Param Bhargava, Founder, The Ayurveda Co.
Enterprises in the retail sector have started deploying various new-age technologies and solutions to streamline their operations and enhance business efficiency. New technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and robotics are being used to provide a personalised experience to customers and offer customised products and services. Industry leaders share their views on how information and communication technology (ICT) is transforming the retail sector, the opportunities and challenges that it presents, and the way forward…
What are the key technology trends dominating the retail sector and how has the adoption of next-generation technologies such as AI, IoT, robotics and AR/VR been going?
AI gives solutions to personalised consumer queries and inputs while providing quick answers from varied data sets collected from different sources. Future trends can also be tracked through technology. There has been an age-old practice in the world of ayurveda, where experts analyse a person’s skin, hair and face by observing and feeling the texture. With technology, this process has been made readily available for all. Meanwhile, IoT has helped build accessible smart devices with facial analysis features to provide real-time experiences through virtual mechanisms. It enables the consumer to make qualitative and informed decisions.
What are the key technologies being adopted by your organisation? What are the challenges faced while deploying these solutions?
The Ayurveda Co. has always been into simplifying ayurveda for the masses. The company is set to adopt and develop the above-mentioned technologies and bring it through our consumer touchpoints. At the moment, it is a high infrastructural cost for us, and it has been an investment for the brand. The whole experience is still an anonymous one for us. With technology, we aim to introduce ayurveda to the millennials and the Gen-Z generation.
What new opportunities have opened up with the digitalisation of the sector? How are you tapping them?
The ever-evolving technology has been coming up with various solutions to provide a personalised experience to the users. The metaverse has been a controversial development in the AR/VR space. Since we have been in the e-commerce business space for the longest time, we aim to integrate the experience into the metaverse for our consumers. It will help us provide a complete offline experience on the online platform.
Going forward, what technological trends are expected to shape the sector?
Deep fakes are a considerable step forward in revamping the consumer experience. Through these tools, we will organise contests for our consumers in the wellness category.
