Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) organized MCCI Retail & Marketing Conclave on the theme ‘New Era in Retail & Marketing: Creating New Business Models’ on Today, (Saturday, 3 May) at 11.00 am at Taj Bengal, Kolkata.
Shri Bijou Kurien, Chairman, Retailers Association of India was the moderator and the speakers included Shri Damodar Mall, CEO – Grocery Retail, Reliance Retail Ltd., Shri Sumant Bhargavan, Executive Director, ITC Limited, Shri Avijit Mitra, Former MD & CEO, Croma, Shri Sagar Daryani, Co-Founder & CEO, Wow! Momo Foods Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Anjan Kundu, Head, Supply Chain Management, Bata India Ltd.
Shri Munish Jhajharia, President, MCCI in his Welcome Address said India’s retail and marketing revolution is deeply layered, tech savvy, hyperlocal, sustainable and inclusive. Our future lies in balancing modern tools with traditional wisdom – where the kirana shop co-exists with the AI-driven app.
India’s retail sector is the 4th largest contributor to global retail and accounts for over 10% of India’s GDP and around 8% of the workforce and is expected to create 25 million new jobs by 2030.
Shri Manish Gourisaria, Chairman, Council on Retail & Marketing, MCCI in his Theme Address said that India’s retail market is not just growing, it is evolving. Off course challenges exist – inflation, cyber security risks and high costs in quick commerce. But the momentum is clear. Going forward, AI, sustainability and hyper-value models will transform the way we shop.
Shri Bijou Kurien said that in the emerging Indian retail market, Retailers should think national and act local. However, Indian retail market is not a single market, it is a complex market which is right for a revolution.
Shri Damodar Mall said that assertive Indian consumer is increasing consumption because they believe that the future of the consumer will be better.
Shri Damodar Mall believed that “premiumization” is happening faster and culturally licensed products will scale faster than others. For example, in India products like “Dab Pani”, “Jira Pani” now are capturing the beverage market.
He further mentioned that due to great diversity, the transformation from traditional commerce to quick commerce is slow.
Shri Sumant Bhargavan said that end to end supply chain is now the backbone for any well-known retailer. However, the supply chain must be digitally integrated. To leverage the business, AI & different kinds of digital tools are required.
While sharing about business in COVID time, Shri Bhargavan shared that effort reduction products became popular during that period, such as “ITC Master Chef”.
Lastly, he mentioned that the hybrid mode in retail is important as consumer wants to touch and feel a product which cannot be done online.
Shri Avijit Mitra said that in the electronic retail, the consumer now is more knowledgeable than before. Now customers come to the store with an understanding of price range. Retailers need to carry large of reassortment of electronic products.
Shri Mitra informed that in electronic retail, the business can earn higher profit from servicing their products. He has noticed that there is an increasing trend of buying products on EMI. In other words, customers are leveraging.
Shri Sagar Daryani said that Omnichannel in Retail market has now been replaced by Multichannel. Indian Food retail market is the second largest job creator and it contributes 1.5% of GDP. Evolution of food consumption in India opens up huge opportunities.
To get more revenue in food business, Shri Daryani believed that it is important to cater to the taste of Indian consumer. So, he launched his new ventures Wow China, Wow Chicken and Wow Kulfi as well as frozen momo.
Shri Anjan Kundu said that in 2023-24 the Indian Foot Market has experienced a paradigm shift with the introduction of BIS stamp. This helps the organized Indian shoe manufacturer to compete with cheap imports from China.
The Session concluded with a hearty Vote of Thanks proposed by Shri Rohit Surana, Committee Member, MCCI.