrics such as customer satisfaction and query turn around.
I also track goal achievement against individual and team targets and ensure effective execution of training programs, enabling employees to enhance efficiency and contribute meaningfully to corporate objectives.
The work environment and responsibilities that a COO carries to make a business vision successful tends to cause a high degree of stress. How do you strike the right balance? Share with us your expertise in resolving complex issues.
Striking a balance is essential for sustainable success. I focus on Focus, Fitness, and Flow. Maintaining physical health keeps my mind sharp and energy vibrant, enabling me to manage stress across large teams and OmniChannel operations.
Music, particularly learning the flute, provides a state of flow that clears my mind and fuels creativity. To resolve complex issues, I rely on in-depth analysis to identify root causes, innovation to design disruptive solutions and inter-departmental coordination across Category, Logistics Commercial, Marketing, and HR to ensure seamless operations and complete customer satisfaction.
What is your anticipation on the market, going forward?
I anticipate a future where healthcare retail is fully digitized and hyper-localized, seamlessly merging physical and digital experiences. The market will evolve from simply selling medicines to offering a complete Health and Wellness ecosystem, with pharmacies becoming community hubs for preventive care, diagnostics, and chronic disease management.
The success of players will increasingly depend on OmniChannel execution, delivering HyperLocal services through apps, web, and messaging platforms, eliminating the traditional online-offline divide.
Additionally, FMCG and pharmacy synergy will grow, with categories like Health & Wellness, Beauty, and Personal Care contributing significantly to revenue. This shift will demand sophisticated visual merchandising, category management, and integrated strategies to meet evolving customer expectations.
What is the next destination you have envisioned for your journey?
My vision is to transition from a top corporate executive to a Visionary Entrepreneur, reshaping the retail industry while building a lasting legacy of community impact. I aim to create businesses that are innovative, customer-centric, and socially responsible.
What would be your advice to budding industry leaders?
My advice is simple and actionable. Be a student of retail, gain hands-on experience from the frontline, mastering inventory, visual merchandising, and competition mapping. Prioritize digital fluency, embracing AI and digital tools as essential for modern management. Finally, align wealth with purpose; true success is measured not just by P&L but by the positive impact your business creates for communities and customers alike.
Pankaj Kumar, Chief Operating Officer, Wellness Forever Medicare
Pankaj Kumar is a Senior Management Professional and Chief Operating Officer at Wellness Forever Medicare Limited, with over 29 years of extensive experience in General Management, Strategic Planning, and OmniChannel Retail Operations across the Pharmaceutical, Supermarket, and broader Retail industries.
He specializes in driving business growth through strategic innovation, digital transformation, and people-centric cultural change. He currently leads the operations for Wellness Forever's 450+ store network and their comprehensive HyperLocal and digital platforms.
•Hobbies: Gardening, Cooking and playing the flute.
•Favorite Cuisine: A preference for flavourful and diverse Indian cuisine.
•Favorite Book: Good to Great by Jim Collins.
Additionally, FMCG and pharmacy synergy will grow, with categories like Health & Wellness, Beauty, and Personal Care contributing significantly to revenue. This shift will demand sophisticated visual merchandising, category management, and integrated strategies to meet evolving customer expectations.
What is the next destination you have envisioned for your journey?
My vision is to transition from a top corporate executive to a Visionary Entrepreneur, reshaping the retail industry while building a lasting legacy of community impact. I aim to create businesses that are innovative, customer-centric, and socially responsible.
What would be your advice to budding industry leaders?
My advice is simple and actionable. Be a student of retail, gain hands-on experience from the frontline, mastering inventory, visual merchandising, and competition mapping. Prioritize digital fluency, embracing AI and digital tools as essential for modern management. Finally, align wealth with purpose; true success is measured not just by P&L but by the positive impact your business creates for communities and customers alike.
Pankaj Kumar, Chief Operating Officer, Wellness Forever Medicare
Pankaj Kumar is a Senior Management Professional and Chief Operating Officer at Wellness Forever Medicare Limited, with over 29 years of extensive experience in General Management, Strategic Planning, and OmniChannel Retail Operations across the Pharmaceutical, Supermarket, and broader Retail industries.
He specializes in driving business growth through strategic innovation, digital transformation, and people-centric cultural change. He currently leads the operations for Wellness Forever's 450+ store network and their comprehensive HyperLocal and digital platforms.
•Hobbies: Gardening, Cooking and playing the flute.
•Favorite Cuisine: A preference for flavourful and diverse Indian cuisine.
•Favorite Book: Good to Great by Jim Collins.