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Social Beat at the Real Estate Digital Marketing Conference

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Real-Estate-Digital-Marketing-Conference-Bangalore

Social Beat’s Rohit Uttamchandani, Head of Digital Advertising & Real Estate was one of the speakers at the Real Estate Digital Marketing Conference in Bangalore on the 22nd March 2016, where he spoke on how real estate companies can leverage content marketing effectively for branding and lead generation. The conference was attended by key decision makers from some of Bangalore’s leading real estate companies and included talks on social media marketing, measuring digital campaign ROI, driving sales through personal branding,  Internet of Things (IoT) and Virtual Reality.

Rohit-Uttamchandani-Real-Estate-Digital-Marketing-Conference

Rohit’s talk focussed on how content marketing, done right, can be a powerful tool to help real estate companies build their brand reputation online as well as generate leads in the long-term. To be successful in real estate content marketing in 2016 and beyond, one has to create content that is not only unique but also ten times better than the best content on that topic, anywhere on the internet. “10x Content” has become the new buzzword amongst advanced content marketers and the session talked about the ideation, creation and amplification of content for real estate with a clear focus on delivering business results. You can view the presentation from the talk below:

Content marketing for Real Estate from Social Beat

 

The Most Definite Guide to Optimize Your Adwords Campaign

Reading Time: 5 minutes

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Every business big or small, belonging to any category is using digital marketing to help their business grow and reach the masses. Internet marketers know that Google Adwords is an excellent way to drive traffic to a website.  Setting up an Adwords campaign is not just about making ads and running them but also getting the best results for the amount invested.

So, how are the best results obtained?

The best results are obtained when the campaign is setup properly (check out our definitive adwords campaign launch checklist) and optimized properly on a regular basis. Therefore, optimizing Adwords campaign is important, else if not managed properly, it can prove to be expensive for the business.

Optimizing an Adwords campaign is the most complex task, as every aspect of the account like click through rate, poor performing ads, using correct keywords, avg. cost and much more, needs to be analyzed. The optimizing process is continual and will have to be paid constant attention to, in order to maximise revenue and gather sufficient data about the account performance.

Here are a few tips to optimize your Google Adwords Account at different levels of the account.

Campaign Level

1. Checking on bid adjustments: Bid adjustments allow you to show your ads more or less frequently based on when, where and how people search. Bid adjustments are set by percentages which can be either increased or decreased.

  • Mobile Bid Adjustments: Depending on the number of clicks and converted clicks, you can increase or decrease your mobile bid adjustments. As the image below shows, since the conversions from mobile are higher, the mobile bid adjustments have been increased by 50%.

Campaign-Management-Google-AdWords

 

  • Location Bid Adjustments: If a campaign has no location selected the ads will show on all locations. To avoid unwanted impressions and clicks always select the location before the campaign is live.  Location bid adjustments help you decide which locations you want to focus more on, based on their performance. As the image shows that conversions are higher in Greater London, the bid has been increased by 25% making your ads appear more frequently.

location bid

 

2. Search v/s Search partner networks: Check how ads are performing on the other search network partners with Google. If conversions are less you can always go to the all settings tab and chose to not show ads on other Google search networks. By clicking on that option your ads will not show on other Google networks.

correct search

 

3. Top v/s others: By selecting the top v/s others option under the segment tab, a table with statistics appear showing where your ads appeared on the Google search top (above the organic search) and otherwise (below the organic search).

 

correct top vs others

 

The below image depicts that conversions are higher when the ads are on top, so to always remain above the organic search one can increase their CPC and get higher conversions.

top vs others

 

Similarly, sometimes being below organic search i.e. “Google search other” shows higher conversions than Google search top. In this case you do not bother about increasing your bids to be on the top.

 

top vs others 2

 

4. Ad Schedule: By adjusting the ad scheduling bid you can show your ads on specific days and also at specific times. At the campaign click on the dimensions option and see which day ads conversions are higher, based on this data adjust your ad bids.

 

dimensions option

 

The below report show that conversions are higher on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Based on which the ad schedule bid adjustments have been increased so that ads appear more number of times on those days leading to higher conversions.

dimension monday

 

 

ad schedule final

 

Ad group level

  • Pause poor performing ads: For an Adwords campaign to succeed and meet the business goals you need to regularly review and refine your ads performance. Ads with high conversions and CTR are performing well and which do not have conversions and CTR are not performing well. Such ads can be paused.

correct poor ads

 

  • AB test ads: AB test ads basically mean that in the same ad group you have the same ad with different variations. The elements of variation could be: Ad text, the negative keywords for the ads and different landing pages. This AB test ad method will help you see which variation is performing better. Based on the data the other ads can be paused or changed.

Keyword Level

  • Pause Unproductive Keywords: At the campaign level choose the keywords tab and click on the download button. This keywords performance report will give you the details on how each keyword is performing and what is the avg. Position, converted clicks, CTR, Cost, Clicks and impression.Based on the statistics from the report pause keywords which are expensive and have less or no conversions and CTR.
  • Improve Keyword Quality Scores: The quality score of any keyword depends on the ad relevance, expected CTR and the landing page relevance. So, to improve the quality score for your keywords, ensure that your ads have relevant keywords in them and that keywords are grouped correctly to ensure relevant ad copy is served to users.
  • Add Negative Keywords: A search terms report shows the keywords customers are searching for. Based on this report you can either “add” or “exclude” the keywords at the campaign, ad group and the ad level.

 

search term report

 

  • Manage Keywords Bids: When you select each keyword you chose how much you are willing to pay. This is known as the keywords maximum cost per click. Based on how your keywords are performing you can increase bids for better performing keywords – keywords with large conversions and low cost per click.

And it’s done! Those were few tips to optimize your Google Adwords campaign in a profitable manner. If there are any other Adwords optimization techniques you use that are not mentioned, then do let us know in the comments below.

 

Inbox by Gmail – The Future of Email

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In the age of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Google is taking significant steps to ensure that emails remain a relevant mode of communication. It has not only succeeded till now but seem well set to revolutionize email communication across the world- Inbox by Gmail makes emails not just communication messages, rather a personal assistant of sorts.

  • Have you spent your time searching for your travel ticket in a heap of emails
  • Are you troubled by the enormous amount of emails you receive in a day promotions, social, newsletters and of course, business emails
  • Do you manually spend a significant time assigning your emails into different folders or tags
  • Google Research suggests 80% of searches on Gmail look for a fact in the email rather than the mail itself

inbox-by-Gmail

Features under the spotlight

The Inbox by Gmail is your personal assistant to help you manage your emails (read work) better. Here’s what is there in store for you:

Smart Reply

The Smart Reply feature, which was rolled out for the Inbox App in November last year, has recently made its way to the Web version. Under this, Gmail would suggest three quick reply options. The reply options are dynamically generated based on the content and nature or the received email. The options selected by you are fed into the system to improve future response suggestions similar to the Spam filters.

Smart Reply

Bundles

Inbox scans your incoming emails and sorts them into different buckets. All seemingly important mails go into your inbox while others get placed into different bundles or folders: Trips, Social, Finance, Updates, Forums, Promos and Low Priority. You have the option of deleting the entire bundle at once or mark as Done.

Bundles

Snooze

You can use this feature to snooze the message to a particular date and time when you intend to work or action the message. You just have to open the message and tap the snooze option it gives a pop up to select the scheduled time for the message to reappear.

Snooze

Smart Reminders

Are you into the habit of maintaining unread emails in your inbox just to remind you to do a particular thing? Now say goodbye to those unread emails. You just need to tap the Remember To field before the email subject line and type in the reminder. Based on the content in the email, Inbox also suggests the reminder options.

Remember To

Pin It

You can pin the messages on top of your inbox even after it’s placed into a folder or bundle. This will act as a reminder to reply to the mail or action the point.

Undo

Now you don’t need to regret accidently clicking the Send option Inbox gives you the option to Undo the sent mail. The only catch is that you have got a 15 sec window for the same.

Undo

Limitations of Inbox by Gmail

With all the handy features waiting to be explored, Inbox does have its own limitations:

  • Lack of a universal Inbox makes it cumbersome to switch between multiple Gmail accounts.
  • No option to mute a mail thread
  • Machine Learning-based model makes it imperative to train your App. You will have to spend the initial few days navigating through some wrongly bundled mail or not so close replies.
  • Last but not the least, the most obvious disadvantage is that it works only with Gmail accounts

Artificial Intelligence for Communication: Potential Impact for Marketers

Inbox by Gmail as a concept is built entirely on the premise of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning. For new users, it seems to be a regular app they use but in hindsight, this is an experiment that will govern how people communicate in 2025. Right from smart replies to email sorting, every single concept is geared towards making Inbox do the hard work for you. That will mark the transition of Gmail from an email service to a full-fledged Personal Assistant. It’s worth taking a look at its potential impact for marketers.

  • Marketing Emails would still be useful. But it would entail a paradigm shift in the way marketing is done. The fight to Stay on top of the inbox will give way to a marketing format to be present where & when your consumer wants to see you.
  • It’s not that consumers do not like promotional emails. They love offers and promotions but get irritated when either it jumps in at the wrong time or too many spammy mails make it difficult to find your important mails. With Inbox in place, it will allow customers to browse through Promotion bundle when they are actually looking for offers.
  • Inbox specific Call-to-Action will become important. For example, Snooze Mail feature can be useful for retailers to provide in-store offers that make consumers Snooze the message for their next visit to the mall.
  • Its machine-learning based so the way your content engages with the consumer will be important. If the interaction behavior of your messages varies differently in comparison to other mails in the Bundle, Inbox will surely provide more focus to your message. The whole idea of machine learning and artificial intelligence is geared towards this to help you perform your work better.

Leveraging LinkedIn to generate leads for a Small Business

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The foundation to leverage on any social media tool is to ask yourself, ‘’Is this tool right for my business?’’ The answer to this question should not be driven by your competitor or market ally, who has plunged into using the tool, to aid his business. Are you a small business pondering your thoughts upon selecting LinkedIn as a platform for lead generation? Well, the dilemmas can be swept aside as LinkedIn will act as a lifeline to stay in front of your customers and also help you reach out to new prospects.

In digital marketing, your network is everything. Publishing a brilliant article on your website with 1,00,000 flares can make your feel ecstatic and boost your credibility. But it won’t matter if you aren’t speaking to the right audience. That’s where LinkedIn has stepped into the arena. It has become a prime channel where brands share content. This makes it easier for small business to connect with brand advocates, potential customers, and industry influencers, all at the same place. While content is one of the dual weapons, LinkedIn gears your business with, lead generation is the other ammunition. With access to over 400 million members on the world’s largest professional network, LinkedIn enables sales lead generation by allowing sales professionals to easily and quickly find the right prospects. Here are some of the most successful lead generation strategies that your business can leverage on, for generating leads.

Make an Effective Debut
There is nothing like effectively introducing yourself as a business to create an impact on users. Take care to optimise your profile and pay attention to your feed and website descriptions. Being descriptive builds trust and captures the eye of prospects more efficiently. Using the necessary keywords will help your business get captured during filtered searches.

Make an Effective Debut

Make Connections
Nothing works like direct one-on-one networking. Invest in a couple of minutes each working day, clicking the “connect” button on the “People You May Know” list that LinkedIn displays on your feed. Through time you will broaden your network and will become someone known for doing so. Remember that everyone you talk to about business or meet during the course of a business day is a potential LinkedIn connection.

Make Connections

Capitalize on LinkedIn Applications
The platform gives you the option to add interesting apps that will improve the experience people have on your LinkedIn page. You can add blog posts, let people know what you are reading, and even set up polls to find out what’s on the minds of your customers and prospects. For example, your business can use SlideShare to display a webinar or use a PowerPoint deck of how your business helps in solving a customer’s problem.

linkedin-applicações

Rendezvous on LinkedIn Groups
Participating in LinkedIn Groups is the one of the key moves to generate leads. If you are a member of the same group as another user, you can bypass the need to be a first degree connection in order to message them. In addition to this, group members can also view the profiles of other members of the same group without being connected. Take some time to search for groups to join where your targeted buyers are likely to be members. Start by contributing to conversations, be helpful in answering questions, and provide links to assets you have on your site that might help members of the group. Put your most valuable assets behind a short form on your site to capture LinkedIn visitor’s details. And voila, you now have a new lead! Alternatively, joining groups that are outside your industry that might help you grow your business too. Stretching out a little bit, helps your business expand its reach. For example: If you’re an Social Media Specialist, you don’t want to just join an Social Media Professionals Group – you’ll want to join groups for Digital Marketing, Startups, App Marketing, and other groups outside of your immediate circle.

Rendezvous on LinkedIn Groups

Sponsored Updates + Valuable Content
Many small businesses have started to run LinkedIn Sponsored Update campaigns to generate leads for their business. While regular updates can be a hit or miss in terms of impressions; using sponsored updates allows you to share updates that don’t appear as ads, at first glance. Start by generating a whole lot of original content (blogs). Then trial with creating 20 sponsored updates over the space of two months to promote it to your target audience. It’s a lot of work, but it pays off! NewsCred ran a series of sponsored update campaigns that netted them 288 new followers and 71 leads, over a span of 2 months. The company also found the campaign to be 75% less expensive than the Google AdWords lead gen campaigns they were running in parallel. It is to be noted that research has revealed leads collected via LinkedIn are three times more likely to convert into customers than leads collected via any other digital advertising platform.

LinkedIn Sponsored Updates

Priming LinkedIn Direct Ads (Text Ads)
LinkedIn’s advertising platform can be used to drive new prospects to your landing page, LinkedIn group or other destination. The ads work the same way Google paid search ads work. You simply write a headline, add some copy and create a destination link. Then you bid on how much you’ll pay LinkedIn every time someone clicks on the ad. If you pay Rs.100 to LinkedIn for a click, and it takes 50 clicks before you convert a customer, then you’ve just spent Rs.500 for 1 customer. If your product sells for Rs.5000 each, investing Rs.500 to generate Rs.5000 is not a bad return-on-investment. In our experience, text ads deliver high impressions but fail to capture leads effectively, when compared to the sponsored updates.

LinkedIn Ads

For more information on how you can leverage LinkedIn for your B2C or B2B brands, take a look at what Ishan Gupta of LinkedIn has to say.

The 2016 Ultimate Adwords Campaign Creation Checklist

Reading Time: 7 minutes

When you are creating your first Adwords campaign, chances are high that you may miss out on some key points and settings. Even if you do create campaigns every day, there are possibilities that you may fail to notice a few things. Here’s a checklist to help you ensure that everything is in place before you take your Adwords campaign live.

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Account & Campaign level 

1. Campaign type

Ensure you have selected the right campaign type based on your objective.

Choose,

Search Network only – When you want your ads to be displayed on Google search results.

Display Network only – When you want your ads to be shown on websites which your targeted audiences visit. These sites are called “Placements”.

Search Network with Display Select – When you want to ads both on Google search results and other websites.

2. Campaign sub-type

Ensure that the “All features” sub-type is set, so that you get all the advanced options & features like ad scheduling, ad delivery and advanced location settings.

3. Location Targeting

Check that you have selected the right location (country, city, district etc.) where you want your ads to be shown. You need to set the Targeted location if you want your ads to be shown only in certain locations.This ensures you do not receive unnecessary clicks from the locations not relevant to your business.

4.  Advanced Location settings

Ensure that you include and exclude locations through Advanced location targeting options, to make your targeting more effective.

Check if your option is set to,

People in my targeted location – If you are focusing the audiences who are living in the targeted location.

People searching for or show interest in my targeted location – if you want to show your ads to people who might not be living in your targeted but are searching for , or showing interest in the targeted location.

People in, searching for or show interest in my targeted location – if you want to target both the audience types listed above.

You also have the options to include or exclude places in the above criteria.

5. Conversion Tracking

Make sure that you copy the conversion code available in the “Tools – conversions” section and paste it in your Thank You or success page. This helps in tracking how productively the ad is being converted into leads. That can be a page sign up, purchase, phone call or app download.

Campaign Management – Google AdWords2

Conversions – Google AdWords8

If you are not familiar with how the conversion process works, here’s a detailed guide you can refer to.

6. Remarketing

Ensure that you have created a Remarketing list for your campaign to track visitors to your website who you can target ads to later. This can be found in the audiences section under the Shared Library, in the left menu bar, as shown below. You can generate the remarketing code and paste it in all relevant pages of your site.

Campaign Management – Google AdWords

7. Bidding

To begin with, it is recommended to choose “Automated bidding”, where Adwords sets your bids to help get as many clicks as possible within your budget. After  the campaign has run for a few weeks, you can switch bidding to “Manual” and set the Maximum you would be willing to pay per click.

8.  Billing

Verify that your billing information – country, billing address, and payment method have been added correctly.

9. Ad Delivery

If you have chosen the “All features” campaign sub-type, you will have two options to deliver your ad.

Ensure your option is set to ,

Standard – if your budget is limited and you want the ad to be evenly shown throughout the day.

Accelerated – if you want the ad to be shown as quickly as possible.

10. Ad Rotation

Make sure you set “Ad Rotation” when you have more than one ad in an ad group. This helps in choosing which ad to show more often. This setting consists of four options, namely,

Optimize for clicks – Ads receiving more clicks are shown often.

Optimize for conversions – Ads receiving more conversions are shown more often.

Rotate evenly – All ads in the ad group are equally shown.

Rotate indefinitely – All ads are shown for an indefinite amount of time.

Check if you have set “Rotate evenly” in the Ad rotation settings, so that you give preference to all ads initially and then change the settings later to either “Optimize for Clicks” or “Optimize for Conversions”, according to the ad performance.

 11. Daily budget

Confirm that you have set  the default bid and the amount you are willing to spend daily.

12Auto-tagging:

Verify that the Auto-tagging is turned on, under the “Preferences” section in the Account settings. This helps in tracking which keywords have brought visitors to your website and to which ad group they belong. Google Analytics uses auto-tagging URL and determines the ad performance.

Account Settings – Google AdWords

13. Negative keywords

Ensure that you have added all negative keywords, that apply to the account, to a shared list under the “Campaign keywords” section in the Shared Library as shown below.

Campaign Management – Google AdWords nega

Confirm that you have applied the list to all the relevant campaigns in the account.

Campaign Management – Google AdWords new

 

Ad group level 

While creating Ad groups, make sure you group together the keywords targeting a particular product or service ie. cluster the keywords in ad groups thematically. Make sure you follow the below mentioned best practices.

14. Number of ads

Check that each ad group has a minimum of two ads, carrying different Ad titles and Descriptions , so that they run alternatively. After evaluating their performance over a period of time, the poorly performing ads can be be paused.

15.  Mobile ads

At least one Mobile specific ad must be present in each ad group targeting mobile audience. You may notice certain truncated ads when you use mobile phones. It is because, those ads specifically created for the desktop users appear on mobiles. When you create ads,  make sure you also create a copy of the ad and check the “Mobile” in the device preference option. 

Campaign Management – Google AdWords6

16. Keywords

Similar keywords should be grouped under each ad group. As a good practice, it is recommended that , each ad group contain no more than 10 to 15 keywords in it.

17.  Match type

Ensure that you use relevant keyword match types for optimal ad performance.

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Ad level

Writing a successful text ad is really important to target potential customers. Hence, the text ad should be both compelling as well as relevant to what customers are searching for. Ensure that you follow the below mentioned best practices for ads:

18. Capitalization

Check if the first letter of each word in the ad description is capitalized. This is more for visual purposes. Capitalizing each word increases the visibility of your ad resulting in higher click-through rates and improved quality scores.

pinnacle crest Google Search

19. Period  

As far as possible, make sure the First Description line ends with a period (full stop), so that, it moves up to the Headline. This is called an “Extended ad headline”. Most of the ads, with extended ad headlines stand out better on the search results pages resulting in better click-throughs on the ad.

laundry services Google Search

20. Keywords

Confirm that the Ad title, Display URLs, & Description lines contain keywords in them.

21. Landing page

Check if the Destination URLs are directed to the relevant landing pages.

22. Extensions

Make sure you add all the relevant extensions to your ad. When the information in the ad text are not sufficient enough to showcase your product completely, Ad extensions help displaying additional information. Adding extensions also help the ad occupy a larger space in the SERP, which increases its prominence and visibility.

There are seven different ad extensions which can be found in the “Ad extensions” tab under each campaign.

Campaign Management – Google AdWords ext

 

Sitelinks extensions – Direct the users to the specific pages in the website and helps the users to find what they are looking for.

Location extensions – Direct the users to the nearest product store.

Call extensions – Call option making the mobile or tablet users to contact you directly.

App extensions – Take the users to the app store in order to download the product app.

Review extensions – Display positive reviews from various sources.

Call out extensions – Again a descriptive text to the ad, helping the user to explore more about the product.

Structured snippet extensions – Display additional landing page details.

le chalet Google Search

Also, verify that all the extensions are linked to the relevant pages.

23. Repetition of Information

Make sure, no information already present in the Ad Description is repeated in the ad extensions. Remove or change it, if any.

24. Negative Keywords

In order to prevent your ads showing up for irrelevant keywords, make sure you have added negative keywords both at an ad group level and at a campaign level under the “Keywords” section.

Campaign Management – Google AdWords 1

 

25. Call to Action

Last, but not least, ensure that all ads have a Call to Action, which is the ultimate goal of any Ad campaign.

Whenever you create your next adwords campaign, keep this checklist handy to ensure that you don’t miss out on anything important.

Is there any check you carry out that we missed including? Do let us know in the comments below and we will have it included.

Retail 2020: Trends In India

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in association with the Retailers Association of India, recently published a report that highlights the trends in Indian retail. As the world’s leading advisor on retail strategy, BCG has evaluated India’s high-value opportunities in the retail market. Partnering with RAI, the unified voice of Indian Retailers, the report aims at formulating solutions to key challenges faced in the market. The following is a brief summary on the findings.

The Scenario
Retail in India has taken a remarkable transformation over the last two decades. Rising income levels, urbanization, and changing consumer behaviour has given an optimistic outlook to the retail sector, promising an undoubted growth in the future. The digital medium has influenced retail with a powerful strike, reshaping customer behaviour and expectations. To summarize, retail business are in a constant need to retrospect their strengths, reinvent their offerings across the purchase pathway, and rewrite their approach of retail economics.

Trends
Based on research and some stringent analysis of data, the report captured key trends across the following broad categories.

1). Certainty of Growth
A promising growth forecast is one of the primary findings made from the study. The Indian retail sector is projected to double from $600 Billion to $1 Trillion, by 2020. This rapid growth will be determined by factors such as Income Growth, Urbanization, Nuclearization, and Attitudinal Shifts. Modern trade is also expected to grow 3 times, with Rapid Consumer Evolution, Supply-side Evolution, and Positive Regulatory Environment, being the drivers that will materialize this growth. As a key implication from this finding, Indian retailers should sharply identify the emerging opportunities and customer segments and be clear about what to not go after. Retailers should also re-adjust propositions to remain relevant and also allow room for experimentation, though it might not always turn out to be successful.

Certainty of Growth

2). Reality of Digital
The E-commerce market in India is expected to quadruple to $70 Billion, over the next 5 years. With the rapid increase of smartphone users, competitive costs for connectivity, and expanded reach, internet users are expected to reach a mark of ~600 Million. Customers are attracted to superior value propositions like broader assortment, higher discounts and greater convenience. Indian retailers should conceptualize digital strategies with clarity and leverage on social media to create brand awareness. They are also expected to deploy a seamless and connected customer journey, as shoppers migrate across channels. It will also be a lot more seamless for e-retailers to sell across multiple offline & e-commerce market places.

In our view, digital will increasingly drive offline retail sales as well. It is already easy to track phone calls to the store or to track the number of people looking for store directions. Retailers will become more sophisticated (along with measurement tools from platforms like Google, Facebook, etc.) to attribute offline sales to a specific digital marketing effort.

Reality of Digital

3). Challenge of Capability
Omni-channel business is becoming increasing relevant. Customers expect a seamless experience and do not tend to distinguish between online and physical channels, while shopping. Traditional strengths are insufficient here. In addition to being omni-channel, a well conceptualized talent management strategy is critical. It has been noticed that retail businesses suffer from high attrition rates and limited capabilities in the middle and top management, as a result of inadequate specialized training and experience in the sector. Supply chain also needs an evolution, as the market is viral with long lead response times and infrastructure challenges. It’s high time that Indian retail businesses develop a comprehensive omni-channel offering and adopt a targeted approach to employee training, appraisal, and retention. It is also very vital for businesses to build a demand-driven supply chain that is equipped with a real time flow of information.

Challenge of Capability

4). Importance of Economics
Several economic challenges plague Indian modern trade. Please find them listed below.
On the demand side:
– The level of processing is not high enough, as the Indian consumer gets used to modern trade.
– Pricing and promotions are poorly executed , not leveraging on customer willingness and purchasing power.
On the supply side:
– Inflating costs of real estate and rentals.
– Increasing costs due to low bargaining power with suppliers due to limited scale.
– High cost incurring supply chain due to poor connectivity, excess and deficit inventory.
– As an immediate implicative measure, the throughput problem should be address first. The other cost and margin issue will fall subsequently.

Importance of Economics

5). Need for Transformation
Fundamental transformation is the need of the hour. Businesses should avail the growth opportunity and serve digitally empowered consumers. As mentioned earlier, they should also build capabilities in quality omni-channel experience, talent management, and supply chain optimizations. This requires working on four pillars simultaneously. They are as follows.
Fund the journey – Generate quick cash from existing operations by relooking at the core of the business.
Win the medium term – Identify the winning consumer proposition formula for the next 6-8 years.
Take measured bets – Invest in emerging but important trends.
Enable the transformation – Invest in people and technology to improve efficiency, productivity, and morale.

Need for Transformation

Leadership Perspectives
The latter part of the report is its most credible engine, bringing perspectives from over 20 CEOs of top retailers in India. Some of the most thought-sparking lines have been quoted below.

“In times when the economy is tight, we face the brunt of lower discretionary spend. But right now, we are feeling very positive about the future and our industry.” – Ajay Kaul, CEO, Jubilant

“There is some form of a lack of supplier assistance to modern trade: somewhere they will have to accept that this is the way forward.” – Randall Guttery, CEO, Reliance Retail

The future of retail will compose of 3Ds: Daulat (wealth sharing within the retail ecosystem), Depth (in channels and category execution) and Digital (significant part of the operating model).” – Shailesh Chaturvedi, CEO, Tommy Hilfiger

The full report on Indian Retail 2020 can be found here.

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