Shashwat Chaturvedi
MUMBAI: If all the newsprints featuring the retail vertical in the recent past were stacked on top of each other, they would surely fill up a decent sized Wal-Mart warehouse.
That's how 'hot' this vertical has been of late. Not a day passes, without some sort of announcement or news. The booming Indian economy has finally got a poster boy, and he goes by the name of retail.
Big story
According to estimates, the Indian retail industry is expected to grow from $300 billion to $637 billion by 2015. Currently, the organized retail segment accounts for only 3-4 per cent of the total market, but things could change as this segment (organized) is expected to touch 18 per cent in the next few years.
The game has become so big, that the world's second highest-grossing corporation; Wal-Mart has decided to open "hundreds of retail stores" in conjunction with Bharti. So have the Tescos and Carrefours of the world. With the arrival of these deep-pocketed international players, there is fear that the local ones will be lame sitting ducks.
After all who can match the technological and IT infrastructure of a Wal-Mart?
The answer to this question is an unequivocal 'No'. The Indian players are not only matching, but also even excelling in the game of IT. Every single CIO that we spoke to underscored the importance of IT for his company's prospects. "IT can no longer be termed as only important; now it is critical for a retail business," emphasize Ranjan Sharma from Vishal Megamart.
IT helps retailers manage their supply chain, inventory, etc. in an efficient manner. The single largest improvement is brought in terms of customer satisfaction. "With IT we are able to run complex promotions, which otherwise would not have been possible in a manual system thereby giving a good value for money for the users," says K V S Seshasai, head (IT & Corporate Quality), Trent.
