I have just spent the last two weeks in Asia, first in Singapore, where we hosted a breakfast seminar for retailers, then in Mumbai where we presented our Top 10 Retail predictions at the Asia Retail Congress and then attended NASSCOM. I also had the wonderful opportunity to meet face-to-face with many retailers based in the regions to discuss their technology strategies and their challenges. I end these two very busy and productive weeks, with an understanding that retailers in the region align with one of  two camps, those who are investing in technology, with a strong belief that technology fuels their growth strategies, and those who believe technology is a cost that should be minimized as much as possible.

The technology fueled group, is also the group that I characterize as more aspirational, with aggressive growth strategies and bigger investment plans, as you might expect. The low-tech group generally believes that people, both in individual stores and corporate level will have the capacity to monitor, manage and serve customer needs best.  The latter strategy is more in line with traditional regional values, as customers typically enjoy lifelong relationships with shopkeepers and are greeted on a first name basis when they shop.

There is, of course, a segment of the population that has fully adopted Western shopping patterns, and this varies significantly by country - in India, a majority of the potential customer base is most comfortable with traditional ways.  So retailers in India are faced with not only attracting and retaining customers to their stores, but with converting them into "modern" or "organized" retail shoppers in the first place. Shopping in India is often an event, not just a means to fill the pantry or browse for the latest fashions. As an ex-retailer, all of this translates to a retail environment that needs to be service oriented regardless of whether the brand is targeting the aspirational or discount shopper. 

Chain retailers that can connect to the consumer on all levels, while delivering the right product assortments at the right price will be most successful in this environment. From a technology perspective this suggests that these retailers should invest in good demand intelligence platforms to drive planning across multiple dimensions, so that the people don't need to spend too much time managing the technical details of what to sell, how to price it and how to market it, but can instead focus attentively on the customer.

The retail market in India has much potential - growth rates are projected to be at least 25% year over year. But in order to be successful, retailers will need to test concepts, experiment with product ranges and recalibrate time and time again.  Agility, flexibility and innovation will be hallmarks of retailers who survive what is certain to be a exciting, but turbulent retail landscape for the next 10 or more years. 

Retailers in emerging markets are in a good position to build world class application portfolios, keeping IT costs down by outsourcing as much of the technical aspects as possible, while delivering exceptional service, staying as close to traditional values as possible.  We think technology will be at the center of successful retail growth strategies. To avoid tying up capital and resources, keeping the focus on managing the business, these retailers should leverage the experts, utilizing SaaS, managed services, and outsourcing as much as possible.