Kunal Mehta, GM – IT, Raymond Ltd

Kiran Komatla, Head – IT, Burger King

Raman Bhushan, Partner, PwC India

Sandeep Mistry, Head – IT, Pantaloons – Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd.

Moderators: Vineet Baid, Partner – Falcon Autotech and Siju Narayan, Smarter Commerce Lead – Retail & CPG IBM India and South Asia, IBM

The session started highlighting the enormity of big data which is difficult to capture, store and manage and are available both in structured and unstructured forms. The size of data today is about 4 zeta byte and will increase 11 times by 2020, pointed out Siju Narayan, Smarter Commerce Lead – Retail & CPG IBM India and South Asia, IBM.

Big Data analytics is complex and the best way to leverage is to focus on outcome. Data analysis should be directed by the well-defined purpose, suggested Raman Bhushan, Partner, PwC India.

Applications of insights

Kunal Mehta, GM-IT, Raymond Ltd informed that the big data analysis is captured in the areas customers’ buying habits, product requirement and product lifeline to design omni-channel strategy. As a part of data consolidation, Raymond has introduced consolidated CRM and is using social media for personalized promotions. Big data analysis is also being done for choosing the right location and right store size for opening a store.

Burger King has been in India for the past one year. Therefore, the organization does not have the benefit of the rich legacy of data, Kiran Komatla, Head-IT, Burger King informed. However, data is being captured from social media to achieve better control of stores, required to support aggressive expansion. Globally, Burger King designed its menu capturing data through the campaign “Have it your way.” Even in India, much data analytics had been involved to create the vegetarian menu.

According to Sandeep Mistry, Head-IT, Pantaloons, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd. to make things straight retailers have to be specific about the goal they want to achieve through the big data exercise before initiating the journey. In contrast to Burger King in India, Pantaloons is sitting on a mine of data. It uses data analytics for insights-driven merchandising, marketing and operational strategies.

Think before you leap…

Before taking the plunge, the organization should think if it is ready for big data analysis. There should not be any kind of outside pressure.

Vineet Baid, moderator of the session and Partner, Falcon Autotech stated that big data analysis is a cross-functional project not just the prerogative of a single department.

Seconding his view Bhushan pointed out that many companies fail in this area since it is considered a journey by a particular department. Both issues of IT and business should be taken into account. It is also important to have the right partner in this journey for acquiring skills. Talking about failures, Bhushan added that sometimes wrong insights derived from the data analytics could ruin an organization. Also, it’s better for the organization to adopt moderate approach rather a big bang approach.

– By Suranjana Basu