The detail and the e-commerce industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. India’s e-commerce sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 27% to reach US$99 billion by 2024, from US$30 billion in 2019. This double-digit growth rate shows how fast the industry is moving, technology being at the heart of this evolution.
Talking about digitization in retail and e-commerceDr. Arun Singh, Chief Economist at Dun & Bradstreet, says: “COVID-19 has driven an acceleration of digital innovation in the e-commerce space. With the share of global retail increasing from 14% in 2019 to around 17% in 2020, the reach of this industry is immense.
The retail and e-commerce sector has shown tremendous resilience over the past two years, and while most sectors have experienced economic contraction, the e-commerce sector has experienced exponential growth in course of the last year. Technology is the constraining factor behind this. While the world came to a complete halt, it was through digital means that these platforms continued to operate and grow.
Advances in technology have brought about significant changes in industries and sectors. Digital transformation has completely reshaped shopping, online experiences and even customer expectations in physical stores. The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the industry, bringing with it unprecedented technological innovations.
Virtual shopping assistants, in-store stylist robots, AI-powered recommendation engines, robot-run bill counters, and other technological advancements have dramatically changed the retail landscape. The most visible transformation is from buyers to digitally empowered consumers who are also hyper-connected consumers with a complete view of the competitive landscape.
Over the past couple of years, competition in e-commerce has also increased as the Indian economy transitions to a digital economy and smartphone users have increased significantly.
In this regard, concepts such as selling to target customers through data analytics and e-commerce have gained traction, indicating that the role of emerging technologies will be central to the growth of e-commerce as competition will intensify. As the country slowly opens up, the retail/e-commerce sector is going to be at the forefront of industrial and digital transformation and subsequently become a major contributor to India’s growth.
Given the competitiveness and growing demand of the e-commerce industry, the role of streamlined administrative processes and superior customer experience is becoming increasingly important.
Flipkart, one of India’s leading online retail platforms, uses Oracle ERP and customer experience solutions to manage both of these factors, which has benefited them by meeting the extremely high demands of the platform efficiently. -form.
While the e-commerce sector has flourished, the retail sector and brick-and-mortar retail stores in particular have faced tremendous stress as they were unable to open, leading to heavy losses. But as things around the world slowly return to some form of normality, the retail industry is also ramping up its tech capabilities.
One such retail organization in India is TATA Croma, with a huge workforce thanks to its 200 stores spread across more than 60 cities in India. Second, because they work in retail, their day-to-day operations have been disrupted due to the lockdown. Although they encountered some difficulties at the beginning, they were able to overcome them by implementing digital solutions.
By using the Oracle HCM solution, TATA Croma was able to ensure smooth and efficient interaction with employees despite working remotely. Because it is an end-to-end cloud solution, it is easily accessible and user-friendly for all its employees, who can access it from anywhere in the country.
Another drastic change in the retail industry relates to consumer preferences. COVID-19 has dramatically changed customer demand in the retail industry. Understanding how to predict and capitalize on these changes is key to staying on top of the industry. Fortunately, new technologies powered by AI and ML have the ability to undertake these functions. In fact, retailers are gradually investing in data analytics and data science backed solutions to undertake predictive analytics, paving the way for quite a big and dramatic shift in the retail/e-commerce industry. trade.
