India Retail Forum (IRF), India’s largest retail intelligence event, hosted the second edition of the South India Retail Summit (SIRS), yesterday at the ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru.
Comprising a day-long conference and exhibition, the event’s mission was to focus on ‘Retail Transformation and Winning Strategies in a Connected World’.
The 2nd half of SIRS kicked off with a session moderated by CEO & Founder, Iconiction, Sebastien Marteau largely discussing the power of proximity marketing and contextual CRM with Beacons and Geo-fencing.
CEO, Next Practice Retail, S Raghunandan then moderated a session on The Southern Titans: Setting Retail Winning Strategies. The session started off with panelists discussing certain geographies being identified closely with the spirit of enterprise in India. The forum highlighted how South India in general has contributed in throwing up some of India’s foremost business leaders, a trend which continues even now. The interactive session brought forward some of the popular names of the South who shared their journey and success story. The panel threw light on how they are driving and embracing disruption in retail through innovation and novelty.
In addition to this, Jt. Managing Director, C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons, Ganesh Narayan said “Deep probing and understanding specific needs of the customer leads to upselling, sometimes even upto 10 times.”
The next session on The Digital Imperative for Retail Metamorphosis, evaluated the newest technology offerings and how they set the bar in retail. This session highlighted the theme of the summit, ‘Retail Transformation and Winning Strategies in a Connected World’, by discussing various issues like how technology can facilitate inventory control, keep track of margins and create superior customer experience in a fast and changing competitive environment. The session discussed today’s customers, who are driven by technology and open access to relevant information by which, they demand highly personalised experiences.
Commenting on various trends in digital retail, Director Information Technology, Levi Strauss and Co, Govind Singh said, “In India most of the business happens online is still driven by discount pricing and low price-points, which are not sustainable in the long run.”
SIRS 2016 concluded with an insightful session on how South India has been the silent crusader, building and strengthening its real estate development to become one of the sought-after destinations in the country. With India becoming an attractive destination for global retailers, the Indian retail market saw the entry of several marquee global retailers in the last one year. The panelists further discussed in detail how mall developers and retailers planning for tomorrow can create the next-generation of retail spaces and on meeting consumer demands.
The panel moderated by CEO – Retail & Commercial, Brigade Enterprises, Vishal Mirchandani featured Sr. VP, Infiniti Malls, Mukesh Kumar; President, South & Digital Initiatives, Island Star Mall Developers, Shashie Kumar; Director – Business Development, Raymond, Sanjeev Rao; ED, Inorbit Malls, Rajneesh Mahajan; CEO and Founder, YLG Salon and Spa, Rahul Bhalchandra and CE, Select CityWalk, Yogeshwar Sharma.
The South India Retail Summit 2016 witnessed the presence of world’s youngest CEO and Co- Founder, Shops Up, Suhas Gopinath. In a one on one interaction with Founder TRRAIN, B S Nagesh the World’s youngest entrepreneur, Gopinath largely shared his experiences and insights of how he ventured in the retail industry from pure technology background. He shared few insights on his plans of making offline and online co-exist on the same platform.
SIRS 2016 concluded with an insightful session on how South India has been the silent crusader, building and strengthening its real estate development to become one of the sought-after destinations in the country
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