MUMBAI, 19 SEPTEMBER, 2019 (GPN): The Retailers Association of India (RAI) organised the 14th edition of the ‘ReTechCon 2019’ – India’s largest congregation of CIOs/CTOs, business heads, technology service providers and experts in retail, on September 18 and 19, 2019 at The Renaissance Hotel, Mumbai.

Themed Technology Driven Leadership – The Algorithm of Success, the conclave is designed to help retailers understand the rapid changes in technology and adapt to them, for the benefit of their businesses as well as consumers.

“Businesses have had to rethink their relationship with consumers at every stage of the buying cycle—from discovery, transaction right up to post-purchase engagement. Whether they realise it or not, most organisations in today’s connected economy are already going through some kind of a tech-driven transformation,” said Kumar Rajagopalan, Chief Executive Officer, Retailers Association of India (RAI), speaking about the theme.

“What’s required for companies to thrive in this connected age is a leadership that understands change and embraces it. Technology and Leadership are undoubtedly the two pillars of business transformation, making them the focus of ReTechCon 2019,” he added.

The dynamic array of speakers on the first day of ReTechCon 2019 included,Keshav R. Murugesh, Chairman, NASSCOM; Rakesh Biyani, Joint Managing Director, Future Retail Limited; Stephen P. Laughlin, VP & General Manager—Global Consumer Industry, IBM Corporation; Vineet Gautam, Country Head, Bestseller Retail India Pvt. Ltd. (Vero Moda, Jack & Jones, Only); Ranjit Satyanath, Head—Technology Ops, Infiniti Retail Limited, Croma – A TATA Enterprise; Vikram Idnani,  Head – IT, Reliance Retail Ltd.;Vishal Kapil, CTO, Marks and Spencer Reliance India Ltd., and Vinod Kapote – Head – IT, Trent Ltd., among others.

Various critical aspects of retail technology were touched upon during discussions on topics like:

• Customer Experience: The Competitive Advantage
• Tech-Driven Innovation: Powering Business, Enabling Growth
• Digital Retail Transformation: Successful Customer Experience Strategy through Technology
• Omni-channel Retail: Cross-Channel Strategies that Work for Customer Delight

The first day of the conclave culminated into the ReTech Start-up Awards 2019, which recognise start-ups that are set to change the fabric of business with their unconventional ideas.

Technology is one of the best enablers. What it does is allows one to do many more things, faster. It is the only way to scale a business; you cannot do it with human capital alone. The more you adopt, the faster you can grow. As leaders you have to accept that technology is the way forward because the biggest resistance comes internally. Internal acceptance is key for technology to play a critical role. Even we wouldn’t have been able to scale our business unless it was enabled using some world-class technologies,” said Rakesh Biyani, Joint Managing Director, Future Retail Ltd. about technology-driven leadership during his session based on the theme.

The second day of the conclave was a deep dive into case studies shared by

• Akshay Jatia, McDonalds India (Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd.) on From Food to FoodTech – McDonald’s journey to being a technology leader
• Amit Verma, Bigbasket.com on TechXcellence: How Bigbasket Uses Technology to Achieve Zero Error Operations
• K Radhakrishnan, StarQuik (TATA Group) on Changing Phase of Digital Commerce in India

Furthermore, thought-provoking discussions on topics such as Unlocking Supply Chain Potential for Speed, Transparency & Reliability; Future Focus: Rethinking Retail with RPA, AI and ML; and New Age Marketing – Beyond Discounts: Personalised, Engaging, Digital, kept the audience captivated.

Speakers on the second day of the conclave also included Rajiv Nair – CEO, Kaya Ltd., Sandeep Mistry – Head – IT; Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. – Pantaloons; Siju Narayan, GM-APAC , Loyalty Juggernaut Inc.; Abhimanyu Lal, Chief Product Officer & Business Head, Pepperfry; Vivek Kapoor, Co- Founder, Dineout; Suhail Sattar, Director, Basics (HASBRO Clothing Pvt. Ltd.); Kiran Komatla, Sr. VP – IT, Burger King India Pvt. Ltd., and Pooraan Jaiswal, Group CTO, TBZ (Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri Ltd.).

On a parallel track, RAI also hosted the ReTechCon SME Conclave 2019 themed ‘Managing Business Growth with People, Process & Technology,’ whichprovided exposure to technology solutions and services specifically meant for SME Retailers.  ENDS

About Retail Technology Conclave

Retail Technology Conclave, popularly known as ReTechCon, is the only knowledge-sharing platform focused on the technology aspect of the retail business. The platform, launched 11 years ago, has grown to become the country’s largest congregation of CIOs/CTOs, technology service providers and experts in the retail technology domain. It is designed to help retailers understand the rapid changes in technology and adapt to them, for the benefit of their businesses as well as consumers. www.retechcon.com

About RAI

Retailers Association of India (RAI) is the unified voice of retailers in India. A not for profit organisation, RAI works with all stakeholders for creating the right environment for the growth of modern retail industry in India. We encourage, develop, facilitate and support retailers to modernise and adopt best practices that will delight customers. www.rai.net.in