
E-Commerce leads the ways in retail
India Trendbook Report 2021 has been released by the Indian private equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and Ernst & Young on the E-commerce and the consumer internet sector which stated that the [...]
With automation becoming a key factor in retail, Milan Sheth, EVP-IMEA, Automation Anywhere an exclusive chat gives his expert opinion on automation and its role in retail today.
Over the years, the consumer mindset has evolved and there is so much more that the consumer wants from a retailer/brand. Throw some light on the trends you have noticed through decades so that we can understand the changing consumer perspective.
We can view the evolution of consumer mindset via a set of different viewpoints:
D2C (direct to consumer) commerce is the future of retail, what is your thought on this perspective? Also, how does automation work for these new-age companies?
Traditionally, consumer-packaged goods relied on finding efficiencies between supplier, manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, and distributor. These are becoming less relevant with D2C. Anyone who has a product idea manufactures it, builds a website, and promotes it using digital marketing could create a new consumer brand, and control its brand story.
Automation is the key technology towards successful implementation of D2C yielding profit. It works on digital mediums and channels, supported of course by a fulfillment approach like storing products at a warehouse and tying up with delivery. Automation is poised to reshape retail business models and the broader value chains, by creating organizations with fewer layers and an efficiently trained workforce empowered by real-time data and analytics. Sales and customer experiences are created using real-time data, and personalized communications through social media, digital advertising, and email.
How does automation help retail redefine customer approaches?
Intelligent automation can help retailers create a digital experience for their customers, and also automate their business processes across the front and back offices to realize efficiencies.
Simplifying operations using automation allows the retailer to focus more on the customer and drive profitability, new product innovation, and new markets. Intelligent automation can automate.
Customer engagement is where automation makes it very exciting. With the immediate availability of data, possibilities are endless. Automation and AI-led segmentation, content selection, channel execution, and campaign optimization deliver a customer experience that delights the shoppers.
Omnichannel is here to revolutionize the retail space. COVID has certainly accelerated the process of digital transformations. What is your take on this?
Digital transformation is occurring across industries. Perhaps the most dramatic transformation of all is taking place in retail – here it’s all about creating digital-first experiences. Omnichannel is doing this – creating an ongoing series of experiences to keep the customer engaged across digital and real-world spaces.
What is going to be important is for retailers to look at the world from the point of the customer and create a digital experience. While retailers used to spend resources and effort on creating experience zones, showrooms, now its digital-first experiences they need to create.
A few things are going to be important in this:
Automation can help retailers drastically simplify and seamlessly scale these features without the need to add high costs and complexities of managing a proportionately large workforce.
Written by: ICS
labelInternet Technology today19 August, 2021
India Trendbook Report 2021 has been released by the Indian private equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and Ernst & Young on the E-commerce and the consumer internet sector which stated that the [...]
labelAutomation today20 August, 2021
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