Malabar Gold & Diamonds is a successful jewellery retailer based in southern India, with a goal to become the leading jewellery retailer in India. To achieve this goal, Malabar needs to expand its operations across different regions in India by offering a diverse range of products to cater to different consumer segments. The Indian jewellery market is undergoing structural changes, with a strong preference for branded jewellery among consumers. However, buying behaviour varies across geographical areas due to cultural differences, resulting in a strong presence of regional players. Despite these challenges, Malabar wants to increase its footprint in other regions, but the management team is unsure about the expansion strategy and how to manage anticipated challenges. Malabar is a family-owned jewellery business established in 1993 in Kerala, India. It started expanding outside Kerala in 2005 and by 2019, had 260 outlets, including 117 in India and 143 in nine other countries. The company focuses on transparency and customer trust by providing hallmarked jewellery and various customer services like exchange, maintenance, and guaranteed buyback. Malabar's growth strategy involves opening one store in a new market and learning about the market's culture, customs, and buying behavior before expanding further. The company partners with local investors to reduce its dependence on institutional borrowing and provide strategic support at the local level. Malabar offers jewellery through six different brands to cater to different consumer segments and employs local employees to manage retail operations. The company has regional-level design teams to understand consumer preferences and design products that meet their needs. The company uses Indian celebrities as brand ambassadors and has successful marketing campaigns like "Brides of India" to cater to local communities. In 2019, Malabar's financial turnover for Indian operations was US$1.94 billion, with a profit after tax (PAT) of $29 million. India's jewellery market was estimated at $72 billion in 2019, with an expected growth rate of 15% from 2014 to 2019. The industry was expected to reach $110 billion by 2022. The jewellery industry employed 4.5 million people and accounted for 7% of India's GDP. Gold accounted for over 75% of the jewellery demand, with diamonds accounting for 12% and silver 5%. The industry was highly dependent on imports due to a lack of gold mine reserves in the country. The gold import duty had increased to 12.5%, potentially deterring Indian consumers. The gem and jewellery industry faced credit issues due to a high-profile fraud case involving a nationalized bank. However, government initiatives such as the Goods and Services Tax and mandatory hallmarking on gold jewellery were introduced to enhance transparency and consumer trust. The government's emphasis on digital transactions signaled a favorable future for organized retailers. The demand for jewellery in India is driven by various factors, including rising consumer income levels, weddings, investment purposes, and cultural preferences. Rural India generates two-thirds of the demand, with plain gold jewellery being preferred, while urban India prefers jewellery studded with gems and stones. The changing aspirations of consumers are also pushing jewellery makers to come up with products that blend tradition with modernity, such as inexpensive and stylish costume jewellery. Women have traditionally been the primary consumers of jewellery, but fashion-conscious male consumers are increasingly contributing to the demand for jewellery items. Retailers are also offering jewellery targeted at kids, teenagers, and working women. In 2011, 69% of India's population lived in rural areas while 31% lived in urban areas. The most populous states were Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, and West Bengal. The combined population of the two largest states, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, was comparable to the entire US population. Tamil Nadu had the largest urban population. 65% of India's population was under 35 years old, and more than 60% of the population in the largest 10 states were also under 35 years old, split equally between males and females. This young population was expected to drive cultural change, economic growth, and long-term demand for jewellery in India. The Indian jewellery market had around 300,000 competitors in 2017, with most being small unorganized companies. However, there was a significant transformation in the market over the last two decades, with consumers turning to organized retailers for more variety, certified quality, and hassle-free exchange policies. The share of organized retailers in the market was expected to grow beyond 40 per cent by 2020. The major player in the organized retail market was Tanishq, followed by Kalyan Jewellers and Malabar. Tanishq planned to add 54 more stores to its existing fleet of over 300 stores across 189 cities in India. The emergence of organized retailers triggered a boost in advertising and promotional activities. Global luxury jewellery brands were minor competitors, managing to capture only 3 per cent of the Indian jewellery market due to their inability to cater to the wide variations in local design preferences across different parts of the country. Domestic competitors were expected to thrive for the foreseeable future. The jewellery market in India is evolving with changing consumer lifestyles and rising disposable incomes. Studded jewellery and gemstones such as ruby, emerald, and sapphire are in demand, especially among millennials. The e-commerce market is growing rapidly and projected to capture 7-10% of overall jewellery sales in the next 10 years. Major jewellery retailers are launching or acquiring online portals to cater to urban consumers. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to leading brands selling jewellery over online platforms, video calls, and WhatsApp chats. Digital media is becoming increasingly popular, leading to the adoption of multichannel marketing strategies and influencer marketing by organized jewellery retailers. Malabar, a family-owned jewelry retailer in southern India, has set a goal to become the dominant player across all of India's gold jewelry retail chain space and to topple the current market leader, Tanishq. However, Malabar faces several challenges in executing its expansion strategy, including slow expansion, weak presence in northern, eastern, and western markets, competition against strong regional retailers, and coordinating activities across different parts of India from its headquarters in the south. Malabar's management team is considering various alternatives for expansion, but it would be difficult to apply the same model that was successful in one region to other parts of the country due to disparate consumer behaviors. Additionally, Malabar would have to devise an effective organizational structure for coordination across the country's different geographical areas to achieve its vision of becoming India's top jewelry retail brand.

Based on the above given information,

Strategy evaluation: What is Malabar's strategy? What are its riskiest assumptions? Could Malabar develop and implement an expansion strategy within India to achieve its vision of becoming India's top jewelry retail brand? What are the 2 must-win battles or issues it needs to get right to succeed