A retailer is the face, who sells you products required for your daily needs. A retail store is that one store on every corner of the country. A retail store is the dinner fix after a working day. A retail store is that favorite spot for kids where pocket money is spent on the favorite chocolate. A retailer helps consumers decide on products based on their pocket. A retailer helps the brand place their products in front of the consumers. All of us must have been, seen, grown up seeing a retailer in a retail store.
I, a retailer, have seen retail industry evolve in the last few decades. I have seen my father working as a retailer and later I have seen the journey through my eyes. A very unbelievable fact is that there was no one to hear us out, solve our issues, and help with the mind blocks we face in our business. I tried getting in touch with a few retailers in my area and we started helping each other in the problems faced by us. Soon, there were many small retailers joining in and we grew stronger, yet a small association named ‘Retailers Food Dealer’s Welfare Association’. We found something missing. We were all by ourselves, some problems remained unsolved, and some unawareness always remained. We had no one to look up to.
A friend once referred RAI. We immediately got in touch with the CEO Kumar Rajagopalan. I subscribed for RAI and attended a few summits organized by them. We took away some important lessons from top officials of Dmart, Future Group, Reliance Fresh and many more. CCTV’s were installed, inventory management software’s were brought in and technology was learnt, online payment started making its way via QR code and debit/credit cards, which in turn has upgraded our processes, which didn’t exist previously. These solutions have helped in smooth running of our businesses. Our retail business has got a new perspective.
RAI has provided a stage where retailers exchange their ideas. We have come across many association’s who work for the betterment of retailers but we really appreciate the change brought in by RAI.
Through RAI’s affiliate membership, our association has got a boost towards advancement. The best part is that there is a professional working behind problems related to the government, GST, license department, etc.
The last summit was a retail technology conclave. Industry experts were talking about the future of retail like cashless payments, digital commerce, robotics and artificial intelligence. There were also panel discussions for retailers and by retailers where we landed up on the common conclusion that we are ready to adapt and evolve as per the new technology but the limited availability of service centers and none in Mumbai makes situations worse when technology breaks down.
Retail sector has both unorganized and organized parts. These are two different worlds. We appreciate RAI’s efforts towards this organic switch from unorganized to organized sector, towards the upliftment of retail sector and retailers and just being there in this fast moving business world.