Life of a Business Principal in Consulting

In the good old days of retailers having a single channel with a steady and relatively well forecasted demand, pricing was the forte of the merchandising managers. Ability to negotiate with CPG majors or wholesalers, retailing based on shelf space and target segment was very helpful. The basket analysis can be used very effectively - having Key Value items and anchor items to be able to optimize product mix and margins as well. This ensures we have a good rein on retail operations and also contributing to both the top line and the bottom line.

When you , as a business, are acquiring digital contacts from multiple channels, there is no way you could serve content that could be relevant to every one. The best way forward is to personalize the content based on the user profile information. More information we have regarding a digital contact, more personalized the content can be.

One of the bigger challenges for e-tailers globally has been the last mile connectivity - delivering goods and managing returns. This is an area where the e-tailers have been innovating constantly has it is far better than it was in the early days of amazon back in the early 90's. Amazon has tried every trick in the trade on the last mile connectivity. Now with reports in India that Flipkart is going to try having collection centers for smaller towns, the debate on which method suits India is back out in the open. Flipkart's Collection Center concept Flipkart has always had a very good grip over what works for India - Cash on delivery being a brilliant example. They also started their own delivery service when they could not rely on the third part delivery vendors. With collection centers operated by Flipkart themselves, Flipkart seems to have come up with yet another innovation. What remains to be seen is if it will work since users are now used to getting their g...

How does a retailer scale and turn itself to profitability?? There have been several cases of online retailers that have struggled to balance scaling at the cost of profitability. The founders / promoters are at the cross roads on the need for more capital - that cedes control - to expand aggressively. They struggle with the need to attain profitability quickly. Their mentors are also not effective at advising them since there is no proper precedent for one approach over other. Looking at Myntra ’s case - a leading online retailer - It proves that it is never too late to get on the path of profitability irrespective of whether you want to grow aggressively ( Reference here ). All promoters would appreciate that. This case is strengthened by Zappos - an US online shoes retailers - as well that has been profitable right from day one. Myntra’s steps to attain profitability is well renowned and the slew of online retailers can gain a lot of insights from Myntra’s case. Pri...