Agile retail, digital payments and personalisation biggest trends for retail in 2017

India Retail Forum (IRF), India’s largest retail intelligence event, is hosting the Inaugural Edition of the North India Retail Summit (NIRS 2016) today at JW Marriott, Aerocity, Delhi. NIRS is a first-of- its-kind business event for retailers and retail support sectors in North India.
As we all know, North India leads the country in shopping centre development and retail growth. Some of India’s best performing malls and shopping centres are located in North India, while this region also houses the most aspirational Indian consumers. But with new shifts to online retail and changing consumer behaviours, how can North India retain its leadership status in retail growth?
Reflecting this shift, the theme of NIRS 2016 is ‘Retail Transformation and Winning Strategies in the Connected World – Building Successful Retail Models and Growing the Retail Ecosystem in a Technology and Digitally-enhanced Retail atmosphere to delight the New Age Consumers’. NIRS 2016 will showcase how retailing has evolved in North India, especially focusing on the unique shopping behaviour patterns of North Indian consumers.
The NIRS 2016 Conference opened with an eye-opening NIRS Research Presentation by Anurag Mathur, Partner and Leader – Consumer & Retail, PwC. Mathur talked about Consumer-Driven Trends for the Next Growth Story in Retail: Factors that Every Retailer Must Know for Growing Consumption & Profitability.
“From now to 2020, India will add population of the size of the UK. The young population – 65 per cent of Indians are under 35 years of age – form the major consuming class, they are generating demand. But are businesses ready to fill this gap?” Mathur asked.
“Time starved consumers are clearly leaning towards convenient shopping options and greater choice. The average numbers of SKUs in retail stores today is about 66. Brands, ranges, varieties and PoS options have exploded,” he added.
Referring to the impact of digital communications on consumerism, he noted, “Because every consumer is connecting through digital media, it is critical that retailers capture the data, build experiences around it and connect better with consumers. Technology is creating superb opportunities for modern retail to grow,” he pointed out. “Work on unified data and analytics—this is a time to know your consumers using data like never before,” he said, noting that brands such as Nike and Apple are optimising this to deliver outstanding retail experiences to customers.
According to Mathur, the major 2017 trends in retail will be: Focus on personalization; Adoption of mobile payments; Demand for faster delivery; Growing importance of health and wellness; Technological innovation. “These trends coupled with changes in the business environment are creating disruptive and new business opportunities,” he said.
The one-day event is featuring an exclusive retail conference, exhibition, networking lunch/dinner along with a Felicitation Ceremony to honour the region’s most progressive and exciting retailers and retail professionals.
Speakers, attendees and delegates include key business heads and decision makers from prominent retail companies, consumer brands, retail real estate majors, retail support services and technology solution providers, among others.
The illustrious line-up of speakers at the SIRS 2016 conference includes an impressive mix of regional and national icons of traditional and modern retailing: Anant Daga, CEO, W (TCNS Clothing Company), Bishwanath Ganguly, Country Manager, Forever New, Murali Parna, CEO, Sagar Ratna, Ayush Mehra, Director, Study By Janak, Hitesh Arora, Director, Kipps Mart, Lalit Agarwal, CMD, V-MART Retail, Rajat Tuli, Founder, Happily Unmarried, Rishab Soni, MD, SSIPL Retail, Rohan Jetley, Promoter and CEO, TGI Fridays, Samik Roy, Country Head, Microsoft Business Applications (Microsoft Dynamics), Rahul Singh, Founder and CEO, The Beer Café, Asheeta Chhabra, Director, Chhabra Triple Five Fashions (Chhabra 555), Bhupinder Singh Chadha, MD, Pind Balluchi, Gaurav Dhingra, Owner, Defence Bakery, Gauravjit S. Kochhar, Director, Giggles, Kunaal Kumar, Director, Modern Bazaar, Rajendra Mohan, Owner, Pall Mall, Aman Mittal, COO, Savemax, Matt Ramljak, COO – Retail, Splash Middle East and Splash India, Nitin Kochhar, VP – Categories, ShopClues.com, Pradipta Kumar Sahoo, Business Head – Safal, Mother Dairy, Rajesh Mahajan, MD, Maspar, Abhishek Bansal, Executive Director, Pacific Malls, Pushpa Bector, Executive Vice President and Head, DLF Premium Malls division, Rahul Kumar, MD & CEO, Red Mango, Sharad Sachdeva, CEO, Lite Bite Foods, and Yogeshwar Sharma, Executive Director, Select CITYWALK, among others.
“North India is today home to the country’s most aspirational consumers, who are continuing to evolve and be heavily influenced by technology. These trends are impacting retailers, who need to understand how new shopping behaviours work and what it means for retail innovation,” said Amitabh Taneja, Chief Convenor, IRF.
“Today, the market is also the hub of technology innovations, including those that support retailing in the digital age, placing it at an exciting intersection of change and opportunity. It was with the intention of decoding the ongoing consumerism shifts and emerging opportunities that NIRS has been launched,” he added.
Leading retail support companies, including those in retail design, logistics and supply chain solutions, retail technology, analytics and marketing, have joined retail real estate majors and new-age retail concepts at the NIRS 2016 exhibition.
The event will culminate with an elegant Felicitation ceremony to honour the contributions and achievements of some of North India’s most enduring and successful retailers and retail professionals.