India’s retail sector seeks a perfect balance between physical and virtual presence
Phygital Retail Convention concludes on a high note of optimism in the post-pandemic era
India’s retail sector
is at the ‘phygital’ crossroads with the industry trying to strike a perfect
balance between physical outlets and a virtual identity in Asia’s third largest
economy.
At the conclusion of the two-day Phygital
Retail Convention on Thursday, retailers from the consumer, food and lifestyle
segment deliberated on the new normal and the changing customer behaviour.
“In the food retail segment, calling in for
food (online) is not the last option now, but it is the most preferred option,”
said Anurag Katriar, Executive Director & CEO, deGustibus Hospitality and
President, NRAI (National Restaurant Association of India) – an industry body.
The scenario is no different for consumer
retail.
“B2B (Business-to-Business) ecommerce players
such as Udaan & ShopX are betting on lower tier cities accounting for 60
percent of retail spend,” said Anurag Mathur, Partner & Leader – Consumer
and Retail Business, Strategy8, part of the PwC network.
Online fashion sales reported triple digit
growth from Tier 2 and 3 cities vis-à-vis less than 20 percent in metros,
Mathur said.
These Tier 2 and 3 cities also attracted five
times more investments in retail infrastructure compared to metro cities, he
said.
Kimaya Garments – a fashion and lifestyle
retailer had shut all its 30-odd outlets and moved to its own online marketplace.
“Digital is the big disruptor. 80% of our
sales come from women and our website data suggests that women are searching
for KAYA services from 8 pm till midnight”, said Rajiv Nair, Group CEO, Kaya –
a skin care retail clinic.
“63% of shopping search begins online but 49%
of actual shopping happens in the physical store”, said Rehan Huck, Co-founder
& COO, Propel – a real estate consultancy firm.
The two-day convention felicitated over 40
Retail Tech Icons via the IMAGES RETAIL TECH ICON awards - powered by
GreenHonchos. Setting the right mood for Phygital Retail the event was
concluded with the IMAGES RETAIL AWARDS 2021 - powered by Vegas Mall. The
awards honoured the industry across 10 segments with the likes of travel,
retail, entertainment, customer relations, turnaround strategies etc.
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