Retail leaders discussed supply chain and sustainability at PRC 2023
Mumbai: Optimization of resources is the key to an efficient supply chain, industry leaders said at the Phygital Retail Convention 2023 on Friday.
“Retail industry needs technological advancement and improvement in thinking about how to solve the problems in supply chain management. Many new-age companies are developing methods for solving the issues in the supply chain using technology in their own way,” said Viswanath P, partner at Grand Thornton Bharat. He was speaking during a panel discussion titled ‘How is Technology Transforming the Supply Chain for Retail and D2C Business’ on the second day of Phygital Retail Convention 2023.
The 2023 edition of PRC is being held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on the 11th and 12th of May. With over 250 speakers sharing their expertise and experience over the course of two days, the mega convention is going to be a treasure trove of knowledge and business lessons.
The panel discussion witnessed various retail players sharing their own opinions and thoughts on how the supply chain is going to be the next phase of retail evolution.
“Delhivery is the backbone of technology. We started using machine learning way before it became popular,” shared Mohammed Ali, senior vice president, SME business, Delhivery, a logistics and supply chain company, based in Gurugram.
“We have algorithm cellars exactly happening while routing through large central mesh network hubs. It is possible to say that we sort of brought in the chaos of India into our way of thinking,” he added.
“Two most aggressively used terms today in retail are omnichannel and sustainability. It is important for retailers to break it down into simplistic actions which we need to take right from the end of the business till the final followthrough of the operations and then we translate it into clearly actionable elements which will support the business,” said Col. Jaseev Bakshi chief operating officer of Kama Ayurveda.
“It is crucial that through technology we should target the end users closest geographically on the pinpoints. This only happens if you opt for software such as ERP that organizations use to manage day-to-day business activities which are much more seamlessly integrated and that is how tech plays an important part in the supply chain,” added Bakshi.
According to Shivi Singh, chief executive officer of Clear Dekho, “11% of our orders are coming from people who do not require eyewear and they are wearing glasses because they are more fashion-centric. For that 11%, they do not need lenses, but frames. Thus, we need to specifically work on the SKUs for that particular category and technology helps to smoothen such processes and make them efficient.”
“Sustainability starts with traceability, and it shows the entire journey of a product from the raw material to the consumer. We are currently finding out how technology can help in traceability aspects,” Supriya Shirsat Satam, founder of FoRet Sustainable Fashion, said while speaking about supply chain and sustainability.
Sunaina Harjai, co-founder of Hats Off Accessories stressed the challenges in the optimization of resources especially for new-born D2C start-ups. “Right allocation of the inventory and managing spaces can only happen with technology. Practices like managing the assembly line and enabling personalisation is only going to fall in the right places with technology.”
