Retail companies must revisit their strategies and adopt a digital supply chain network that will help them address the last-mile delivery challenge of the new age tech-savvy consumer, according to a report from Deloitte India and Retailers Association of India.
A report titled ‘Digital Disruption in Retail’ emphasizes the need for digital supply network that would create a leaning effect at an industry level, helping long-term strategic partnerships, greater consumer confidence and greater business value with the power of technology.
It states that retailers are striving to offer a seamless shopping experience through data-driven insights and analytics conducted using emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain and cognitive automation.
Digital technologies helped about 81 percent of the companies to gather insights into the shoppers’ behaviour, the report said.
As per the report, brands are blending physical and digital experiences to offer ‘phigital’ experience to acquire new customers, engage better with existing ones and reduce the cost of operations.
Anil Talreja, Partner, Deloitte India said, “India continues to hold a strong position as far as its market potential for retail is concerned and is on its way to touch $1,200 billion by 2021.
At present, shopper and shopping experiences are technologically enabled and digital has taken a centre stage redefining the meaning of convenience.
However, this also adds a new mandate for timely delivery and customer experience that are key attributes for India Inc. to focus on as the rules of the retail business game evolve, the report said.
