Customers want more flexible options from retailers: Study

Retailers today have multiple avatars such as online, physical format and social media and shoppers want all of them integrated to offer more flexibility and convenience. Customer analytics show that shoppers in India are craving for convenience like never before. They are not only increasingly shopping on multi-digital platforms such as laptops, mobiles and tablets but are basing their decision to buy on factors such as the retailer's return policy.

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A recent study by consulting firm PriceWaterHouseCoopers titled Total Retail: A Change is Underway - which surveyed 1,006 respondents across India - shows 84 percent shoppers shop from the top three retailers only because they have a good return policy and majority customers prefer returning products in-store even when bought online.

But this is a complex logistic process and to enable this, retailers must take a simultaneous view of the customer's purchases and inventory levels at the store, warehouse and online, in real time. And this is where current technology is lagging behind.

Govind Shrikhande, CEO and MD, Shoppers Stop says, “The technology has to be on a stronger platform to undertake this kind of a view. Because, to give you an example, every cross transaction that happens on the store, it must immediately reflect in stock everywhere, including store, including warehousing, including online. Whereas typically, most of the stocks get updated by the end of the day. So you really need to change this method and make the change effective online instantaneously.”

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Farah Bookwala Vhora

Reporter|CNBC-TV18

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The problem currently is that most retailers have two separate entities handling the online and the offline business. And in most cases, these are not integrated in any way.

Rachna Nath, executive director, PwC says: “If you have two separate systems, one that tackles online and the other in-store, they don’t talk to each other, you will never be able to trace back a particular purchase that the consumer has done online, to be able to receive it back into the store. So the complexities will increase going ahead.”

Experts add that while many retailers have begun addressing this issue, not many have found success. And not to forget, this kind of technology upgradation is expensive.