The innovation tree: This was meant to represent the fountainhead of creativity – (see pic).
Participants were encouraged (nudged in some cases given that there were contests as well!) to put up their thoughts on innovation on the tree. By the end of the 2 day the tree stood in full bloom. Some of the innovative thoughts which were put up were: “Create virtual communities; to encompass all buildings in a street and provide customers with the ability to order and get home delivery across all categories”.
Twitter: We tweeted our way before , during and after the event. On both days, the #RLS2013 was trending in the top 3. Some of the questions to the panelists were received via twitter. Most of the delegates commented positively on the velocity of voice in social media.
Structured panel discussions: The event was structured as a series of panel discussions. To ensure that there was some structure around the deliberations, each panelist was provided with a background note with infographics and key issues around the questions. Similar background papers were prepared for each session for the delegates as well.
Passport: To encourage people to visit the expo, and ensure our partners get footfall, a “passport” was given as part of the delegate’s kit. Anyone with ten “visas” stamped on their passport were eligible to participate in a contest.
Contests: Contests included the best tag on the Innovation tree, a speech bubble contest, and twitter contests looking for answers to such questions as “What will happen if women stop shopping?” as well as a lucky dip among delegates.
The winning entry for the speech bubble was based on the theme of showrooming (something that the session on IT led innovation commented on). The entry was :
]]>Ahuja stressed on finding opportunity in adversity and applying flexible thinking instead of linear thinking. The session took an interesting turn when Nagesh came up with a particular challenge that he faced while conducting a training programme at nominal fees. The student demand was of more discount. So how to cope with such a challenge? Sinha provided a solution that customer’s incapability should be passed on to the other stakeholders in the project. He also viewed that an entrepreneur should keep in mind target pricing before framing a business model. However, Doctor felt that with lower price the customer’s perception of the value of offerings degenerated. Sriram emphasized on subsidized model in such cases. When the discussion comes to sporting acceptance of failure, Nagesh said that it was imperative to communicate failures that could lead to more jugaad like innovations.
The closing remarks by Kumar Rajagopalan, ceo, RAI hoped that every participant at the summit effectively leveraged on the four C’s – Connect, Converse, Collaborate and Contribute and announced the dates of the 2014 RLS to be held on February 06 – 07, 2014.s
]]>Sanjay Nadkarni, founder & ceo, Babyoye.com justified the reasons behind the popularity of baby products online commenting that products which are not easily accessible to the parents are available online. Parents are reaching onlinse to buy best products for their children. Hari Menon, CEO, BigBasket.com shared, “lady who are buying online are more demanding that remains a constant challenge for online grocery retailers.”
Murthy, observed that 75per cent-80per cent of online buyers are male and they mostly buy electronics equipments and books. However the trend is shifting towards grooming and fashion products grocery retailers, online retailers too suffer from low gross margin.”
Prakash commented that 90 per cent of top retailers in the US are coming from online segment .
While coming to the point of efficacy of multi-channel retail, the panelists view that there is plenty of scope for collaboration between online and offline retailers. Jeetendra Joshi, director – marketing, Martjack viewed that multi-channel requires a new approach and demands digitizing the existing customer’s data to enhance sales and customer engagement. It has to be holistic and integrated.
While discussing about the payment mode, Murthy commented that despite the popularity of COD (cash on delivery) that works fine with small ticket items, there is a requirement for credit card payment mode for high ticket items. So development of e-retail cannot take place without this payment option.
]]>The era has gone where a restaurant with a decent menu to offer in air-conditioned setup excites customers. Customers are asking for more which is resulting into the concepts of hookah bar or the beer café. The restaurateurs are on their toes to offer fun and more surprises on their customers’ plates. The session “Innovation in the Food Service Industry: Driving Sales and Profitability” at RLS 2013 takes an analytical look at this topic. The eminent panelists were Farhan Azmi, ceo, Infinity Hotels Pvt Ltd; Riyaaz Amiani, ceo & md, Impressario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt Ltd; and Gauri Devidayal, Director, The Table. The session was moderated by Samir Kuckreja, president, NRAI and ceo, Tasanaya Hospitality. According to Amiani, the restaurant business counts on word of mouth and the innovation is highly recommended so that the people talk about it. Playing with imagination at every level, at every touch point, be it sitting arrangement, the environment and even cutlery actually speak volume and only contributes to the brand recall.
Azmi viewed that the best ideas come from the frontline since they are closest to the customers. But, sometimes execution takes a toll on the customers.
Devidayal opined that competition drives innovation and restaurateur should identify the gap in the market and make their offerings. Kuckreja underlined the success story of McDonald’s which is based on innovation in terms of menu. But how much tweaking should be done? The panelists opined that well-travelled customers in India look for global experience so there should be cautious application of customization to cater to Indian taste buds.
These restaurateurs inspire their staff to come up with new ideas and translate them into innovative execution.
]]>The sessions on sustainability in retail bristled with facts, and made a powerful case for retailers to use the “carrying capacity” of the planet wisely. Sample this:
The session also focused on the “hall of fame” – Retailers and Consumer Product Groups (CPGs) who have made commitments to clean up their act. Most of the CPGs focus on sourcing responsibly from their supply chain (e.g. Unilever has committed that ALL biological inputs will be sourced sustainably by 2020, MARS has committed that 100per cent of its cocoa (and they consumer 17per cent of the world’s supply) will be sourced responsibly by 2020).
Retailers focus on keeping the environmental balance – e.g. M&S pioneers a concept of “ShowUP” – where they swap old clothes with the commitment being to – recycle as much of volume of used clothing as they sell new clothing.
From an Indian perspective – two facts which were worrying; and actionable.
The single fact that stood out from the panel discussion was that Retailers in India don’t have answers to the question of how to get consumer engagement at a mass level on the subject of sustainability. As Mani Chinnaswamy (who is one of the pioneers of ethically grown cotton commented) “In India, customers are slowly becoming aware of sustainability concerns around food – thanks to the debate on genetically modified seed, and popular programs like “Satyamev Jayate” . However, while we are one of the largest exporters of cotton – people are not aware of the fact that our cotton is “blood cotton” – it is grown using pesticides that deplete the water table. We have had 250,000 farmer suicides in the last few decades. Sustainable growing practices can be part of the solution”.
Retailers in India are making efforts to be sustainable in their space management practices (e.g. using LED fixtures, maximizing natural lighting etc). However – these are “marginal” practices at best. With the exception of a few niche brands – there is currently no large, national player who sells on an argument of sustainability.
The single biggest take away from the session? Green does mean more expensive in the short run and the vast majority of Indian consumers are “value” conscious. The industry does not have an answer to break this proposition. As Vasanth Kumar, Director, Max Retail division, stated “Sustainability is something we want customers to think about – but they are not yet thinking about it”.