The much awaited two-day India Retail Forum (IRF) 2012 beginning 10th October at the Renaissance, Mumbai would take this process further and put some light to discuss strategic issues related to modern retail in India.
According to India Retail Report 2013 by the research firm IRIS, which will be launched at the IRF, the overall Indian retail industry is set to grow at a CAGR of 18.8 percent from 2012 to 2015, while modern retail will grow at 29.7 percent over the same period. FDI is going to provide a fresh impetus to modern retail to enter markets beyond the metros. With Indian modern retail now wide open to the world, IRF will take fresh stock of the strategies to bring in global best practices to deliver Indian consumers the best value for their spend.
IRF 2012, the magnum opus of Indian retail, promises to be more exciting than ever before this year, with much larger number of domestic and international participants. It is packed with over 30 back-to-back sessions built around very interesting topics and formats. The sessions will highlight key issues confronting the Indian retail industry such as retail brand building, retail real-estate, reinventing the physical store experience, e-commerce, social media marketing, FDI in retail, the changing decision-making roles of the modern consumer, the next-gen of leaders in family-managed business, and so on. Among the host of topics to be discussed will be: an in-depth analysis of the consumption patterns, growth of Indian retail beyond the metros, Retail Business as an agent for social change, attracting investors to fund the retail business, and Retail brand building. Some 150 speakers – virtually the who’s who of the retail & consumer industries – will address the delegates.
The theme of IRF 2012 is, “Know everything, know everyone”, Amitabh Taneja, Chief Convener, IRF, says, “Modern retail plays a vital role in spurring economic growth, generating large scale employment opportunities, facilitating and increasing indirect tax collection, and supporting the economic and social development of the nation. With the recent approval of FDI in modern retail, it is the time for the retailers to fastrack the Indian Retail Industry’s agenda for Economic and Social Development.”
“Modern retail in India is poised for real and sustainable growth. After the initial years of reckless expansion and hard lessons, it's time now to train our sights on building retail businesses that are relevant, successful and enduring,” adds Mr. Taneja.
Debate on FDI in Retail:
While large sections of policy-makers are acknowledging the benefits to India’s economic and social development, which will come through opening up of modern retail, there is still a contrarian viewpoint opposing FDI in modern retail. Thus, IRF includes a power-packed debate on the most debatable topic “FDI in Retail” which will highlight on how the Indian retail industry’s agenda for economic and social development can be fast tracked. The session would present the views of policy-makers, retail industry CEOs, think-tank experts and retail traders associations in an engaging debate. The participants would attempt to chart the course of action where global and Indian retailers can both participate in a mutually beneficial environment of open investment facilitated by the Government.
"IRF is the pre-eminent forum for the retail industry in India and also attracts worldwide interest" says, Bijou Kurien, President & Chief Executive, Lifestyle vertical, Reliance Retail.
Thomas Varghese, Chairman, CII National Committee on Retail and Chief Executive, Aditya Birla Retail, says, “Due to the challenging economic conditions in the western world and fear of prolonged slow growth, the focus has shifted to the fast growing economies like India. Most of the retail businesses act as agents of social change and are usually the ones that also create the most value for their brands. IRF connects to the retailers on about how to create value for their customers and investors through responsible retailing.”
“Modern retail has a huge potential as India's consumption demand is increasing. The industry not only creates demand for value-added products but also boosts local entrepreneurship, creates jobs and raises income levels,” says Kishore Biyani, Founder & Group CEO, Future Group. “At India Retail Forum we explore how the retailers can collaborate to create consumption demand and offer Indian consumers a better standard of living by providing better products at best prices,” he adds.
Next -Gen series:
The heirs and future retail business leaders will disclose the Leadership Traits and Values they have imbibed from their iconic parents – the pioneers of Indian retail at the Next-Gen series. Continuing the focus on the next generation of leaders of Indian modern retail, successful middle managers would speak out about what the CEOs should do to get the best out of their teams and improve their business performance.
The Forum would this year continue to have the “Master Classes” and the “IRF Rising Star Challenge” that proved to be quite popular at the event last year. The Master Classes will discuss topics such as retail loss prevention, customer loyalty, and visual merchandising, while the Rising Star Challenge will organize a retail competition to engage the brightest minds from the top management schools.
