Retail Reimagined | The Transformative Podcast

Learn how retail brands in India can achieve greater customer loyalty with storytelling leveraging data in this episode of Retail Reimagined with Zubair Patel, Chief Merchandising Officer — Health & Glow as he dives deep into buying & merchandising process, omnichannel experience, personalized communication, and how it shapes the overall consumer behavior. This 50-minute episode is filled with success stories & examples of apparel, beauty & personal care brands. EPISODE NOTES: 00:00 - 01:02 — Introduction 01:02 - 03:55 — Zubair’s Gate to Retail: The Bandra Shoppers Stop Store 03:55 -08:36 — 2 Core Values that Data Can’t Teach You About Retail & Why? 08:36 - 13:50 — How “Storytelling” & “Cultural Differences” is a Key Factor in Engaging Retail Consumers 13:50 - 19:27 — The Evolution of Buying & Merchandising: From Visualization to Data Interpretation to AI 19:27 - 24:29 — The Nuances & Strategies of Local v/s Global Large Format & Small Retail Brands 24:29 - 32:43 — The Challenges & Opportunities of Moving Retail into Personalized Omni-Channel Digital Realms 32:43 - 41:00 — What Role Does Buying & Merchandising Play in Driving Customer Experience & Loyalty 41:00 - 46:08 — Factors Fueling the Growth of D2C in India & How Retailers can leverage the growth using Data and Personalizing? 46:08 - 51:49 — 4 Practical Trends that Will Shape Indian Retail in the Future ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Zubair Patel, Chief Merchandising Officer at Health & Glow, is a retail professional with extensive experience in buying and merchandising, building and scaling omnichannel businesses, digital transformation, business strategy in a leadership capacity.

Learn how brands can drive technology in retail space to create a category niche & an exceptional customer experience in this episode of Retail Reimagined with Ankur Bhatia, CEO of Chogori India as he talks in detail about agility & benefits of experimentation in start-up retail, omnichannel marketing, and how Indian consumers have now accepted the Western trend of Sports, Hiking & Adventures. This 30-minute conversation is nothing but the epitome of finding a niche in a cluttered retail world. EPISODE NOTES: 00:00 - 01:56 — Introduction 01:56 - 05:56 — Ankur’s journey of diving into the realm of Retail 05:56 - 09:38 — How Fitness & Fashion Led to the Birth of Chogori India Limited 09:38 - 15:10 — From Corporate to Individual: How customer trends for Sports & Adventure are Changing 15:10 - 19:28 — The Power of ‘People-Driven Technology’: DNA of Customer Experience 19:28 - 21:51 — Why word-of-mouth is still a top-notch Method of Marketing? 21:51 - 25:24 — 5 Key Trends to watch out for in the ‘Outdoor Sports’ Industry 25:24 - 29:15 — “Experimentation”: The buzzword to understanding Customer Segmentation at an early-stage start-up 29:15 - 31:56 — “Retail is Detail”, A Lesson for youngsters who look to join Retail as a career ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Aparna Thyagarajan is the CEO at Chogori Retail. Chogori India Retail Limited has been an exclusive distributor for a number of outdoor brands in India, which is a specialized section of sportswear. He aspires to make Chogori a global leader in outdoor sports. With an executive MBA from Harvard Business School, he was previously Chief of Staff at Bestseller India.

Learn how technology and customer-centricity can play a crucial role in creating retention and loyalty for any retail brand in this episode of Retail Reimagined with Aparna Thyagarajan, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Shobitam as she talks in detail about the AI/ML, Customization & Personalization trends that will boost retail industry in coming years. This 30-minute conversation is nothing but the epitome of finding the "gap" in the market & building a successful D2C brand from scratch. EPISODE NOTES: 00:00-1:38 - Introduction 1:38 - 3:32 - How technology drove the beginning of the Brand "Shobitam" 3:32 - 6:13 - Aparna's Journey of Passion For Fashion - From IT to Entrepreneurship 6:13 - 8:38 - What made Aparna realize there's a Market Potential for Indian Ethnic Wear outside India 8:38 - 10:29 - How Shobitam is democratizing Indian Sarees across the Globe with Personalization 10:29 - 16:23 - How the brand is winning Customer Experience with Non-Localization & Custom Shopping Options 16:23 - 22:58 Major factors to achieve 39% Customer Retention: Lessons From Shobitam's Technology, Community & Loyalty Program 22:59 - 27:45 The Roadmap for Going Omnichannel for Digital First Brands: 2 Trends to Keep in Mind  ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Aparna Thyagarajan is the Co-founder & Chief Product Officer at Shobitam, one of the fastest growing D2C ethnic fashion brands, with a big bold vision to "Democratize Ethnicity Globally" and a mission-led approach to make people "Look Good, Do Good & Feel Good" Prior to founding Shobitam, she enjoyed a 7+ years career at Microsoft in both Seattle and Silicon Valley, where she developed a good understanding of E-commerce, Global Brand Building, Digital Marketing with Technology and Social Media Solutions. Building Shobitam has been a wonderful learning experience in itself, for it has taught her the importance of customer obsession, staying grounded in one’s roots, and giving back to the community.

Learn how retailers can adapt to implement design thinking & buying behavior of customers to attain maximum return in this episode of Retail Reimagined with Shivanee Dutt, previously Myntra, Amazon, and many large-scale retailers, as she talks in detail about the best practices for creating a customer-centric approach using design and merchandising. This 40-minute conversation is no less than a walkthrough of strategies for Fashion Brands.EPISODE NOTES:00:00 - 00:15 - Introduction00:15 - 13:58 - Shivani's 20 years journey in Merchandise & Retail13:58 - 18:32 - The Human Capital Centricity of Buying, Merchandising, and Design in Retail18:32 - 25:38 - How has Technology, Digital E-Commerce & Data affected Merchandising?25:38 - 31:58 - India v/s the US side of Retail: What are the Key Differences & Trends?31:58 - 35:00 - Embracing Omnichannel to stay connected to the Consumers35:00 - 39:29 - The Ongoing Debate of AI v/s Humans & its Effect on Retail39:29 - 40:53 - Blooming era of the "Right Personalization"40:53 - 45:44 - The Transformation of Retail & its Trends45:44 - 48:45 Rise of Digital Storefronts & Metaverse in Fashion RetailABOUT THE SPEAKER:Shivanee Dutt is an accomplished fashion designer and merchandiser who has held various leadership roles in both traditional and online retail. In her career spanning 2 decades, she has worked with some of the best Indian and International fashion brands like Levi’s, Spanx, Fossil, Transition Lenses, and Amazon. She was, till recently, the Director of Buying Curation at Myntra, where she led a team of trend researchers and curators focused on delivering a compelling customer experience and driving business growth.

Learn how the Hospitality industry has changed post the pandemic in this episode of Retail Reimagined with Dilpreet Singh, Head of CRM, loyalty and Customer Analytics, ITC Hotels as he talks in-depth about the true owners of customer experience in a business, the 4Cs model of CRM, and how Loyalty programs have evolved over the years. This 40 min conversation is no less than a myth buster about the misconceptions of CRM & Loyalty. EPISODE NOTES: 00:00 - 01:08 - Introduction 01:08 - 04:06 - Dilpreet's journey of exploring Retail 04:06 - 07:07 - The significant change in Customer Loyalty: from Punch Cards to CRM 07:07 - 10:50 - Who are the true owners of Customer Experience in the 10:50 - 13:25 - The post-pandemic effect on Hospitality & How! 13:25 - 15:29 - Understanding the 4-box Framework of the Hospitality Industry. 15:29 -18:32 - The sustained validity of the 4-box customer experience model in Retail. 18:32 - 24:30 - Digital Transformation of CRM & Loyalty: The 4Cs of CRM 24:30 - 27:58 - Are CRM & Loyalty Different? Uncovering The Big Misconception! 27:58 - 32:39 - Customer Retention is the New Acquisition? 32:39 - 40:00 - The upcoming trends of CRM & Loyalty Programs for Brands. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dilpreet is a seasoned CRM and Loyalty professional with 17 years of experience across varied industries like Hospitality, QSR, Retail, and BFSI. He has been instrumental in developing and managing scalable Loyalty programs powering the two greatest growth levers – Retention and Lifetime value. Dilpreet's area of interest and experience lies in understanding the consumer psychi\problem and working on a solution to enhance their experience. He has worked with top brands like Amex, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, and Dominos and in his current role he is leading the digital transformation initiatives through the implementation of CRM and Loyalty programs.

Learn how retailers are adapting to the changing landscape of customer behavior in this episode of Retail Reimagined with Dharmendra Mehta, Business Head - E-Commerce, Lals Group, as he talks in detail about the power of customer centricity, the behavioral science behind consumer preferences, the key trends that retailers should keep in mind for future. This 30-minute conversation is no less than an insider insight from a Multi-Million Dollar Retail Brand.

In the sixth episode of Retail Reimagined, Nazif Tejani, CRM Lead at Bestseller India, shares his extensive expertise in the CRM and loyalty field, having worked with well-known brands like Bestseller, House of Anita Dongre, and Flipkart. He was instrumental in the launch of Flipkart's pioneering loyalty program, Flipkart First, in the e-commerce industry. In this 40-minute discussion, he covers a range of topics, including segmentation and data analysis, point-based loyalty programs, and customer recommendations. Tune in to gain insights into the latest trends in Data, Loyalty, and Growth.

Learn how to build a D2C business from scratch in this episode of Retail Reimagined with Arjun Vaidya, Co-Founder, V3 ventures, as he talks about in-depth consumer understanding, the science behind retention & acquisition, and 5 non-negotiable actions to take for building a successful D2C business. This 30-minute conversation is no less than a D2C masterclass for budding entrepreneurs.

The fifth episode features Jermina Menon, Founder, Knowetic.in. An entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in retail and FMCG Marketing. Her strengths are business strategy, brand marketing & digital strategy. With Knowetic.in, she helps SME entrepreneurs re-engineer their business for efficiency & offer strategic marketing solutions that deliver ROI. The 30-minute conversation flows around the importance of ‘relevant data’ in customer loyalty, how to get Leadership aligned around data, and bringing Qualitative information from Quantified Data! 

The fourth episode features Mahadevann Iyerr, Co-Founder & CEO, Insights Now. He is a business leader with nearly 3 decades of experience in enabling profitable growth for businesses, by driving strategic initiatives in CRM, Analytics, Business Innovation & Operational Excellence and leading transformational change in Omni-channel Retail, by leveraging disruptive solutions using Artificial Intelligence, Digital & CRM. The 40-minute conversation flows around retail data and how to gain insights into customer behavior and preferences. How to go about building data base and leveraging the potential of the retail data ecosystem.