Fight for Consumers Wallet: Retail & Ecommerce @ TIE Global Summit 2016
Ideas can be translated into actions, only if they are exchanged. With modernization of technology and evolution in the communication space, the world has become a global village. Networking is the key to leverage this scenario so that seamless exchange of knowledge can be manifested into inspired actions, making way for advanced solutions.
Post liberalization, our country joined this brigade of transformation and thus, entrepreneurship emerged as a key force to accelerate sustainable growth. Eventually, we have experienced a paradigm shift in the mindset among youth, which resulted in the birth of a vibrant start-up ecosystem. I feel that this major shift in perspective is not a one-way process as the ever-changing consumer needs gave the impetus to redefine the customer experiences. Amidst this dynamic situation, digitization has bridged the gap between expectations and opportunities, and prepared the country to set sails of extensive development across industries with retail sharing a considerable part of the growth pie. Over the last decade, the retail sector precisely explored the disruptive ecosystem and changed the way people used to buy. The rise of e-commerce start-ups is a major indicator of this glorious journey and it set benchmarks for us to carry forward the legacy of innovation and transformation.
We at Cisco, have always been at the forefront of this revolution and actively supported the transition from a very nascent stage. We have always been active amidst this sea of transformation and our active involvement in the retail & e-commerce space has helped in creating an ecosystem of transaction which is transparent, swift and added with values.
In this fight for consumers’ Wallet in the retail & ecommerce, technology has a major role to play in altering consumer behavior. We all know, how a decade earlier, products and services were manufactured on one end of the spectrum and delivered on the other end, without any participation. But technology has joined all the broken pieces to build a shared platform in today’s economy which creates value for each other. I believe that in this mobile centric economy, it is a necessity to completely redraw the business perspective and processes from the way people consume, from the way capabilities are built and from the way services are delivered. We at Cisco has been facilitating this transformation from building broadband highways to building local language interface. We are even very much active on our farsighted vision, hence emerging technologies like- virtual reality and Artificial Intelligence are special areas of interest for us. This domain is like a treasure trove of possibilities and if explored persistently, AI and Virtualization will revolutionize the way people make choices. There are certain banks which have already started to push this technology and we are always up for supporting ideas which are innovative, futuristic and market ready. If everything goes by plan this enabled service will be launched in the next 6 months and it will certainly create a major disruption by virtual reality bundle offers. Through this service, customers will be able to enquire about an exact property specification just by pointing their mobile phones towards an under-construction site. If the customers want to opt for a premium option then, just filling in the right details will show them a way to follow for that service offering. I think this will redefine the future of transaction and will take retail and ecommerce to a whole new height.
Currently we are keen to invest in funds as well as early stage start-ups, not only in the enterprise disruption space but also in consumer-focused companies. Take examples of Mobikwik and Netmagic for that matter. We collaborated strongly with them to create an experience which is 100% consumer centric and futuristic. In this journey, I think that customer stickiness could be built around by providing multiple services seamlessly with mobile as the primary premise of delivery and the companies which will do that will be winners in this ecosystem of digital disruption.
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