Top 10 Women Leaders in Retail – 2020

2019 was a wonderful year for the Indian retail industry with exponential growth and expansion across Tier-I, II & III cities and towns of India, besides tremendous changes that transpired across various verticals. 2020 is predicted to be even more prosperous for this industry! Currently, India silhouettes as the fifth largest preferred retail destination globally and the highest in the world with per capita retail store availability. Backing this fast-growing sector are a swarm of factors like urbanization, evolving consumer preferences, rapid economic growth and many more, which are further revolutionizing the industry. Moreover, technologies like AI and Machine Learning, along with the might of social media are undoubtedly taking the retail space to greater heights in India. Yet, the true drivers of this industry are women leaders poised perfectly in middle and senior leadership levels of different companies PAN India. A research conducted among Fortune 500 companies showed that those companies with more women on their leadership teams achieved better financial results. Not just across leadership positions, Indian retailers are eager to recruit more women employees for all positions during the recent years, recognizing their indispensable abilities to stay pleasant, patient, empathetic, stable, effectively communicate and most importantly connect with customers. On the other hand, majority of the customers in the retail world are also women who strongly go by the motto of ‘Shop till you drop’. Clearly, women play a crucial role in contributing towards the growth of the retail industry in India. Regardless of this huge presence and contribution by women, the retail industry is still posed with a large gender gap, especially across the leadership positions. But on the bright side, we can witness a horde of women plunging into the world of entrepreneurship to bring their retail dreams into fruition. Evaluating the passion, vision and ken of this large coterie of women, CEO Insights has unveiled a detailed listing: ‘Top 10 Women Leaders in Retail – 2020’, which entails the success stories of women leaders who are seamlessly engraving their excellence in the retail space. A distinguished panel comprising of industry mavens, CEOs, VCs and other experts along with CEO Insights Editorial Board have prepared the names of front-runners in this space. The listing further sheds light on the emerging trends and advancements in the retail industry of India.