Thursday, August 11, 2016, New Delhi: The apex body of retailers in India, Retailers’ Association of India (RAI), today organised The Delhi Retail Summit 2016. Themed “Anytime, Anywhere Retail”, the summit brought together key decision makers from across Indian retail industry to deliberate upon ways to delight the new-age 24/7, digital-savvy customers.
Photo - One (Left to Right)
1. Rahul Chadha, CEO, Fortis Healthworld
2. Rajesh Jain, Managing Director and CEO, Lacoste India
3. Shri Shankar Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India
4. Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India
Photo - Two (Left to Right)
1. Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India
2. Siddharth Bindra, MD, BIBA
3. Rajesh Jain, Managing Director and CEO, Lacoste India
4. Rahul Chadha, CEO, Fortis Healthcare
5. Lalit Agarwal, CMD, V- Mart
6. Dhruva Chandrie, COO, Shop CJ Network Pvt. Ltd
7. Reena Chhabra, CEO, FSN Brands, Nykaa.com
Today’s consumers demand the ability to buy what they want, where they want and when they want. Retailers have no choice but to provide it to them or risk losing market share. Research has proven that customers are even willing to pay more to retailers who offer an anytime, anywhere experience.
“Noted as the preferred gateway to the vast Indian retail market, Delhi is a major retail hub that is home to several leading retailers, service providers as well as key policymakers. This makes it an ideal place for a platform like Delhi Retail Summit to start a dialogue on the crucial issues and trends in retail. ‘Anytime, Anywhere Retail’ is clearly the need of the hour and DRS 2016 facilitated an exchange of ideas and insights to help retailers in their journey towards achieving it,” said Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI.
Delivering the inaugural address, Guest of Honour Shri Shankar Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India said, “I am pleased to be a part of the Delhi Retail Summit 2016 as retail plays an important role in creating good quality jobs. Retailers are part of a very beautiful nation building exercise. There are over 500 towns with a lakh population that need retailers to go there and set shop. We will do all we can to facilitate retailers so they can increase employment in these hinterlands. We will also support employment of women in retail so that the employment generation is inclusive.”
Main sessions included:
Creating the right ecosystem for Anytime, Anywhere Retail
Technology: Driving Factor for Anytime, Anywhere Retail
Evolution Story: Retail at Any Moment
Retail Experience: Mixing Pleasure with Business
In light of the recent developments on the Goods and Services Tax front, the Big Discussion on GST was one of the most-sought after sections of the Summit with two notable experts on the topic sharing their views with the audience. While Harishanker Subramaniam, Tax Partner & National Leader – Indirect Tax Services, EY India spoke about ‘GST: The next steps and what business needs to do’ Udayan Choksi, Managing Partner, VoxLaw discussed how GST will ensure a complete, comprehensive and continuous mechanism of tax credits. Together, they cleared the air around various aspects of GST and its updated the audience on its impact on retail.
With a day full of discussions on various critical aspects of Anytime, Anywhere Retail DRS 2016 proved to be a great learning and meeting ground for retailers in the region.
About Retailers Association of India:
Retailers Association of India (RAI) is the unified voice of Indian retailers. RAI works with all the stakeholders for creating the right environment for the growth of the modern retail industry in India. It is a strong advocate for retailing in India and works with all levels of government and stakeholders with the aim to support employment growth and career opportunities in retail, to promote and sustain retail investments in communities from coast-to-coast, and to enhance consumer choice and industry competitiveness. http://www.rai.net.in