Challenges retailers face in the age of digitisation: Kumar Vembu, GOFRUGAL

In the age of digitisation, name some challenges that retailers face.

Digital is redefining service expectations of consumers. Retailers of all sizes are struggling to meet such service expectations. For example, when a consumer gave home delivery order a few years ago, the delivery date was promised. However, as consumers are exposed to Swiggy and Uber experiences, they expect the same delivery experience from their neighborhood retailers. As consumer's exposure to digital experiences increase, from ordering to delivery and from billing to payment a frictionless experience is becoming a basic hygiene expectation of a consumer.

How do you think technology will change the retail sector in the next couple of years?

Technology is increasingly democratic. Most technologies adopted by leading retailers are available to the smallest of retailers at prices they can afford. Serving customers on multiple channels is a key technology trend on which unorganized retailers are catching up now. The unorganized retail sector is the newest entrant to the tech-savvy revised business model. The retailers will continue to readjust their business to ride the digital wave.

What advice would you give retailers to adopt new technologies as part of their strategy?

Agility is the most important survival kit and growth strategy when change is the only constant. This means, every businessman should evaluate how quickly their technology vendor responds to changes in the market, the frequency of updates their software vendors give them and how seamlessly such updates are put in use in their business. Implementing the right technology solution reduces the need for training, as various business processes are automated and mistake-proofed, ensuring operational excellence and consistent customer experience

Brief on GOFRUGAL solutions and what functional areas do you specialize in?

GOFRUGAL offers comprehensive ERP to manage all aspects of the business including sales, purchase, inventory, accounts, customer relationship management, customer loyalty, etc. GOFRUGAL's specialization is to ensure the customers are digitally transformed in a gradual, continuous and hassle-free manner by adopting the mobility and cloud solutions.

Established in 2004, it helps businesses embrace agility and transform digitally to stay competitive in the dynamic market. The company helps businesses grow with minimal staff, least skills along with 100% accurate and reliable solutions. More than 30,000 customers across 60+ countries experience simplicity in running their businesses with GOFRUGAL.

The company addresses the needs of a wide spectrum of customers from small independent stores to local chains and large enterprises. GOFRUGAL offers freedom of choice to customers in terms of hardware device (desktop, tablet, mobile), software platform (Windows, Android, iOS), deployment (on-premise, hybrid, cloud) and support channels (self-service, chat and voice support).