Rajib Dey, Head—Visual Merchandising, Reliance Trends, Reliance Retail, is a professional with over twenty-four years of experience in retail and customer experience design. He is passionate about creating the best brand experience to engage customers, conceptualizing and creating new benchmarks in visual merchandising, and designing visual merchandising strategies for the brand.

The economic development of India has been significantly influenced by the retail industry, which has demonstrated impressive growth and transformation over time. Indian retail industry is well known for catering to the world's fastest-growing market, encompassing a blend of traditional and modern retailing concepts. This unique combination is driven by a growing economy, urbanization, and an increasingly prosperous middle class. The digital revolution has impacted the retail landscape in India, as more businesses are transitioning to online platforms to cater to the tech-savvy consumer base.

As e-commerce platforms are rapidly expanding in India, traditional stores are also incorporating digital technologies to improve customer experiences. Technologies like AI, machine learning, and IoT are being implemented to streamline operations and personalize the shopping experience. Omnichannel retailing has gained more popularity in recent days as it helps to deliver a seamless shopping experience across both online and offline channels. This approach is instrumental in building stronger connections with customers, ensuring convenience, and fostering customer loyalty through various touch points. Besides, Indian consumers are showing a growing awareness of the environmental impact of their purchases. In response, retailers are adopting more sustainable practices, including sourcing eco-friendly products, reducing plastic usage, and integrating green technologies into their operations. According to reports, the Indian retail market is projected to achieve a value of $2 trillion by 2032. Meanwhile, it is anticipated that the Indian e-commerce sector will surpass the $350 billion milestone by 2030, with a projected growth rate of 23 percent. Below is an excerpt from the exclusive interview with Rajib Dey, Head—Visual Merchandising, Reliance Trends at Reliance Retail with CEO Insights.

How is technology helping to create opportunities for retailers to reach customers in a much faster, easier, and more economical way?
Technology can create better efficiency in the store, which leads to better business. There are a lot of technologies that can be integrated into the retail system. Let's take something as simple as RFID (Radio-frequency identification) for example. Through RFID, you can get the overall store idea about brick and mortar, all instruments. The store's efficiency depends on diverse factors such as the area of the store the customer is visiting, the products they like and dislike, the products that they take longer to decide on, and how different

products perform in different stores. You can do inter-surfing between the stores to create better efficiency. It applies not only to the physical store but also to e-commerce. As India has quite a large retailing space, you can analyze the data by implementing the technologies. Often, we notice that products we get from different parts of the country are not similar; you can still differentiate them through data. That's the way this technology can give you an idea about customer behavior in the same city but at a different store to get better efficiency.

What strategies should the business implement to meet the customers' needs through sustainable products?
Sustainability always comes with a price. Consider a specific brand and its target audience. It is very important to strike a balance between offering sustainable options and catering to different customer demographics. For example, a sustainable item priced at Rs.3000 may not be affordable for all customers in the store. You need to segment the brands and products based on what each customer segment can afford. Once the analysis is complete, compare brand A with brand B and product A with product B.

I would also say sustainability is the future, and people are increasingly interested in it, but affordability remains a major concern. If your product is economically priced, it can be accessible to everyone. However, if it's not, only specific segments of the population will be able to purchase it. Therefore, your brand positioning should consider these differences.

New products and technologies may not be accepted by everyone at first, but gaining the support of a limited group can lead to wider acceptance

How can leaders effectively promote teams to understand the latest innovations and cultivate a customer-centric approach?
When we implement a new technology, it's not easy for people to understand, so the brand needs to create a culture around it. On the other hand, this will help customers understand and appreciate the technology, such as wrinkle-free shirts and quick-dry fabrics. Developing awareness about these advancements requires effective communication through physical interaction or social media. Influencers can play a key role in promoting the benefits and potential developments of these products to customers. Cultivating this culture is a gradual process that starts small and grows through influence. New products and technologies may not be accepted by everyone at first, but gaining the support of a limited group can lead to wider acceptance.

What is your advice for the upcoming leaders?
It is important to be transparent and display natural leadership qualities. People naturally follow leaders without the leader being aware of how many people are following them. A great example of this is the movie Forrest Gump, where Tom Hanks starts running, and when he turns back, he sees thousands of people following him without being asked to. Likewise, a transparent and neutral leader focuses on his actions, which makes people follow them.