Vendekin Technologies participated in the Retail Leadership Summit (RLS) 2022, organised by the Retailers Association of India. This was the second instance where Vendekin participated in the RLS, the first time in 2020. The vending machine industry is one of the most crucial segments of the retail industry, also known as the unattended or unmanned retail. Vendekin Technologies took part in this prestigious event with two goals in mind.
1. To study and understand the winds of change in the retail industry post opening up of markets after removal of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
2. To showcase the vision that the future of retail is Instant Commerce and how we’re pioneering it with the best vending machine management software in India and globally.
The Future is Instant Commerce
Our founder Mr. Aroon Khatter presented Vendekin’s POV of the future of retail in India and globally and everything about Instant Commerce (Vcommerce) on the second day of the summit held at the Westin Mumbai Powai Lake.
Instant Commerce is the natural extension of QCommerce or Quick Commerce (Swiggy Instamart, BlinkIt, Dunzo), which has grown from Ecommerce. The internet gave us all the gift of convenience, where one could be sitting in the safe and comfortable confines of their homes and ordering what they desire through online shops. While Ecommerce ensures our products are delivered to our doorstep within a couple of days or purchase, Qcommerce bridges that gap by establishing a robust local ecosystem of vendors that can fulfil the needs of the end consumer within a few hours. Instant Commerce, or we love to call it, Vcommerce (Vending Commerce), is the future, which brings the store to the customer with smart cashless vending machines solutions in India powered with the smart tech of online payments, touchless user interface, and a digitally managed inventory for the retailers and vending machine operators.
Giving RLS an experience of VCommerce
Our marketing and customer success team too participated in this summit. Vendekin Technologies booth had its latest smart vending machines on display, which gave the visitors a first-hand experience of Instant Commerce. We noticed that this year’s summit had a lot of first time attendees, and the ones who interacted with our teams were delighted by the power of Vcommerce, smart cashless vending machines solutions in India, the platforms we provide, like vNetra for retailers to manage their vending machine operations effectively, digitally and the scalability it provides to their businesses on how to go from 10 to 2000 machines spread all over the country.
We also attended some interesting talks and panel discussions at the event, which gave us an interesting POV, since there were several shifts in perspective in the retail industry that were clearly evident right from the opening keynotes to the offerings of the several exhibitors at the event.
Hearing it from the best in the market!
The opening panel discussion with Mr Bijou Kurien (Chairman RAI), Ashwin Khasgiwala (Director Reliance Brands Ltd) and Mr Venu Nair (MD ShopperStop) and Kulin Lalbhai (Director Arvind Ltd) with the topic ' Paradigms that are Reshaping Retail' set the tone for the show. The focus was upon several elements of change in their companies which were brought in during the pandemic and how these changes are here to stay. Similarly, the panel discussion on Consumer, Technology, Competition - Forces Shaping Strategy Moderated by Dr. Hitesh Bhatt, Director - Marketing & Communication which had the Retailers Association of India Gunjan Shah, CEO, Bata India Ltd. Damodar Mall, CEO - Grocery Retail, Reliance Retail Ltd. Devndra Chawla, MD & CEO, Spencer's Retail & Nature's Basket NishantKalra, Regional Vice President & Country Head- Digital Experience, Salesforce India Rajneet Kohli, President & Chief Business Officer, Domino's (Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd.) also echoed the same.
Exchange of ideas, knowledge and business experiences
Our teams learnt a lot too during these 3 days, where we got a deep dive into the workings of ONDC - Open Network for Digital Commerce, Virtual mirroring, Cross referencing and cross pollination of data and much more. What was interesting to observe were the change in the minds of retailers about omnichannel sales and how it has now become the backbone of the retail post Covid-19, the new buying habits of the consumers, etc. The focus this year, we noticed, was customer experience improvement using data and tech, for most of the big conglomerates and FMCG brands that participated at the event.
What we felt…
Overall, we saw a very good response from the participants and the people we interacted with at the summit. All of them came interested with different embodiments of instant commerce, and were excited to understand how the best vending machine management software in India can transition their business, what makes it different. Our message on how running a powerful software in tandem can help businesses grow on all fronts was delivered clearly and accepted very well. It is very encouraging to see the changes coming about, the outlook towards Omni channel, taking the store closer and closer to the customer and that instant is the new future.