BIMTECH successfully organized its Retail Summit 2021. The theme of the event was Retail 4.0, the fourth transformation of the retail industry which was specifically focused on utilizing technology and the big data generated at every node of the value chain for crafting a more effective marketing strategy.
Due to the change in consumer behavior, gen Z is inclined towards transacting online which poses multiple challenges for the retailers.
Dr. Veenu Sharma, Assistant Professor, Retail Management started the event with the welcome note, followed by the lightning of the lamp by the eminent Chief Guest Sadashiv Nayak, CEO of Future Retail Ltd. Dr. Harivansh Chaturvedi, Director, BIMTECH extended his hearty welcome to Sadashiv Nayak and all the dignitaries. He highlighted, nowadays "Retailers are embracing customers".
Today retail industry has started moving towards the amalgamation of offline and online retailing.
Dr. Pankaj Priya, Area Head, Marketing and Retail, BIMTECH introduced the topic with "Retail 4.0 is birth of multichannel Retailing". He emphasized customer experience. He left the audience intrigued, "Should we only depend on chatbots or focus on offline or both?"
Sadashiv Nayak addressed the audience with his impactful words and elucidated upon, "Tasks as an industry leader is how will we now rediscover the value." He also focused on inclusion and compassion. He quoted, “Whole concept of value is being redesigned at every minute segment and everywhere”.
Dr. Arunaditya Sahay, Dean Research, BIMTECH explained how cost plus profit equals price is the old concept and now there is economic pricing, political pricing, and societal pricing.
He appreciated Sadashiv Nayak for his impactful words and engagement with the audience. Soon after the address, he gave a customary vote of thanks, and stated, “Every business starts with a customer and ends with a customer”, so the event is about the audience and thanked them for their presence.
BIMTECH hosted two Panel Discussions. Panelists for Discussion 1 gathered the thoughts under the theme of aligning retail with new-age connected consumers which were moderated by Abhishek Raj, COO, Lacoste India. They talked about how the retail industry has been disrupted by new consumer choices.
Preeti Chopra, National Head BD Retail – Raymond Ltd. talked about Retailers has been going on many changes due to pandemic there has been the shift to e-commerce. The competitors were not fighting for dominance but coming together.
Akash Sehgal, Senior Vice President, Landmark group, Lifestyle talked about the change in customer behavior in the lifestyle ecosystem. He stated that the tier 2 stores were the fastest to recover, then international companies. He also highlighted the, Click and Collect system where you can order from Bangalore and collect from Delhi.
C K Kumararavel, CEO & Co-founder, Naturals Salon & Spa quoted earlier we used to say, “As long as your hair grows our business grows”. He said it is important that we need to instill confidence and motivate the team. He also quoted, “CRM will play a very important role.”
Dharmender Khanna, Head-Digital Transformation Leader, SSIPL said, “Lockdown came as a shock and loyalty is very important. "He highlighted the fact that the cost of doing business online is higher, but it helps the business reach every length and breadth of the country.
The discussion concluded with a realization that the pandemic was a blessing and disguise, but physical is not going anywhere. In India, people are used to touch and feel experience therefore, digital and physical are going to co-exist. The panelists were appreciated by Prof. B D Nathani, Advisor, Retail Program for their insightful inputs.
Prof. Manoj Pant, Associate Professor, Retail Management Program extended the warm welcome to Jury members Ritu Marya, Editor in chief for progressive Business Media Entrepreneur APAC and Indian Retailer, and Vikas Bagga, Department of Business Economics, the University of Delhi who felicitated the alumni of BIMTECHand recognized their achievements.
Thereafter, Panel Discussion 2 elevated the idea of the evolution of retail mode by merging online and offline. How to do it right for survival, revival, and success. Suresh Nambiar, CEO, Pepe Jeans Inner fashion was the moderator.
Manoj Taneja, Head of Digital, CROCS, and alumni of BIMTECH batch 2007-09 quoted, “You have to keep up with the pace, to what the world has come to, you will lose.”
Ashvinder Singh, MD, Uni Style Images, stated, “From putting posters on the walls to digital posters, it has been a long journey and digitalization, use of IT and use of AI is like how we use cars.” He also said that it is important to do the business with responsibility and provide customer quality.
Rajeev Bhatia - AVP, Relaxo Footwear, iterated, “ It is eminent that we know who is my consumer, what my marketing objective is, and what my product’s life cycle stage is.”
Dharmender Matai, Sr. Vice President, Devyani International Limited (RJ Corp) threw light upon the fact that “Just in time inventory doesn’t work in today’s world with such unforeseeable future”.
The second panel discussion was concluded with a question-and-answer by the audience and Prof.Nathani appreciated the views of panelists by proposing the vote of thanks and shared how Online shopping is increasing at a faster pace than store sales, making a significant contribution to the overall growth in all retailing over the past decade.
This was followed by a case study competition conducted by the college on Dare2Compete. An overwhelming response of 234 registrations from various colleges all over India was received out of which only 7 teams qualified for the Final Round to present their optimum solutions in front of the jury members.
The Winning team Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH)was awarded a cash prize of Rs 25000 and the runner-up team, International Management Institute (IMI) New Delhi was granted a cash prize of Rs. 15000.
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