Pushpa Bector
Executive Vice President
The Shopping Malls division of DLF encompasses DLF Promenade, DLF Place, DLF Cyber Hub, DLF City Centre and DLF Mall of India, which is India’s largest mall sprawling over two million sq.ft. Pushpa has shared interesting aspects about her journey with CEO Insights and below are the excerpts of the same.
How do you translate your vast experience to ameliorate DLF?
My stint with the Oberoi Hotels and Resorts taught me the nuances of service and quality orientation. Likewise, the well-defined business processes & systems of Jubilant Food Works enhanced my business scaling skills, during my endeavours to bring the Domino’s Pizza brand into India. As I gradually climbed up the ladder at DLF, my projects were getting increasingly fascinating; from introducing the concept of
food courts at these malls, I moved onto leading those malls. The amalgamation of all these experiences enabled me to establish DLF Mall of India from grounds up with an entrepreneurial perspective.
"The respect I’ve garnered over the years has come at a cost of my sharp focus at work, but it’s quite enriching and very precious to me"
Kindly tell us about the various strategies you have chalked out to attract people.
Malls are public spaces that has to welcome people from all genre. For instance, our ‘We Care’ensures convenience for differently abled people. We lay emphasis on consumer’s experiential retailing, whether it’s about reaching the mall conveniently or navigating within the mall. We have established tie-ups with various entities such as Ola & Uber to facilitate the people to reach/depart the mall at discounted price and banks to provide cash backs. DLF has zero tolerance towards any safety & security issues. With a Tier-3 security system, we have not only invested in hi-tech walkie talkies and CCTV surveillance system covering all the critical spots, but also has inculcated safety as a culture deep within every employee at DLF.
How do you leverage technology to propel DLF ahead of competition?
We have been digitalizing DLF with the creation of an analytics program to understand the customer journey and offering broadband Wi-Fi to delight consumers & collect their basic information. Last month, we launched an AI & IoT enabled unified platform called LUKOUT App, with features like proximity marketing, bringing brands in DLF malls on consumer’s fingertips, informing them regarding discounts & offers available and so forth. It has already got over 3,50,000 Session users. Along with all the comforts the consumers can attain from e-Commerce platform, they also get the touch & feel aspect, which makes their experience better than e-Commerce.
Please tell us about the challenges you have encountered as a woman in this space.
Being a single mother, it was challenging when I was trying to make a mark in the career as well as
"The respect I’ve garnered over the years has come at a cost of my sharp focus at work, but it’s quite enriching and very precious to me"
Kindly tell us about the various strategies you have chalked out to attract people.
Malls are public spaces that has to welcome people from all genre. For instance, our ‘We Care’ensures convenience for differently abled people. We lay emphasis on consumer’s experiential retailing, whether it’s about reaching the mall conveniently or navigating within the mall. We have established tie-ups with various entities such as Ola & Uber to facilitate the people to reach/depart the mall at discounted price and banks to provide cash backs. DLF has zero tolerance towards any safety & security issues. With a Tier-3 security system, we have not only invested in hi-tech walkie talkies and CCTV surveillance system covering all the critical spots, but also has inculcated safety as a culture deep within every employee at DLF.
How do you leverage technology to propel DLF ahead of competition?
We have been digitalizing DLF with the creation of an analytics program to understand the customer journey and offering broadband Wi-Fi to delight consumers & collect their basic information. Last month, we launched an AI & IoT enabled unified platform called LUKOUT App, with features like proximity marketing, bringing brands in DLF malls on consumer’s fingertips, informing them regarding discounts & offers available and so forth. It has already got over 3,50,000 Session users. Along with all the comforts the consumers can attain from e-Commerce platform, they also get the touch & feel aspect, which makes their experience better than e-Commerce.
Please tell us about the challenges you have encountered as a woman in this space.
Being a single mother, it was challenging when I was trying to make a mark in the career as well as
being the best mother and father to my children. The tremendous support of my parents and children made this dual role enjoyable, as I was attempting to do something different in my life for myself and them. Today, I’m proud to see them as successful professionals in their own path journey. As a woman in a country that was not used to seeing many women leaders, I had to work much harder to prove myself. Fortunately, there’s been a big change in attitude towards the women at work now a days. The respect I’ve garnered over the years has come at a cost of my sharp focus at work, but it’s quite enriching and very precious to me. It transformed me as a person.
How do you rejuvenate your self?
I am a skilled multi tasker with a calm personality. I’m well organized and don’t tend to get too stressed. On weekends, I completely detach myself from work and enjoy eating out, watching movies and meeting friends.
Kindly tell us how do you upgrade yourself.
I conduct numerous conferences and am privileged to be invited to many, which permits me to meet people from across industries, exchange feedback and cross-learn. I am an avid reader and find YouTube as a fabulous source. Last year, I had the pleasure of being a student with Harvard’s GMP program, where I unlearned what I knew and relearned new skills.
Please throw some light on your future plans.
Not only DLF Shopping Malls, are the first port of call for the international brands, we also incubate many home-grown brands. Mentoring start-up entrepreneurs is part and parcel of my job. I would like to accomplish it in a structured way. I wish to embark on my own entrepreneurial journey in five to ten years and hope to succeed.
Key Management
Pushpa Bector, EVP & Head, DLF Shopping Malls
A Harvard alumni possessing over quarter a century of business management experience, Pushpa is a member of the CII National Committee for Retail and the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry as Chairperson of Retail.
How do you rejuvenate your self?
I am a skilled multi tasker with a calm personality. I’m well organized and don’t tend to get too stressed. On weekends, I completely detach myself from work and enjoy eating out, watching movies and meeting friends.
Kindly tell us how do you upgrade yourself.
I conduct numerous conferences and am privileged to be invited to many, which permits me to meet people from across industries, exchange feedback and cross-learn. I am an avid reader and find YouTube as a fabulous source. Last year, I had the pleasure of being a student with Harvard’s GMP program, where I unlearned what I knew and relearned new skills.
Please throw some light on your future plans.
Not only DLF Shopping Malls, are the first port of call for the international brands, we also incubate many home-grown brands. Mentoring start-up entrepreneurs is part and parcel of my job. I would like to accomplish it in a structured way. I wish to embark on my own entrepreneurial journey in five to ten years and hope to succeed.
Key Management
Pushpa Bector, EVP & Head, DLF Shopping Malls
A Harvard alumni possessing over quarter a century of business management experience, Pushpa is a member of the CII National Committee for Retail and the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry as Chairperson of Retail.