Kothanda Raman K., Head, IT, Myntra
Enterprises in the retail space are increasingly adopting IT solutions such as big data analytics, cloud and internet of things (IoT) to generate business intelligence and gain realtime insights into market trends and customer preferences. They are also building capabilities in omni-channel retailing, which has now become critical for these enterprises not only for ensuring brand visibility, but also for delivering a seamless customer experience. However, operationalising the omni-channel strategy requires a significant amount of investment in ICT. Industry experts talk about the technology trends in the retail space…
What role are IT, telecom and enterprise solutions playing in improving the company’s business performance?
The role of IT in the retail industry involves enhancing transaction capability through advanced retail information systems. Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are the other key contributors to this. These solutions enable organisations to effectively handle large volumes of their product and optimise manpower within the stipulated timelines. Myntra uses automation in warehouses to enhance productivity. The company uses industry standard customer relationship management (CRM) and unified communications tools in combination with its home-grown CRM solutions to support its business. Moreover, the in-house developed proprietary supply chain management and DevOps software support Myntra’s retail business seamlessly, and enable it to deliver large transactions during business peaks. Myntra’s key strategy is to leverage cloud solutions for hosting the DevOps and production applications to support its business and grow exponentially while achieving high business volumes seamlessly and instantly.
What are some of the challenges faced in managing IT and telecom infrastructure?
Some of the challenges faced with respect to managing IT and telecom infrastructure are the lack of high speed and high bandwidth wireless solutions that can be scaled up rapidly to meet the growing demands of the retail/e-commerce business. The second challenge is that the retail parks are remotely placed from the city and main hubs. We aim to overcome these challenges through automation, enhanced speed and efficient operations in order to deliver services quickly during sporadic business peaks.
What has been the impact of the growing digital transactions and omni-channel retailing on your IT needs and requirements?
In the retail industry, an optimal set-up and mix of payment solutions can be a key revenue driver as this reduces payment processing costs. To this end, the availability of convenient mobile payment solutions is the key driver of digital transactions. Further, the industry requires a robust mobile solution as a large number of customers now shop on their mobiles. However, omni-channel retailing demands high availability and anytime, anywhere kind of services, which makes it highly challenging to have a robust scalable IT infrastructure. Moreover, ensuring security of IT solutions is still the number one priority, which is a constant challenge for the industry.
What is the scope of big data analytics, cloud and IoT for the retail industry?
Big data analytics integrates digital capabilities to secure business growth and provides visualisation capabilities to understand complex data patterns for business. Implementing big data across industries has led to improvements in the public health, finance, telecom and FMCG sectors. It has also helped mitigate fraud and sentiment analysis on communication channels. Big data analytics is creating a new paradigm by generating data through various kinds of sensors, smartphones, social sites and even satellites. However, the usage of big data analytics is facing challenges related to storage, applicability, security and scope. Meanwhile, IoT enables businesses to turn data into insights. Market forces like cloud computing and analytics are driving the growth of IoT. The key factors contributing to the adoption of IoT are mobility, improved decision-making, the evolution of a smarter lifestyle and analysis of critical data from connected sensors. Further, cloud computing can reduce the IT costs incurred in managing existing as well as integrating new systems. It makes communication between different departments and customers seamless and scalable. Myntra leverages big data analytics and cloud technologies to help scale up its business.
What are the key emerging IT and telecom trends witnessed by the retail industry?
The emerging technologies in the retail industry have created a positive impact on the customer experience and have influenced consumer behaviour in many ways. The rise of online shopping has led to showrooming, the use of social media for product reviews and instant feedback, access to price comparisons, and the integration of smartphones with other retail technologies. In the future, the industry will see the establishment of experiential centres to enable shoppers to control their shopping experience. These stores may offer experiences that cannot be provided online. Data warehousing and mining technologies will be used to support online business and advancements in machine learning, while deep analytics and AI will be the key to providing a personalised shopping experience. In addition, IoT will increase the focus on voice as a user interface. Further, virtual and augmented reality is going to play a major role in boosting the online retail industry. In-store mobile technology too will gain momentum.
