A recent survey by ICICI Property Services and Technopak predicted that Indian real estate would move into the ‘next orbit’ with organised retail leading the way. According to the study, India can accommodate about a 1000 additional shopping malls in 500 cities, other than the 137 malls currently operational.

The organised retail industry has grown from 4.3% to 6% in the last year, taking over a part of the unorganised sector. CIOs of large retail firms predict that retail in the next orbit is about enhancing the customer experience. Arun Gupta, CTO, Shoppers Stop paints a futuristic picture of the scenario. “Imagine this - In 2015, a store somewhere in India. As soon as Mr. Kumar walks into the store, a customer service executive is alerted about the previous location he had shopped in, the date, time and the items he had bought.”

Chinar Deshpande, CIO, Pantaloon Retail supports the idea, “In two years time, shopping experiences for customers anywhere in the world will be similar.”

Going from a non-personal service to identifying the customer by name is a huge leap. But how does IT contribute towards increasing spend on the customer, so that the customer spends more on himself?

Deshpande bets on internet and wireless technology as the major enablers to get instant customer information. According to Rohit Nalwade, CEO, Consumer Vision, Arun Gupta’s vision is not too far away. His start up has already come up with an RFID based real time solution that enables retailers to give tags to willing customers. These tags identify the customer as soon as he walks into the store, enabling retailers to target their sales promotions at them. Nalwade is in talks with retailers to run pilots for this technology.

Meanwhile, personalised service for customers requires integrating the people behind the counter into the IT process as well. It is important to keep the store operations managers, who actually run the show, in loop about the latest technologies. According to Pradeep Katyal, VP Business Processes, Aditya Birla Retail, “Technology needs to play an important part in creating a bond between the customer and the store. The biggest thing needed to bridge the gap between IT initiatives and the staff is training.”

Bridging the gap between technology and people is definitely essential. But who are the people who will drive technology? Deshpande emphasises the importance of IT initiatives to be business driven. “Technology has to be a tool to accomplish business objectives. The leadership has to proactively come from business as well.”

IT vendors could also be potential drivers, if they improve on certain parameters. While Gupta feels they should improve on their communication, Deshpande wants them to change their approach. “If our relationship could be that of IT partners, rather than that of a buyer and seller, it would be ideal. It’s best if we can have an approach of collective implementation and sharing success.”

When Indian retail hits the next orbit is only a matter of time, but how IT propels this change is what the industry is focused on. Trends in technology may change, but for the industry, currently, customer is still the king.