CHANGE BUSINESS DYNAMICS, GET FUTURE-FIT

IN THESE TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY, THE RETAIL INDUSTRY HAS SEEN A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN THE WAY OF DOING BUSINESS. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IS CHANGING AND OLD BUSINESS MODELS ARE SHAKING. FROM CONSUMERS BUYING CONSCIOUSLY TO BRANDS EXPLORING THE METAVERSE, DEVELOPING FUTURE-FIT COMPANIES THAT CAN NAVIGATE TIMES OF VOLATILITY, UNCERTAINTY AND CRISIS IS TOP OF THE MIND OF MOST CEOS TODAY. THIS IS WHAT SOME INDUSTRY LEADERS, SPEAKING AT IFF 2022, THOUGHT OF THE CHANGING DYNAMICS.

- VEDIKA NEGI

SESSION MODERATOR

• Harmeet Bajaj Product Development and Communication Strategist, Fashion Academician

PANELLISTS

• Atul Bajaj Executive Director Sales & Operations, Puma

• Johnson Verghese MD, Fossil India

• Sanjeev Rao CEO, Being Human Clothing

• Vineet Gautam CEO, Bestseller India

Consumers are changing and so are their consumption patterns. Who are these new consumers and how have their expectations actually evolved with time? Vineet Gautam, CEO, Bestseller India, believes that the pandemic has been a big reset for many. Speaking at IFF 2022 in a riveting panel discussion, he said, "The consumer of today wants to engage with the brand, experience the brand and then, end of the day, consume the brand. But this has not changed over the years; it still remains. In the context of India especially, experience matters more than it does in other parts of the world. They come with their family to spend time in feeling and trying the product before buying it."

Gautam added that while he knew a lot was changing in the digital world fuelled by e-commerce, the return rates on e-commerce were still the same. "The house has become the trial room. E-commerce businesses have only made it easier for customers, so virtually it is still the same; nothing much has changed," he added. "We have one of the youngest populations of consumers in the world who are obviously more digitally savvy. We have the highest screen time in the world and with inexpensive 4G and 5G on the way, a majority of the people with smartphones. There are things that are changing and I think that's where brands like us will have to figure out how we engage the consumer, create that experience, and then do commerce," Gautam shared.