Retail industry veterans put stress on collaboration

Retail industry bigwigs present at an industry summit in Mumbai spoke about the requirement of Indian retailers to improve their digital-ready workforce, omni-channel capabilities and mobile-first strategy among with other new age wherewithal so that they could attract the country’s younger crowd that forms almost half of the country’s population.
Speakers included Hari Menon, co-founder of BigBasket.com, Kishore Biyani, group chief executive and Future Group, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, chief executive of Paytm.
B.S. Nagesh, founder of Shoppers Stop Ltd and Trust for Retailers and Retail Associates of India (TRRAIN), stressed on the need for greater collaboration among retailers.
Other speakers also focused on the topic.
“Today, retailing is about delighting customers. This cannot be done without taking huge steps to ensure that their needs are being fulfilled. However, need fulfilment is not the capacity of just one retailer,” stated Kumar Rajagopalan, chief executive of Retailers Association of India (RAI) that was organising the two-day conference.
“It can only be done by collaborating across various kinds of entities, including other retailers, to ensure that customers get solutions they need, when they need them.”
RAI this year has also started a Retail Startup Awards that it said is aimed at “increasing the quality of modern retail in India through infusion of fresh ideas and new players.”