Sujay Poddar

Results-driven Operations and Retail Manager with over 20 years of experience in driving business growth, enhancing operational efficiency, and leading large-scale teams across the telecommunications, Q-commerce, and retail sectors. Proven track record of consistently exceeding sales targets while managing multi-unit operations and improving profitability through cost-effective strategies. Specialized expertise in dark store oversight, cluster management, and the implementation of regional strategies within frontline organizations. Dedicated to fostering a culture of excellence and innovation to achieve sustainable success.

• Operations: Store & Dark Store Management, Inventory Control, SOP Compliance.
• Strategy: Business Development, Regional Strategy, Budget Planning, Market Analysis.
• Team Leadership: Recruitment, Mentoring, Performance Monitoring, Training & Development.
• Growth: Hyper-local Expansion, Vendor Relations, Market Entry Strategy
• Data Analytics: Sales MIS Reporting, KPI Analysis, Financial Auditing,
• Leadership: Step-Up Mentorship, Talent Development, Cross-functional Team Leading
• 
  Technical: WMS Integration, Data Analytics (Excel/SQL), Tech-Enabled Logistics

I. Strategic Expansion & Launch(Instamart)

Focus: Scaling the business and physical infrastructure.

New Dark Store End-to-End Setup

* Objective: Launch a high-velocity fulfillment centre to support 10-minute delivery guarantees.

* Action: Managed the full lifecycle from site selection and floor-plan optimization to staff recruitment and WMS integration.

* Impact: Achieved 100% operational readiness 5 days ahead of schedule, reducing "order-to-dispatch" time by 30%.

Hyper-local Market Expansion

* Objective: Establish a market presence in the North Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand and Odisha region.

* Action: Executed competitor benchmarking and local vendor negotiations to build a robust supply chain from scratch.

* Impact: Captured 20% market share within the first 90 days of launch.

II. Operational Excellence & Tech Integration(Instamart/Noon Minutes)

Focus: Using technology to drive speed and accuracy.

Tech-Enabled Inventory Streamlining

* Objective: Transition from manual tracking to a digital-first inventory ecosystem.

* Action: Initiate the G-form aimed to resolve recurring B2W(back to WH) issues and expiry disposal delays.

* Impact: Reduced inventory wastage by 12% and ensured 100% compliance with quality assurance standards within 2 weeks of span.

Operational Speed Optimization

* Objective: initiative to reduce pick-to-pack time from 4 minutes to under 3 across the cluster.

* Action: Redesigned shelf mapping and SKU placement based on RR and optimized the workflow for 100% task delegation.

* Impact: Achieved a 15% improvement in Pod metrics and a 10% increase in positive customer survey feedback.

III. Loss Mitigation & Human Capital(Instamart)

Focus: Protecting the bottom line and building the team.

Inventory Loss Recovery

* Objective: Identified high shrinkage and operational leakage in 3 underperforming pods.

* Action: Conducted deep-dive audits using performance manager tools and realigned staff scheduling for night-shift personnel to handle high-volume bulk arrivals.

* Impact: CPO(Cost Per Order)Loss reduce by 30% each store by 3 months

Talent Development Program for Internal Growth

* Objective: Build a sustainable leadership pipeline to reduce turnover and hiring costs.

* Action: Authored a mentorship curriculum and personally coached 63 high-potential employees.

* Impact: Increased internal promotion rates by 43%, saving in approx. ₹200k external recruitment fees.